ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — St. Johns County school officials say they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. While the county is growing, the school district is trying to catch up. However, board members unanimously rejected the bid to build a new school. The school district wants to build four more schools, but its budget won't allow one.
The goal was to have a new school ready by Fall of 2023. It would have been located in the Northwest sector of the county. However, plans were pushed back to 2024.
First Coast News reached out to Bev Slough, one of the school board members. She said they had three options to pick a contractor.
"The low bid was $56.2 million, which is about what we usually spend on high school," Slough explained.
"If a high school is $56 million, what would a K through 8 school be?" reporter Tristan Hardy asked.
"The last one we built, which we opened last year, was $37 million," Slough said.
The school board member said the price of lumber and inflation played a part in the high bidding numbers. To alleviate the overcrowding in some schools, for example, Free Crossing Academy, the school district is in the middle of rezoning families.
It's something Perrin Todd said she would not want for her children. Her concern with the expansion is making sure teachers are taken care of as well.
"Staffing has become a huge problem we already have in our schools," Todd said. "With this expansion going on, it's kind of that double-edged sword, how to staff them and afford to build these schools."
Slough said school officials will "front load some of the decision making process" in the next bidding process. That includes picking out colors and flooring. Doing so would allow the selected bidder to order supplies and get a head start on the project.