PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Bay District School Board approved advertising new attendance zones for Beach elementary schools Tuesday but made it clear the maps are a work in progress.
Rezoning for Beach school students is planned as part of a solution for the issue of overenrollment in Beach schools. Already, the board decided to reopen West Bay Elementary next school year.
“This is a starting point,” Board Chairman Steve Moss said of the attendance zones discussed Tuesday.
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And there may be exceptions allowing students to attend an out-of-zone school.
Superintendent Bill Husfelt recommended to the board that students coming into fifth grade from fourth grade remain at their current school. Also under consideration is allowing siblings of these students to remain in the same school.
Moss said most of the movement from rezoning will send students to West Bay, but the majority of Beach school students won’t be affected. The schools that will be affected are Breakfast Point Academy, Patronis Elementary, Hutchison Beach Elementary and West Bay Elementary.
Two School Board workshops on rezoning are planned: Monday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Arnold High School auditorium, and Monday, March 30, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the School Board room at the Nelson Building on Balboa Avenue. The workshops are open to the public.
Moss said parents and other interested members of the community can look at the geographical zoning maps at the workshops and give their input to the board. He encouraged attendance at the workshops.
Rezoning and what schools students might attend was determined by computer software.
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Enrollment at some Beach schools is reaching or has reached capacity set by the School Board for the current school year, and enrollment is expected to increase. The trend of increasing enrollment first started in 2009, Bay District Schools Director of Operations John Bozarth said.
Along with West Bay reopening and student rezoning, building a new elementary campus has been discussed as an overcrowding solution by district officials.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting: The charter for Newpoint Bay High School and the middle school, Newpoint Bay Charter Academy, were renewed by the School Board for three more years. Parent Bonnie Steelman spoke in support of the school and the favorable impact it had on her daughter.
- Diane Wishart, president of the Bay County Association of Bay County Educators, spoke out against Florida Standards Assessment testing. Wishart said too many hours of instructional time is lost to testing.
- Bay County NAACP President Rufus Wood spoke against possible repurposing of Patterson Elementary School as a consolidated voluntary pre-k program site. “We want the school to stay as is,” Wood said.
Want To Go?
- What: Rezoning workshop
- When: March 16 and March 30 from 5-6:30 p.m.
- Where: Arnold High School Auditorium, 550 Alf Coleman Road, Panama City Beach for March 16 and the School Board room at the Nelson Building, 1311 Balboa Ave., Panama City for March 30
- Details: 767-4222 or Mashbj@bay.k12.fl.us