Why are schools so crowded? District has idea
Young families with kids are replacing older residents.
BOCA RATON — Many have said Boca Raton’s schools are crowded because of incessant development, but the Palm Beach County School District dispelled that notion Tuesday.
Boca schools — most of which enroll beyond their capacities — are teeming with students because of the city’s changing demographics, School Board member Frank Barbieri told the City Council Tuesday.
“There’s a reputation for the Boca schools, they’re (mostly) A-rated,” Barbieri said. “So young families that want to find a good school for their children look in Boca.”
About 90 percent of the new students added at most Boca Raton school in recent years come from existing homes, rather than new developments, according to a School District analysis that Barbieri shared with the council.
That’s perhaps because elderly residents are downsizing, and selling large homes to parents.
“It’s old neighborhoods turning into young neighborhoods,” Barbieri said.
West of city limits, however, the schools are crowded mainly because of large, suburban developments, he said.
Development critics have pointed to crowded schools as a reason to slow residential construction. Councilwoman Andrea O’Rourke suggested in December that the city halt or slow development until crowded schools thin out.
“If we can’t build more because we can’t educate the children, then we have to address that problem before we build more,” O’Rourke said.
While the idea didn’t gain steam, the City Council has taken on the school crowding cause, looking at ways it can partner with the School District on solutions.
The city donated land near Don Estridge High-Tech Middle School, on Spanish River Boulevard and Military Trail, to the district for a new school. That plan requires state approval, which is pending as of Tuesday, officials said.
But the land will be used to temporarily house Verde Elementary Students while that school is being rebuilt.
Meanwhile at Boca Raton High School, one of the most crowded schools in the county, the district is reviewing the address of every student to remove the “boundary jumpers,” or students who use false addresses to attend a certain school.