St. Johns County schools add 120 portable classrooms, plan to change northern county school zones

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — It’s not your typical classroom, but for now it’s going to have to work for St. Johns County students.

The school district is adding 120 portable classrooms to schools countywide to handle the district’s rapid growth.

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Currently, there are 48,371 students enrolled in St. Johns County schools, so the district needs enough classrooms to house every one of them.

Chris Liese moved to the county for its notable schools.

With two sons in elementary and middle school, the county’s exponential growth has him worried.

“It creates concerns that the environment they’re in isn’t to the quality you anticipated,” Liese said.

School officials said this is a fast and temporary solution to the increasing student population.

Some parents like Liese worry it’ll impact the quality of their kids’ education.

“It takes away from the learning environment. It’s not the same structure,” Liese said.

Officials said because the district cannot build schools fast enough to keep pace with student growth, this is the way to manage growth for now.

“When they come, you have to have a classroom for them,” St. Johns County Schools board member Beverly Slough said.

Officials said the Florida Department of Education will not approve new construction projects that exceed its own projections, which are historically lower than St. Johns County’s actual numbers every year.

“We try to stay ahead of this curve but it’s almost impossible,” Slough said.

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The district is in the process of building and expanding schools over the next five years. They hope these portable classrooms won’t be around forever.

In addition to these portable classrooms, school officials will be redistricting students next school year who live in the northern part of the county.

“This year our growth rate is 7.26%, which is unheard of,” Slough said.

Slough said schools like Freedom Crossing Academy need relief.

“It was constructed for 1,500 kids. Right now it has more than 2,200 kids in it. More (are) coming all the time,” Slough said.

The plan isn’t out yet, but some parents aren’t looking forward to seeing it when it is.

“The quality of education. The relationships that kids have made with their friends. Property values of people’s homes. All of that is affected by redistricting,” Liese said.

School officials said they will present the plan for input in the spring.

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