School officials working to solve overcrowding

School officials working to solve overcrowding

2023-01-16T12:23:15-05:00January 16th, 2023|Education, Palm Beach|

Writer: Gabriela Enamorado

2 min read January 2023As the population has continued to swell in the county, dozens of Palm Beach County public schools have been functioning over capacity. In an effort to resolve the challenge of overcrowding, two new public schools, one high school and one middle school, are set to open later this year. 

Currently, the School District of Palm Beach County is home to 189,805 students and is the 10th largest school district in the county. According to the School District of Palm Beach County, nine high schools were on the Capacity Watch List 2022 report, a list that keeps track of schools where enrollment is anticipated to reach or exceed 100% capacity in the next five years. The list also includes schools expected to succeed between 95 and 99% capacity in the next five years.  

Dr. Joaquín García High School, the first new high school opened in Palm Beach County since 2005, is set to open its doors in August 2023. A finalized boundary map shows that the implementation of the new school will move around students from nine different high schools. In an effort to provide some relief to these local surrounding high schools, this new option will accommodate nearly 2,600 students

In a meeting on Thursday, Jan. 12, the Palm Beach County School District’s boundary advisory committee approved the boundary map that pulls students from John I. Leonard, Santaluces, Palm Beach Central and Park Vista high schools into the new high school’s attendance zone. This has caused some controversy from parents who did not want their neighborhoods to be rezoned. 

As the new boundary map shifts students around from various high schools, some parents worry that their children will miss out on certain school programs from different schools. Other worries are of students not adjusting well in a new school. One way this concern is being addressed is by letting students in choice programs stay at their schools as long as they remain in that choice program.  

In a further effort to help resolve overcrowding concerns, a new public middle school is also set to open in August 2023. West Boynton Beach Middle School will have the capacity for almost 1,300 students and is set to help relieve some of the capacity challenges at neighboring schools like Woodlands Middle School and Christa McAuliffe Middle School. 

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