5 portables to replace oldest building at Oneco Elementary School in Manatee County School District

MANATEE -- Five newly constructed portables are slated to replace the oldest building at Oneco Elementary School if the Manatee County School Board signs off on a $747,000 price tag Tuesday.

The Manatee County School District's long-term plan for Oneco on 22nd Street Court East off State Road 70 in Bradenton includes finding a new location in the same area to build the school. The district did not want to construct a permanent building to replace the older building but also could not ignore lingering maintenance problems, officials said.

"It's been on our radar," said Jane Dreger, director of capital projects. "The conditions have really deteriorated."

The majority of the building at Oneco was renovated in the 1990s to move the building back off State Road 70, which had been widened around that time. Building 5 is an original building to the school, which opened in 1986, according to district documents. Since the district is planning to move or renovate Oneco in the next 10 years as part of a plan to balance enrollment and bring older schools up to speed, it made more sense to construct portable classrooms to replace the existing classrooms, Dreger said.

"They'll be brand new metal, side-by-side portables," she said.

Oneco is landlocked and hampered by traffic issues, Superintendent Diana Greene said.

"There's not a whole lot of space there," she said.

The district is scouting out locations in the same area to possibly build a new school around the

same size Oneco is now.

A $747,207 contract will go before the board Tuesday, authorizing Willis A. Smith Construction of Lakewood Ranch to tear down the building and construct new portables. If all goes according to plan, the work will be done during the summer and be complete when classes resume in August, Dreger said.

On Tuesday, the board will also take the preliminary steps to close Wakeland Elementary School and move the school down the road to Johnson Middle School. The board is scheduled to approve a public hearing on the issue for the May 24 meeting. After the public hearing, the board will formally vote on the plan. If approved, the Wakeland move into Johnson Middle would take effect in August 2017.

The board has already signed off on closing Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary School at the end of this academic year. Most Orange Ridge students will attend G.D. Rogers Garden Elementary School, which will be renamed Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School. Orange Ridge students are also being sent to Oneco, Daughtrey and Samoset elementary schools.

Down the road, the district is also planning to build a new high school north of the river in the Parrish area. That area will probably also need an elementary and middle school in the next 10 years or so, officials predict.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 10:59 PM with the headline "5 portables to replace oldest building at Oneco Elementary School in Manatee County School District ."