RB kids to stay local in plan for new school

City’s students now attend 5 high schools

Palm Beach County school leaders may have taken one step closer to having “city schools” this past week when they agreed to build a $150 million high school in Riviera Beach by 2030. It’s a move toward unifying the predominantly Black city that sends its 2,000 high-school-age students to five different schools.

City leaders say a new high school will give Riviera Beach the opportunity to “root for the home team” and show pride in a local school, but the decision exposes a longstanding issue for the countywide school system: Who gets the privilege of going to school in their own community?

In recent years, the school district has faced criticism because the answer has been “wealthier, whiter communities.”

That issue reared its head in 2021 when Boca Raton donated land for an elementary school that effectively ensured students would continue to attend school within the city limits. It appeared again in 2023 as Wellington parents successfully fought to keep their kids in high schools in the village during the boundary-setting process for the new Dr. Joaquín García High School.

Now, five of seven school board members have reached an informal agreement to build the new high school in Riviera Beach as a dose of equity for a community that has said its students have long been neglected. The board will need to take a formal vote on the plan and negotiate with a charter school that needs to move campuses in order to build the school north of Blue Heron Boulevard.

Once again, city officials are poised to push for keeping their students local. Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans promised collaboration with the school district as the city aims to build a Wellington-style athletic complex that could be used by both the new high school and the public. He said the city may be able to contribute up to $45 million for the complex.