OCPS Board sees opposition to rezoning neighborhoods west of West Apopka Vineland Road

The Orange County School Board held a rezoning workshop on Thursday, March 9 to discuss the technical and targeted rezoning of several schools throughout the district.

“Technical rezonings are moving of lines where no children are impacted,” said Superintendent Barbara Jenkins. “We call that moving dirt. Then the targeted rezonings impact a very small number of students.”

During the meeting, the board was met with staunch opposition when the discussion turned to the rezoning of the Bay Hill area of Dr. Phillips.

Due to crowding concerns at Dr. Phillips Elementary School, the board had proposed that the neighborhoods west of West Apopka Vineland Road be rezoned to Bay Meadows Elementary School. The area affected by this proposed rezoning includes neighborhoods from Masters Boulevard in the north to Granada Boulevard in the south.

According to board documents, this change would affect about 92 students currently attending Dr. Phillips High School. The board also surveyed 95 families in the affected neighborhoods on the proposed rezoning changes and reported that 91 of them opposed it.

Several parents attended the meeting to voice their opposition of the proposed rezoning, stating that Bay Meadows Elementary was not only further away but also a lower rated school. Dr. Phillips Elementary is currently an A-rated school while Bay Meadows Elementary is a B-rated school.

By the end of the discussion, board members agreed that more examination of the area and the two schools was required before the proposed rezoning could be approved.

“I never want to force anybody to go to a school that they don’t want to go to,” said Chairman Bill Sublette.

Contact Brittany Gaines at [email protected].