The Orange County School Board has been updated by officials about the district’s capital program, described as one of the largest and most aggressive school building programs in the nation, Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) says in a news release.
These are the highlights:
- OCPS has 32 relief, replacement or renovation projects in planning, design or construction for completion from 2018 to 2020, with a total budget of $726.8 million.
- For the 2018-19 school year, 11 projects are under construction with a budget of $276.8 million – two K-8 schools and nine elementary schools. Audubon Park School is a relief school, Dover Shores Elementary is a comprehensive renovation/replacement, and nine schools are being replaced: Cypress Park/Durrance ES, Frangus ES, Hungerford ES, Hidden Oaks ES, Hillcrest ES, Lake Como School, Maxey ES, Pine Hills ES and Union Park ES.
- For the 2019-20 school year, 12 projects have been designed and are about to begin construction with a total budget of $277.6 million. They include six elementary schools, one K-8, two middle schools, two high school auditoriums and one transportation facility. That includes relief elementary schools 25-E-SW-4 and 49-E-W-4 as well as relief middle school 37-M-SW-4, replacements of the Boone and Colonial high school auditoriums, Deerwood Elementary, a K-8 merging Pershing and Pine Castle elementaries and the Pine Hills Transportation Center, as well as comprehensive renovations of Corner Lake Middle, Lake George ES, Lake Gem ES and Sunrise ES.
- For the 2020 school year, nine projects are in the planning phase, including five elementary schools, one middle school, one high school gymnasium, one ESE facility and one alternative school, with a total budget of $172.4 million.
The district is projecting spending about $302.6 million through FY 2019-20 on capital renewal projects to replace systems within existing schools, OCSB says.
Functional equity projects at eight middle schools are set to begin pre-planning in 2019.
The final two schools targeted in the district’s Unitary Status Agreement will be completed in August. The final schools on the 2003 Sales Tax list of 136 are projected to be complete in 2022.
A “curb appeal” program targeted the exterior look of 23 schools this year.
As well, 10 school sites are being considered for repurposing between 2018 and 2021.