The St. Johns County Commission and St. Johns County School Board held a joint workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 3, to address issues they had in common.
The meeting started off with a discussion on school safety, an issue that has been at the forefront of concerns since February 2018, when 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
“It’s a sad reality that we have to focus so much on safety,” said School Board Chair Patrick Canan, “but in this current age, it’s obviously necessary.”
He said he has been opposed to turning schools into “mini fortresses,” but that many changes have been made, particularly with regard to ingress.
Capt. Peggy Tennyson of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office reported that there is a deputy on every school campus in the county and that the goal was to place two deputies in each high school.
Sheriff Rob Hardwick pointed out that growth would prove to be a challenge. As new schools are built to accommodate the influx of families, more deputies will be needed. Hardwick hinted that he may need funds for that increase in deputies in the future.
Growth itself was one of the topics the two boards addressed. One projection is that, by 2045, there will be about 500,000 people in St. Johns County. And that will necessitate the construction of more schools.
One area that is currently seeing growth is Nocatee where more than 12,000 dwelling units have been approved.
County Commissioner Henry Dean pointed out that even the pandemic hasn’t slowed development. He said in November 2019, there were 270 single family home permits in the county. In November 2020, there were 520.
He expressed concern, however, that COVID-19 may have resulted in a drop of sales tax revenue, a half-cent of which is dedicated to new school construction.
School Board member Beverly Slough said the district did see a drop in sales tax receipts, “but interestingly, they’re recovering.”
She suggested that, as more people have been moving into the county, they are spending more money and helping to generate that extra sales tax revenue.
On another matter, the 2020 census will no doubt reflect changes in population. As a result, district maps will have to be redrawn.
But the boards will be under pressure because the pandemic has pushed back release of the census results until August. Normally, they are released in March.
Vicky Oakes, St. Johns County supervisor of elections, recommended the boards do as they did in the past and continue to share the same district lines. She said this would mean less confusion for voters and greater cost effectiveness in conducting elections.
Districts can only be redrawn in odd-number years, so if the boards are not able to complete the work this year, they will have to wait until 2023 to do so.
Several parents in the St. Johns Forest Community attended the meeting to plead with the school board to restore bus service to their neighborhood.
State law does not mandate bus service for students living within two miles of their school. The students in part of that community reside within two miles of Liberty Pines Academy, a K-8 school.
But to get to school, the children must walk along St. Johns Parkway and part of State Road 9B. The parents said they fear for the safety of their children walking alongside fast-moving traffic. Also, they pointed out the risk of child abduction due to the proximity of the interstate and relative ease of departure from the area.
The board is expected to address the issue at a future meeting.
