ST.JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. -- St. Johns County has the top-rated public school districts in Florida. It is also one of the top 20 fastest growing counties in the country. As more and more young families move to St. Johns County, the school district is forced to find new ways to keep up with the growth.
Jillian and Sean Constable recently moved to St. Johns County. Like so many other families, they picked this location in large part because of the excellent schools.
"This is our new house, and it's in Shearwater," Jillian Constable said. "It's new construction so everything is brand new which we love."
The Constables, who have two young children, moved into a new subdivision off County Road 210 that is expected to have about 2,000 homes when its built out.
"It just seemed like the perfect location because it was just out of the city, but still close enough where the commute isn't terrible and on top of that it has a much better school system and for raising a family it's just better," she said.
From 2010 to 2017, St. Johns County saw its population grow by 28 percent. Right now, the district has just shy of 40,000 students. In the next 10 years, Superintendent Tim Forson says the school district is projected to surpass 50,000 students.
"Are we concerned about the growth? Absolutely, because parents move in and you have to have a seat for that child when they come and so we always have to be planning ahead," Forson said.
The district is growing by more than a school a year. Fifteen-hundred new students were added this year. Within the next 20 years, the district projects it will add enough students to fill 20 new schools.
"So it's really about a school year, but that will also include the expansion of existing schools, adding capacity to many schools that we already have online," Forson said. "One of the reasons is there's just not going to be that many school sites and land available to build twenty to twenty five schools within that same window of time most likely."
Right now, construction is underway on a new K-8 school in Aberdeen in the northwest part of the county and another new school is being built in the Nocatee are that will open in August.
Forson says the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2015 has helped the district afford the growth, but with that growth, parents need to be prepared for change.
"The flip side of that is that if you come into our school district, especially the north part of the county, there's a good chance that if you're bringing a child into the elementary years that they may be rezoned to another school at some point in time during their career because there are that many schools coming online," Forson said. "I think that's what creates discomfort sometimes for parents is to say gosh I got used to the school and now I'm being moved to a new school."
The new schools in Aberdeen and Nocatee that open in August will start out as K-6 schools and will add a grade each year until they are K-8 schools. Next school year, Mill Creek Elementary will become Mill Creek Academy and eventually become a K-8 school.