APOPKA, Fla. — Apopka City Council members last week heard about plans to open a new public school in Orange County’s second-largest city in three years, prompting cheers from audienece members.
- K-8 school set to open in 2022 under board member's plan
- School Board needs to set aside funds in next budget
- Orange County Public Schools owns 15 acres for school
Orange County School Board member Melissa Mitchell Byrd told Spectrum News 13 that she received a thunderous round of applause July 3 during an Apopka City Council meeting when she said plans are moving forward to open the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school by 2022.
“They were thrilled,” she said. A cost estimate was not immediately available.
The still-unnamed school is planned for about 15 acres the school district owns on the west side of Jason Dwelley Parkway, south of Kelly Park Road and north of Ponkan Road, records show.
The school, currently called Site 90, is not in the district’s construction plan. But School Board members during a workshop June 27 blessed the recommendation of their advance-planning committee to move up the construction timetable, Byrd said.
It was previously expected to open in 2026.
The next big step to ensure a 2022 opening is earmarking construction funds for the multi-year project during a budget workshop later this month. Then the School Board would have to approve funds in its next annual spending plan. The budget must be approved before the end of September.
The new school will generally help relieve congestion in the Wolf Lake Elementary and Wolf Lake Middle schools, both located next to each on the north side of Ponkan Road.
Apopka has more than 51,000 residents, up from about 41,000 in 2010.