shuffling children
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9/13/2009
I have 2 issues with public education in Orange County Florida
1st is that the students are rather transient. Many kids come into the schools for less than a year. The turn-over in the classrooms is tragic. In my experience it was nearly 50% per year. This is because many of the parents are only in-state temporarily. My guess is that this problem is more prevalent in the south side though I lived near Waterford Lakes for 5 years. Private schools are much better. We sent our kids to Page Private School which was ok. The problem with private schools is none of the kids in the neighborhood go to school with your children and to arrange playtime you end up driving all over the region. But even if you send the kids to public schools all your children's friends in the neighborhood will be gone in a couple of years anyway. Everybody moves in this town.
My 2nd issue is that the schools are county-wide. The school board is constantly rezoning the areas covered by the schools. Your kid can be in several schools before they finish 5th grade. I was told by a school board member that the school board is not ALLOWED to build schools based on predicted population. They can only design and start schools based on real populations so in new development zones the schools WILL be overpopulated which is a slap in the face to a new homeowner looking for a dream location. So if there is a slowly growing development with a brand new school way outside of town, know that when that development is 2x the size for that school, then they will add a "relief school". The history of the area around Waterford Lakes/Avalon from 1998 to 2008 is really interesting.
Tadd | Raleigh, NC