New schools projected to be built in St. Johns County

Action News Jax has learned where new schools are projected to be built in St. Johns County.

These new schools are being built to accommodate all the new families moving in, but there are questions about where the money will come from.

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“We need to have more schools here,” said Henrietta Albelo, the mother of a 3-year-old who is concerned about where her child will go to school one day.

St. Johns County is prepared to build three new schools in the next five years, but there is a longer-term view for the next 20 years.

In the plan, two schools would go in the Twin Creeks area, near U.S. 1 and three would go near the Rivertown development in the westernmost part of the county. Four schools would be built in Silverleaf, in a massive development that’s still not built. One school would go on Greenbriar Road. Three schools would go in the still-growing Nocatee area, and one in Shearwater off County Road 210. One school would go off State Road 16 in the Grand Oaks area.

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The growing population in the county’s biggest high schools is a growing problem.

Bartram Trail has more than 2,600 students, Nease has 2,500 and Creekside has 2,400.

“It’s very difficult. We don’t like our high schools that large,” said St. Johns County School Board member Beverly Slough.

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The student population is expected to grow 50 percent over the next two decades and the county will need 18 new schools to accommodate them, but it will also need the funding.

A school can cost anywhere from $30 million to $70 million. For now, there are no specific dates set for new schools to be built.

Cox Media Group