MILTON — With Santa Rosa County’s population continuing to increase, school district officials are preparing to make their case to better accommodate students.
School district officials hope the county’s geographic information system data can provide evidence to get state approval for building one or two new schools.
While an engineering firm is working to compile the GIS data, Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services Joey Harrell hopes the information can provide insight into several areas concerning the county’s student population.
During last month’s school board meeting, the school district reported an added enrollment of 346 students, with reports showing growth in Navarre, Pace and Gulf Breeze.
“What we are looking at, to begin with specifically, was being able to link up student data of where those students actually reside versus where those students attend school,” he said.
This data would show how many students have transferred or been reassigned to a certain school, leading to the school’s robust student population.
Another component is using the data to track county building permit information.
“That (data) gives us an accurate depiction of where growth is taking place,” Harrell said. “When we see that building permit data, it tells us what type of building is being built.”
Housing developments are important, Harrell said. Each residential housing unit indicates potential for more students at each grade level impacting neighboring schools.
The data can also be used to show student transportation needs, Harrell said.
While knowing where students live and where they attend school, Harrell said the data can be used to map out different scenarios for rezoning or moving a number of students from one school to another.
This data would feature lengths of student and parent travel, a potential need for more school buses along with more employees to operate them, fuel expense or potential costs of regularly using the Garcon Point Bridge.
“All of those types of things say ‘here is what it is going to cost the taxpayers of Santa Rosa County to do this transportation and the impact on our roads’,” Harrell said.
To meet criteria of building a new school, the state requires each school district to show their schools are functioning at maximum student capacity.
Last year, school district officials proposed changing the school zone to meet such criteria. However, the rezoning option was voted down 3-2 by the school board after hearing input from concerned parents.
Harrell hopes the data would send a clear message to state officials on what is happening in Santa Rosa County.
“We are trying to (state) a very strong case that this is not in the best interest of the students of Santa Rosa County … but also (we’re) looking at the impact it puts on parents and grandparents,” Harrell said.
Harrell said relocation could be problematic when it comes to picking up a sick child, collecting them from school to make a doctor’s appointment or simply attending a school function.
While the data collecting process is still in the works, Harrell hopes the engineering firm will make a presentation before the school board at a future meeting before presenting the same information before state officials.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: More county schools needed, officials say