Educators in Lake and Sumter Counties are committed to maintaining high standards and providing quality education as they face the challenge of accommodating an increasing number of students.

Lake County: Managing School Capacity in the Face of Rapid Growth

Lake County’s surge in new developments has school district officials staying vigilant in managing school capacity. 

From the moment a development proposal is received, the district engages in a thorough review process to assess how these projects will impact local schools. This includes evaluating potential capacity issues and determining if new facilities are needed.

“We see development all the way from a conceptual level through to when they issue a certificate of occupancy,” says Kelly Randall, Lake County Schools’ executive director of facilities and planning.

To manage this, the district uses a detailed tracking system that monitors each development’s progress, starting with an adequate public facilities assessment. This system helps identify potential capacity issues early on. 

“We look at the schools that are serving that area and we provide a report to the local government that says, ‘Here’s what the capacity situation is at those schools, here’s how many students we would expect to see from that development, and here’s what kind of impact that development would have on those schools,’” Randall says.

The district also uses a student generation rate metric to estimate how many students each new home will produce. On average, every 10 houses in a subdivision generates three students, spread across all grade levels. 

“People see all those houses going up and they think, ‘Oh my gosh, every single one of those houses is going to have people with a bunch of kids.’ But it just depends,” Randall says. “Many are occupied by empty nesters or young couples without kids. And over time, the number of students generated by these homes decreases.”

When a development triggers capacity concerns, the district can require developers to enter into proportionate share mitigation agreements. This means that developers may need to contribute financially to the construction of new schools or the expansion of existing ones. For instance, a new high school is planned for the Wellness Way area in Clermont. Supervisor of Growth Planning Helen LaValley says developers in these areas might be required to help fund the new high schools to ensure adequate capacity.

Currently, there are 25 existing public schools in North Lake County and 15 in South Lake County. 

Randall says they are addressing capacity needs in North Lake by renovating or expanding whenever possible. Meanwhile, in South Lake, the construction of new schools is more prominent at this time.

“We’re continuously assessing and planning to ensure that we can meet the needs of our expanding community,” Randall says, noting that the district meets with local government planners quarterly. 

The County’s Educational Concurrency Review Committee will meet with a group of local government officials, the school board and planners in December to talk about school concurrency and development.

“We get together as a group to talk about what’s going on in the county, areas of concern, project updates and that kind of thing, so we all understand where we’re going and what we’re doing,” Randall says.

Sumter County: Preparing for the Unknown

Sumter County, which is home to eight traditional schools, one alternative school and a charter school, faces a different set of challenges.

“We haven’t seen a lot of student growth,” Assistant Superintendent Deborah Moffitt explains. “We had a bump about two years ago, then last year it kind of leveled out, but we are building, and we opened up a new school.” 

According to Moffitt, last year the district freed up space by opening a new 4-5-6 center by reallocating grades from existing elementary and high schools. New classrooms are also under construction at South Sumter Middle School and Lake Panasoffkee Elementary School. 

“We’re setting up the infrastructure we need to meet future growth,” Moffitt says. 

One of the biggest challenges is the unpredictability of the demographic makeup of new residents. 

“We don’t always know if new residents are families with school-aged children,” she adds. “They could be single adults, couples without kids, or retirees. Until they show up at our doors, it’s a bit of a crystal ball.”

To manage this uncertainty, the district budgets for extra staff, including teachers and paraprofessionals, to be ready if the need arises. 

“If we don’t end up needing these positions, the funds often go back to our staff through salary increases or other benefits,” Moffitt says.

Despite these challenges, Sumter County takes pride in its achievements. The district is ranked as an ‘A’ school, tied for fifth in the state. 

“We’re very proud of our ranking,” Moffitt says. “We’re dedicated to ensuring that when growth does come, we’re ready to accommodate it without compromising our standards.”  

Photos: Nicole Hamel

Photos of South Sumter Middle School and Lake Panasoffkee Elementary School provided by Sumter County Schools

School Concurrency Review Process Chart  provided by Lake County Schools