Construction begins on K-8 campus in Orange County, Fla,
The Orange County (Fla.) district has broken ground for a K-8 campus on a 52-acre site in the southeastern part of the county.
The Orlando Sentinel says the $34 million school, not yet named, is scheduled to open in 2016 in the Wedgefield community. The campus will have 138,000 square feet of space in four buildings--an administration building, two two-story classroom buildings and a gymnasium.
Some residents in the Wedgefield area oppose construction of a school. They expressed concerns that a new school would urbanize the rural community and bring unwanted additional traffic. District officials, noting that some students in the area now have bus rides to school of 40 to 45 minutes, say a school is badly needed in the community to relieve crowding.
After hearing from proponents and opponents to the project, Orange County commissioners gave the district the go-ahead in February to move forward with construction.
The school is being designed to serve more than 1,000 elementary school-age children who now attend Columbia Elementary and Corner Lake Middle.
About the Author
Mike Kennedy
Senior Editor
Mike Kennedy has been writing about education for American School & University since 1999. He also has reported on schools and other topics for The Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Times and City News Bureau of Chicago. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.