St. Johns County School Board unanimously approves attendance zoning changes

ST JOHNS COUNTY — The St. Johns County School Board met Tuesday morning and voted unanimously to approve attendance zone changes that may impact you and your children.

RELATED: What’s the solution for overcrowded St. Johns County schools?

The changes were proposed to attendance zones for areas in Northwest and Northeast St. Johns County to tackle overcrowding and to provide a better educational experience for students throughout the district.

Through the changes, hundreds of students in the county will be attending different schools next school year.

This all comes as the county will be building new K-8 schools to continue to tackle overcrowding in the classroom.

The new zoning goes into effect for the 2022-2023 school year and affects elementary, middle, and high school students.

School leaders say the district experienced a 7 percent growth in the last year-- the highest they’ve seen in more than a decade. For example -- last month Action News Jax told you that Freedom Crossing Academy was built for 1,500 students. Currently, the school has more than 2,200 kids enrolled.

After being given the green light Tuesday, the changes would mean 182 students in Oakridge Landing and Durbin Creek Estates would be moved out of Freedom Crossing Academy and into Patriot Oaks Academy.

Another change is moving students from Oceans Palms Elementary and Landrum Middle to Liberty Pines Academy.

Some residents told us Tuesday that they look forward to the change, and hope to see a smaller student-to-teacher ratio. Others are cautiously optimistic.

A notice was first approved on April 26th by the School Board, and the public hearing was held on the adoption of proposed attendance zone changes at the district’s May 31st Special School Board meeting.

According to the district, revising the 2022-2023 Attendance Zone Changes for Northwest and Northeast Balancing is not expected to increase the cost of educating students within the St. Johns County School District.

CLICK HERE to view the zoning changes.

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