- April 22, 2024
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The city of Ormond Beach has launched a social media campaign to "Save Osceola Elementary."
The #SaveOurSchool campaign website asks the public to contact Volusia School Board Members via email to let them know they support a new elementary school at the Osceola campus, rather than the Ortona Elementary School campus to the south. Back in August 2020, the School Board voted 4-1 to close Osceola Elementary to pursue a new merged school with Ortona Elementary at that school site. School Board Member Carl Persis, whose district includes Ormond Beach, cast the single opposing vote.
"Osceola Elementary has been a foundational piece of our community for more than 65 years and there is a possibility that it will disappear forever," the city webpage states. "We cannot lose this neighborhood school and force some of the most vulnerable children in our community to travel extremely long distances to school."
The schools are approximately 3.3 miles apart, or an eight-minute drive. The city states it does not believe there was sufficient public involvement in the project due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city also argues that 71% of the children that will attend the new school will live in the "Osceola zone" adds that the Osceola campus has 2.5 more acres than Ortona's campus. The campaign also addresses the subject of equity, brought up by Mayor Derrick Henry at the Jan. 26 School Board meeting, where he urged the School Board to hold steady in its decision. On parking and traffic, the city claims these also point to the Osceola campus being the better choice for a new school, as the architect's plans for Osceola have 40 more parking spaces than the plans for Ortona.
The campaign website also links to a petition to save Osceola Elementary.
At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 8, the City Commission will hold a special meeting to pass a resolution to committing city funds to prevent losing its only beachside school.
This story was updated at 11:35 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 5, to correct the hashtag associated with the campaign. A previous version of this story established the hashtag as #SaveOsceolaElementary
