The residents of Ashley Plantation in Pace want officials with the Santa Rosa County School District to reconsider a portion of the proposed school rezoning in the Pace area.
Officials with the school district proposed rezoning due to Pace’s growth in addition to several of the schools being close to capacity, according to Joseph Harrell, the school district’s assistant superintendant for administrative services.
One of the areas affected by the proposed rezoning changes are the residents living in Ashley Plantation, a housing development located on Quintette Road in Pace. Several of the students, which currently attend S.S. Dixon Intermediate School would then be zoned for Chumuckla Elementary School.
Many neighborhood parents believe there are other options available in which their children would have a shorter school bus commute.
“There are other alternatives that are significantly better that do not pose an adverse impact for our school age kids,” said Andy Josyln, who is leading efforts on behalf of the neighborhood. “Thus far I have presented them with a number of possible scenarios and they have not been receptive to those alternatives.”
Joslyn, father of three, said his seven-year-old child would be impacted by the proposed rezoning.
Since the release of rezoning maps, residents at Ashley Plantation have been meeting regularly in order to explore options in voicing their position on the issue. In addition to signing petitions, residents plan to voice their opposition during the public hearing for the proposed school boundary restructuring, scheduled for April 23 at 6:45 p.m. at the district’s administrative building on Canal Street in Milton.
“The neighborhood is 100 percent behind stopping this proposal,” Joslyn said. “The uphill battle is getting the school district and the school board to listen to our collective voices. I don’t know if they are receptive to listening to that dialogue.”
Joslyn said one of the main motivations towards moving into Ashley Plantation in 2013 was for the school district itself, despite commuting from work in downtown Pensacola.
“When we moved to Santa Rosa County, we knew we were putting ourselves working at a disadvantage,” Joslyn said. “We also knew it was in the best interest of looking out for the educational value.”
Fellow Ashley Plantation resident Greg Gray, a father of two elementary school age children, also commutes to work from Pensacola. Like many of the residents in the housing development, Gray believes other rezoning options should be explored.
“Why are we forced into the worst possible scenario with a fourteen mile bus ride to Chumuckla (for our children)?” Gray said. “When there are other schools that are also under (student) capacity and would be shorter bus ride.”
During Sunday’s neighborhood meeting in which around 30 residents attended, Josyln announced he was meeting with Harrell and Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick on Wednesday in order to further discuss the issue. Both Harrell and Joslyn have both previously met to discuss the topic.
Harrell said there are several factors which go into consideration in the rezoning process.
"School capacity is not the only set of numbers we focus on when considering a rezoning. While school capacity is the initial driving factor, we also pay very close attention to subgroups related to socio-economics, students educational needs, and homeless status, to name a few,” Harrell said. “It's not that it can't happen, but we work very hard and make every effort to prevent from creating large scale inequities between schools that are being rezoned.”
Harrell said he has looked into Joslyn’s alternative proposals and is open to receiving more ideas at their upcoming meeting.
As for the Berryhill Elementary School option, Harrell said the school district is already anticipating student growth which will impact the school.
One example was Whisper Creek subdivision, located off Berryhill Road, Harrell said. The subdivision is only in phase one of construction with 45 homes currently built, Harrell said.
“When we look at the total impact of what Whisper Creek will have on Berryhill Elementary School, there are an additional 360 homes,” Harrell said. “When we use our multiplication factors to find out what kind of student generation we would have there, that would add an additional 77 students to Berryhill Elementary.”
Harrell said other housing developments are also in development in the Berryhill Elementary school zone.
“Those would only increase the capacity to the (student) capacity numbers even greater,” he said. “We are only moving the problem from the Pace area over to Berryhill and that is not using enough good foresight in this situation.”
“When we are sitting at 73 percent (at Chumuckla Elementary School) then we owe to our taxpayers to be filling those rooms,” Harrell said. “It is uncomfortable, but it is something we are charged with doing.”
In an earlier interview on the rezoning topic, Harrell said the school rezoning process must be done before the Florida Department of Education would allow the school district to build any new schools.
Want to Go?
WHAT: Public hearing on school boundary revisions
WHEN: 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 23
WHERE: The Santa Rosa County School Board Room, located at 5086 Canal Street in Milton.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Pace neighborhood wants change in rezoning