Addison Mizner Elementary to be rebuilt at current Boca site

Addison Mizner Elementary School will be razed and rebuilt at its current site, School Board member Frank Barbieri said Monday.

The estimated timeline for the opening of the new school is August 2020 “if everything goes as planned,” Barbieri said.

The Palm Beach County School District had been looking at a parcel in 132-acre Sugar Sand Park but faced legal restrictions as well as opposition from the site’s neighbors. Talks with the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District will now focus instead on using ball fields for recreation by Addison Mizner students, Barbieri said.

Neighbors wanted to keep Addison Mizner within walking distance, not a bus ride away, Barbieri said. The school district is looking to add some land around the school at 199 SW 12th Ave., Barbieri said.

One home was purchased and another homeowner agreed to sell depending on the price, he said. A third home may have to be acquired by eminent domain, the right of a government to acquire private property for a price.

Plans to rebuild Verde Elementary School and house Mizner students in the old building are off the table. Verde will be rebuilt first among seven district schools slated for reconstruction, he said. Barbieri asked city council to help with road improvements along Verde Trail, where the school is.

Addison Mizner students will go to the city’s new school next to Don Estridge High Tech Middle School while their school is being rebuilt, Barbieri said.