Dear Editor,
I read the Press Gazette’s headlines in the March 14, 2015 paper…Pace Schools to be rezoned. It said they have to be rezoned to make way for new students moving into our area. It stated that this is needed due to new housing going up and new families with children coming in, the areas where building is going on were Woodbine Rd, near Sims Middle School, and W. Spencerfield Rd. Pace is growing so fast that they can't keep up. Some of the schools that will be affected are S.S. Dixon Primary which is at 106 percent capacity and S.S. Dixon Intermediate is at 85 percent so it is almost at capacity also. Another thing that was said in the article was, "New developments bringing in more families could cause problems for Pace schools which are already reaching full capacity."
If bringing in more families has created a problem for schools, then my question is this…Why are these new properties being built? Aren't the two governmental offices (Planning and Zoning and the School Board) working together to watch this sort of thing so overflows do not happen and decisions have to be made that will affect so many? Now, it is apparent that it will be necessary to uproot children who have only known these schools, and now they will be bused to other schools. Where are those schools going to be? One of the solutions suggested for Sims Middle school (another one operating at 103 percent) is that they will shift Sims students to Avalon Middle. Supposedly this will help Avalon because it is only at 86 percent capacity. So, what happens to the S.S. Dixon students? The article goes on to say they are seeing the same problem in the Navarre area. Perhaps we should stop building. A very simple solution and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out.
I know elected officials want Pace to be the top county in the State of Florida for growth, but this is a disservice to the families who are already here and have had their children in the same schools for years. What about them? Remember the saying, “If you build it they will come?” Again, simple solution, stop building until this problem is solved without disturbing families who are already here and have their children in school.
For those who have children in Pace schools a public hearing on Thursday, April 23 at 6:45 p.m. at the Santa Rosa County School Board room located at 5086 Canal Street in Milton. They cannot do anything until they have this meeting. That building should be packed out, growth is one thing, poor planning is another, and they should all answer the question as to why this happened in the first place.
Sharon Witt Glass
Pace
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Poor planning leads to Pace schools rezoning