School Board set to approve new boundaries

Decision affects Boynton Beach

It’s a massive but temporary solution for adolescents attending public schools in Boynton Beach and its suburbs.

The Palm Beach County School Board today is set to approve new attendance zones for the 700 students who attend Odyssey Middle School, which is scheduled to close at the end of this school year due to low enrollment. The new zones will disperse the students among five middle schools, causing three to be filled to their capacities or past them.

School officials say the crowding will last only until around 2021, when a new middle school is scheduled to open in the West Boynton area. In the meantime, Christa McAuliffe, Woodlands and Lantana middle schools will be pushed past their them.

Students also will move to Congress Middle in Boynton Beach and Carver Middle in Delray Beach, which will remain under their capacities.

Parents are mostly happy with the changes, and that’s what matters, School Board member Karen Brill said.

“There’s been no negative feedback,” Brill said. “The new schools are not that distant from where the families live. I’m satisfied, and the community capacities or close to is satisfied.”

The district plans to close Odyssey, at 6161 Woolbright Road, because it is only about half full. Families in nearby neighborhoods mostly choose to attend charter schools and magnet schools.

South Tech Academy, a charter school that offers vocational programs for grades six to 12, will lease the Odyssey campus from the school district.

Even though almost 2,000