As population explodes, St. Johns County School District to build 19 new schools over 20 years

The St. Johns County School District is bracing for continued growth with a plan to build at least four new schools and expand another over the next five years.

At its meeting Tuesday, the St. Johns County School Board voted unanimously to approve a five-year work plan submitted to the state that would run through 2026. It includes constructing three K-8 schools, one elementary school and an addition to South Woods Elementary in Elkton that would increase that facility's capacity from 604 to 850 students.

Over the long term, the district expects to build 19 new schools and expand two others over the next 20 years, but that number could change depending on fluctuating population projections and the real estate market, according to Nicole Cubbedge, the district's director for planning and government relations.

School growth: New St. Johns County high school will bring first veterinary academy to the area

The newest to open: St. Johns County's newest high school to be called Beachside High School after neighboring community

The U.S. 2020 census counted 273,425 people in St. Johns County, an increase of 83,386 since the 2010 census.

With the county's population exploding over the last several years, accommodating an influx of students — particularly at its northern and western boundaries — has put a strain on district facilities. Classrooms, from elementary schools to high schools, are more crowded than ever.

Building new campuses is just one way to deal with those growing pains.

Cubbedge said in a phone interview with The Record Wednesday there is no exact science to determining student enrollment across the district, but that analytical projections do help them to see where most of the growth is coming from, at least in the short term.

So far, just a general location of the northwest has been determined for where the next school — a K-8, called just "NN" for now — will be built in the county. An elementary school, tentatively labeled "N," will be somewhere in the southern part of the county, and the location of the other two schools to be constructed between now and 2026 has not yet been determined, according to Cubbedge.

While the five projects slated for those five years are financed on paper, only NN is shovel-ready as far as capital outlay at this point, Cubbedge said. She could not say when that school might be completed.

Relocatable, or mobile, classrooms have been used in the interim to deal with overflow. Like a bandage that can be applied and then removed, the makeshift classrooms are taken down when newly built schools catch up with development in that area.

To that end, the school district aims to close the gap on the 19% of students who are currently housed in relocatables and bring it to 1% or less by 2025.

Student enrollment has increased exponentially over the last decade, with a sharp spike over the last couple of years in particular. According to school district figures, St. Johns County's school population rose by 7.26% in the 2020-21 school year, with a total number of 47,932 students.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: St. Johns County School District to build 19 new schools over 20 years