A plan to ease overcrowding in Osceola County schools is causing a bit of a stir.
The plan would expand Celebration’s K-8, however the community says they don’t have room to grow.
Celebration is growing. A new residential development is coming to town, bringing an expected 300-plus new students.
But they’re not the only one’s dealing with growth. In an attempt to balance the student population district-wide, the board is thinking about moving more than 500 students from surrounding schools that are over capacity into Celebration.
That could mean expanding Celebration’s K-8 or even adding a charter school.
“A charter school comes out with new student stations, with extra ball fields, with an extra gym and their $12.5 million worth of impact fees the school district still gets,” said Osceola County School Board Member Jay Wheeler.
Others don’t agree.
At least 1,700 residents signed a petition against the expansion, noting traffic as their main concern. Because residents expressed their concerns about traffic in Celebration, the school board decided to move forward with a traffic study that should be completed by January of next year.
“Adding a thousand more students with possibly 700 coming from outside Celebration would be a nightmare for a lot of residents there,” said parent Tom Touzin.
Residents argue they can manage their own growth by using part of Celebration High. But dealing with students from other areas, that’s a game changer.
“Create local schools in the Westside and Reedy Creek that way kids that are over there don’t have to be bused in and go through a 40-60 minute commute everyday … Which is very detrimental to academic performance,” said parent Laura Dejeant.
The school board says they will wait for the results on the traffic study to make a decision on this before May of 2016.