Manatee school board agrees to keep Palma Sola Elementary open. ‘We’ve reached consensus’
The School Board of Manatee County on Friday reached a consensus to save Palma Sola Elementary and either rebuild or remodel the campus instead of closing the school.
No formal vote could be made during Friday’s workshop according to board bylaws, but each member publicly agreed the school should stay open.
Students, parents, teachers, neighbors and businesses in the surrounding area have been worried after rumors of the school’s possible closing started spreading last year.
Board Chairman Chad Choate, District 4, apologized that his comments to an unnamed person are what started the rumor mill. He initially believed the numbers and cost savings were hard to argue against, but Friday said he had changed his mind after hearing from community members and leaders over the past months.
“We can assist in revitalization (of West Bradenton) by providing a brand new school, which I believe could be Palma Sola,” he said.
Parents who spoke during the public comment period brought up how important the school is to the neighborhood. A petition has been signed by 4,500 people, and elementary students had even started their own petition.
Hollie Woolard has a son in third grade, one starting kindergarten, a husband who is an alumnus, and a neighbor who is the former school nurse.
“We are a close knit community. … kids can walk and ride their bikes with no main road in sight,” she said.
“Closing the school is the easy option. We didn’t elect you to do that.”
Cost of options
Improvements to Palma Sola are already in the district’s capital plan, which will be revisited in the coming months during budget season.
Once the board formally votes to keep the school open, they will need to decide whether to renovate or rebuild, and at what size.
District Chief Operations Officer Joseph Ranaldi presented the cost analysis of all of the options at the start of Friday’s meeting.
Right now, Palma Sola has 20 structures on campus. All except one are old enough to be approved for demolishing by the Florida Department of Education. Many of the buildings are over 60 years old.
The existing buildings have capacity for 750 students, but enrollment as of January is 413.
To rebuild at the same size, the total cost was estimated at $31.9 million. To build smaller, for 500 students, the cost is $19.6 million.
Already budgeted in the capital plan is about $22 million for improvements.
Not selling the property
One thing that was never on the table is selling the property, Choate said. In a time where real estate prices are near record highs and new development hasn’t lost momentum, many thought the school district would want to sell the property.
“That would be ludicrous for us to sell the property. … Property is treasure for us,” he said. “There was never any backdoor agreement to sell it to anybody.”
Superintendent Cynthia Saunders also said generally the district doesn’t recommend the sale of any school land in order to expand capacity in the future if needed.
One example is property near Bayshore High School, she said, which has had many offers but is near planned housing developments that will bring more students.
New development
One factor mentioned by board members and parents is the new housing developments underway nearby that are set to bring thousands of new homes and families to the area, including Lake Flores and Aqua by the Bay.
“More families are moving here every day. We need all of our schools,” one parent said.
Right now, all of those new developments are in the Sea Breeze Elementary School zone, which has room for 215 more students with current enrollment. That’s not enough to accommodate all the planned housing, one parent pointed out.
A few nearby schools also have room for over 100 new students each, said board member Gina Messenger, District 1.
New housing planned for the Palma Sola Elementary zone is only 16 units currently, Ranaldi said.
“West Bradenton is suffering a migration of families out to Parrish and Lakewood Ranch as well,” said Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, whose district includes Palma Sola. He spoke during the public comment period in support of saving the school after hearing from residents.
School Board opinions
Here’s a recap of the board members’ final thoughts after hearing public comment.
“I think we’ve reached consensus,” Choate said.
Gina Messenger, District 1: Attended Palma Sola Elementary as a child, but it’s the least utilized school in the district by enrollment. “Schools are an economic driver. There’s a real community there.” The district is already losing students to private, charter and home schooling, and closing the school would exacerbate that. She supports rebuilding instead of remodeling because of the age of the buildings, but not to the current capacity.
Cindy Spray, District 2: She had heard attendance drops this year were due to the rumors. “To even consider closing this school in my opinion would be a detriment to this community.” Supports building “more not less” because the older demographic currently in West Bradenton will change over time.
Mary Foreman, District 3: Palma Sola needs to stay open. Taking the other schools up to capacity isn’t the best option. She mentioned how moved she was by students starting their own petition to save the school. A vote should go on the next agenda, Feb. 28, so they can move forward with a rebuild.
Chad Choate, District 4: The board’s responsibility is the welfare of the district’s 3,000 children, not just 400. He initially formed an opinion based only on the numbers, but after hearing from the community took the bigger picture into perspective. He doesn’t think they should build for 750 students, but closer to 500 or 550.
Richard Tatem, District 5: Asked questions of Saunders and Ranaldi and calculated that closing the school could save up to $25 million. Also pointed out their job is to do what’s best for the whole district. “I try to be fiscally responsible with our money.” However, because of the area’s growth he supports rebuilding at a smaller capacity. “The bottom line for me is if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” He also pointed out that they try to be transparent but when one comment turns into a firestorm on social media, it makes them less likely to share their opinion on an issue when asked outside of a meeting.
This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 2:41 PM.
