By Carole Hawkins, [email protected]
When Nocatee’s Valley Ridge Elementary School opened last year, it was over capacity its first day.
Joseph Joyner had already ordered 20 portable classrooms for the new school.
“We are awash in portable classrooms,” the St. Johns County superintendent said. One in six St. Johns County students now works out of one of them.
But on the day he talked to the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s Sales and Marketing Council, Joyner was grateful.
Voters had just passed a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for the school district’s capital needs. The money should be enough to build 20 schools in 10 years.
It’s good news for Realtors, who sell many homes in St. Johns because of the top-ranked schools that come with it. St. Johns is one of only five Florida districts to earn an “A” grade from the state for 11 consecutive years, Joyner said.
The news is also good for builders. It could ease current talk over a hike in impact fees.
Joyner said he expects two or three schools will start construction within the first year. Look for them to appear in hot spots at the northwestern part of the county.
The priority list includes K-8 schools in Nocatee, the Greenbriar Road/Longleaf Parkway area and World Golf Village.
Also on the list is an elementary school for the southern part of the county. Construction has taken off near Florida 207, Joyner said.
Other priorities include expansions for South Woods Elementary and Liberty Pines Academy, in southwest and northwest St. Johns, respectively.
The district’s capital woes began with the recession, when St. Johns County property values dropped 18.5 percent.
The Florida Legislature at the same time gave taxpayers a break. It reduced the allowable capital outlay millage levy from 2.0 mills to 1.5 mills — money used, in part, to pay for building schools. Meanwhile the growth of the student population in St. Johns was going “through the roof,” Joyner said.
Revenue for capital projects fell by $180 million, enough to build 10 new schools, Joyner said.
People are already living with the effects.
“If you’re sitting in an hour-long parent pick-up line. Or your school is starting lunch at 9:30, because the infrastructure can’t keep up, then you’re already living it,” Joyner said.
It’s estimated the new tax money will generate $13 million in its first year and $150 million over the next 10 years.
A sales tax increase is a tough sell in St. Johns County. Voters have rejected one four times since 1988. But earmarked for school infrastructure, it struck a chord.
“I’ll tell you one thing about our community, they love and support their public school system,” Joyner said.