Growth in Horizon West spurs Orange school construction
In the past 15 years, the Orange County school district has built 50 new schools, and it plans to build 14 more in the next five — all to handle increasing student enrollment. Three of those new campuses are expected to be ready for students in August, all in the fast-growing Horizon West community.
There is so much residential growth in that section of Orange that the district is now building so-called relief schools for schools that were built to relieve crowding on other campuses not so many years ago.
Population surges south of Orlando and in the Lake Nona area have prompted school construction, too. And a voter-approved sales tax — given the OK in 2002 and again in 2014 — has provided money for the district to renovate or replace more than 100 old schools, spurring campus construction projects across the county.
But building new schools because existing ones are packed with students is most prevalent in a swath of southwestern Orange where Horizon West has sprung from former citrus groves.
“This is one of the fastestgrowing areas of the country,” said Pam Gould, the Orange County School Board member whose district includes Horizon West. “It’s crazy. It’s absolutely crazy.”
Here’s a by-the-numbers look at what’s happening, based on school district data.
4 percent and 52 percent
Percentage of county land that Horizon West takes up — and percentage of 2017 Orange residential building permits filed for Horizon West homes, according to Orange County government figures. That explains why schools in that community are filling so quickly.
23 and 13
The number of new schools to be built under the district’s 10-year capital plan — and the number on that planned construction list to be built in southwestern Orange from now through 2028.
2,620
The December student enrollment at Bridgewater Middle School in Horizon West, which is the most crowded of the district’s 196 traditional schools. Bridgewater, which opened in 2007 to provide relief for then-crowded Lakeview Middle School, now has nearly 1,600 more students than its campus was built to accommodate. Horizon West is “just a lovely place to be,” Gould said, but rapid growth always strains public services, including schools.
“It’s challenging,” she said. “You can’t build far enough ahead.”
90
Number of portable buildings at Bridgewater, used to help house all the extra students on a campus designed for 1,040. Bridgewater has more portables than any other Orange public school.
$83.5 million
The budget for the new middle school that will relieve crowding at Bridgewater, plus two other new elementary schools in Horizon West. That new middle school, under construction on Tarrant Road, and the new elementary schools all are to open in August. The new elementary schools aim to reduce crowding at other nearby campuses, including Keene’s Crossing and Independence elementary schools.
2015
The year Independence Elementary opened as a relief school. It now has 500 more students than it was built for — and needs relief of its own. The new relief school (it doesn’t have a name yet) is under construction on Water Springs Boulevard.
1,511
The December student enrollment at Keene’s Crossing, which opened as a relief school in 2009, and has a campus meant for 800. It will also get help when that new campus opens this summer. But because so many people are moving into the area, the new school that opens in August 2019 is expected to fill quickly — so it is slated to get relief when yet another new Horizon West school opens in August 2020.
40 and 33
The number of portable classrooms at Keene’s Crossing and Independence elementary schools, respectively.
2,173
Number of portable classrooms in use at Orange public schools through the end of 2017. That’s down from 3,400 in 2009, a decline that’s happened even as enrollment