At Tuesday night’s school board meeting the Brevard School District unanimously approved the construction of two new elementary schools to accommodate the capacity growth it expects to see over the next five years.
- New construction approved for Brevard
- Infrastructure will add a dozen classrooms to Cocoa High
- Two new elementary schools will be added
“It’s a really good problem to have. We are anticipating we will have more people deciding to call Brevard County their home,” Brevard County Schools Superintendent Dr. Desmond Blackburn said.
In the next five years, community members will see a 12-classroom expansion to Cocoa High School. County leaders will also construct two new elementary schools, one in West Melbourne and the other in Viera.
“At the elementary school level," said Blackburn, "particularly in those areas, we don’t foresee having enough current seats to accommodate the growth we expect to see in the future."
Once completed, those two new schools will easily be able to accommodate 1,000 new students.
In addition, they’ll also be reopening the South Lake Elementary School in Titusville for the 2018 and 2019 school year. The school district says they need to accommodate for the expected growth they’ll see in the elementary school field.
“Growth comes with challenges but I would so much more appreciate challenges via growth than challenges on the other side, like if we had to decrease enrollment or close programs," said Blackburn. "So this is an exciting time."
Those two news schools will cost $20 million to build. Construction is expected for the Viera school in 2020 and the West Melbourne school in 2022.