WAKULLA COUNTY, FL — Wakulla County parents are voicing strong opposition to a proposed school rezoning plan that would move some students from Crawfordville Elementary School to Medart Elementary School for the next school year.
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The rezoning proposal affects addresses east of Crawfordville Highway and south of Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Road. Parents say the change would force students who currently travel nearly 2 miles to school to instead travel 8 to 10 miles to reach their new campus.
"So I don't understand why, if I live less than 2 miles from the school, why my child has to go to a school almost 10 miles away from our home, and instead, he needs to rezone the entire district, in my opinion," CES parent Olivia Moore said.
The Wakulla County School Board plans to vote on the rezoning during their regular meeting on February 17. The proposal aims to alleviate overcrowding at Crawfordville Elementary School.
Superintendent Richard Myhre acknowledged the difficulty of the changes in a statement, saying the district remains committed to supporting students and families through the process.
"This decision was made with the intent to minimize disruption while continuing to provide the best education environments possible," Myhre said in the release.
Those who live in those addresses and current out-of-zone students who wish to remain at Crawfordville Elementary must complete a district out-of-zone request by March 14th.
These recommendations come after the January 20th town hall meeting, where the superintendent heard from parents about their concerns with this.
Parent Chadwick Cespedes expressed concerns about how the change would affect his children's established relationships with teachers and support staff.
"I don't feel happy because they've been there for so long. My oldest kid had to go to, like, a special placement class with Miss Pinkerton, who helped him out a lot and got him put back into like, regular classes and stuff. And she's always there to help if he needs any help," Cespedes said.
Beyond academic concerns, parents worry about the practical challenges the rezoning would create. Cespedes noted that many neighbors rely on local daycares that provide transportation between Crawfordville Elementary and their facilities.
"A whole bunch of them have kids that go to daycares in the area that do transportation in between Crawfordville Elementary and that daycare. And if they move the kids to Medart, that's that same daycare in the same place they've been going. Also, they won't be able to transport them, and they'll be at work in Tallahassee and other places, and they won't be able to go there and do that for them," Cespedes said.
CES parent Olivia Moore questioned why the district chose to rezone only Crawfordville Elementary students rather than adjusting boundaries across the entire district.
"If they would push the boundary lines for like other schools, like Shadeville, further out, so that way we could stay in Crawfordville. Because again, being only two miles from the school, there are other areas that are going to stay zoned Crawfordville when they're a split distance between Crawfordville and Shadeville. It's the same distance for them to Shadeville that it is to Crawfordville. So they're getting to stay in Crawfordville, but we're getting pushed out to a school further away when we're less than two miles again from the current school," Moore said.
Moore also expressed concerns about how the change would affect her child.
"My child is very comfortable at Crawfordville Elementary. He used to be in a self-contained room, and he has worked to get himself in gen ed, and a new school, unfamiliar surroundings, is totally going to throw him off. And while my child also could ride the bus to the school, that's going to be very overstimulating to him," Moore said.
The school board meeting on February 17th will determine whether the rezoning plan moves forward for the next school year.
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