Choices in Learning charter school gets the go-ahead to add middle school grades at Central Winds Park

Choices in Learning, the charter elementary school inside Winter Springs' Central Winds Park, has approval from Seminole County Public Schools to grow into a pre-K through eighth grade campus, Oviedo Community News reported Wednesday.

All four school board members at the Oct. 2 meeting voted for the expansion, according to the outlet.

The plan

The middle school building is planned at about 38,000 square feet, smaller than the existing elementary school, and would cost around $15 million. Principal Jordan Rodriguez told Oviedo Community News that a construction fence would go up at spring break, that groundbreaking is set for July 2027 and that the school expects to open the new grades in August 2028.

Questions from the board

Board Chair Robin Dehlinger raised the issue of students with special needs who have left the charter for district schools. She said she hoped the school would intervene early so students would not have to change placements, which she called "really disruptive to families."

Rodriguez, a former district principal, said about 7% to 8% of the school's students have special needs and that three students have transferred to public schools in the past four years because Choices in Learning could not provide the services they needed.

He said the charter staffs according to its own budget and cannot draw on the district to fund a dedicated one-on-one teacher the way a district principal can.

Board member Autumn Garick called it "frustrating" that the charter is growing while the district shrinks. The district lost more than 2,000 students between last school year and this one, and the enrollment drop drove most of a $30 million budget gap that led to more than 300 layoffs, the outlet reported.

Garick said she expected the school to succeed but that students who would otherwise move on to district middle schools would stay at the charter instead.

Board member Abby Sanchez supported the request, saying she would prefer students attend a charter like Choices in Learning over a private school without certified teachers or support staff, or over homeschooling.

Superintendent Serita Beamon told the board that state law does not let it judge whether another school is needed, only whether the application meets the review criteria.

Charter schools in Florida are tuition-free public schools funded largely by the state. Choices in Learning holds an A rating.

Sources

oviedocommunitynews.org