Manatee School District may retain ownership of Duette Elementary School, Florida's last 1-room schoolhouse

BRADENTON -- A shared educational and community space -- still under the direction and ownership of Manatee County School District -- may be in store for Florida's last one-room schoolhouse.

Superintendent Diana Greene and longtime Duette resident Betty Glassburn laid out hopes and plans Tuesday for Duette Elementary School during a Manatee County School Board workshop. No decision was reached, but board members seemed to favor a plan to keep the school under district control, while greatly opening up access to the community.

"I really like the idea of sending children out there and utilizing it as an education tool. I think it would give a lot of our students an appreciation of what other students had to go through," board member John Colon said.

Longtime teacher and Principal Donna King will retire at the end of the school year. With only 11 students in the contract school, and four moving on to middle school next year, keeping it open is not a viable option.

Some community members, including Glassburn, have already started the process to take over the school

house, if that's the route the board chooses. For Glassburn, the school is the "heart of the community."

"In Duette, you don't have anywhere to go," Glassburn said. "You have the church and you have the school."

The nonprofit community association is working to get the school on the National Historic Register to be eligible for federal grants to help run the center if the board signed it over to the community. Glassburn envisions preserving part of the school as a museum and using the rest as a community center.

Down the road, the land and building could also be rented out for functions such as weddings or family reunions.

Greene had a slightly different plan, in which the district would maintain ownership and upkeep on the building, and would use the site as a daylong field trip for students -- most likely second-grade students -- as a history lesson.

Second-grade social studies standards include the history of public education.

"We could recreate the one-room schoolhouse effect and use it as a field-trip location for all of our second-graders," Greene said.

The district could also expand community use of the facility when field trips are not running, Greene said, and would be more than willing to rent out the facility if people are interested.

"We can still share with the community. We'll gladly do a facilities rental," she said. "We can still sort of partner."

Greene said the district is in no hurry and wants to give King as much time as needed to clear out her personal belongings from the school when the academic year ends.

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

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 11:56 PM with the headline "Manatee School District may retain ownership of Duette Elementary School, Florida's last 1-room schoolhouse ."