Rezoning to relocate 1,187 Sarasota students to Skye Ranch School

School staff and parents voiced opposition before the Sarasota County School Board voted unanimously on Nov. 22 to set a new boundary that will relocate 1,187 students from Ashton Elementary, Lakeview Elementary and Sarasota Middle School to the new Skye Ranch School.

District staff said the rezoning was a needed change to free up capacity at schools that are over capacity or nearing capacity, while school board members expressed sympathy for the difficulty of relocation.

Extending as far as Legacy Trail to the west, the new boundary was among three options created through the input of a Boundary Advisory Committee involving principals, teachers and parents, and the district’s planning team.

The other two options set the boundary at I-75 and Honore Ave. 

A K-8 school, Skye Ranch School will serve students up to sixth grade starting in August 2025, with seventh grade coming in 2026 and eighth grade in 2027.

The public speaks 

Numerous members of the public spoke about resolution during a Nov. 19 meeting, with most opposed.

"This is a very inequitable divide, with little room for change,” said Ashton Elementary teacher Melissa Walters. "If Scenario 1 occurs, Ashton's free and reduced lunch rate will be at 45 percent, a 15 percent increase... Sarasota sets the Title I threshold much higher, but typically, by state standards, over 40 percent is considered a Title 1 school."

Shannon Haddad, ESE instructional facilitator at the school, praised the work on the difficult decision.

She also said, "However, as much as I respect the work that has been done, I stand before you today feeling devastated by the impact that this redistricting will have on the Ashton community, our culture, our family," while stating she was "deeply" disappointed, saying the impact on teachers had not been given the attention other factors had. 

School board member Liz Barker, who served as part of the Boundary Advisory Committee, has children who attend Lakeview and will be affected by the change. 

“Please understand that just on a personal note, as a parent, I deeply understand the challenges of switching schools and the upheaval that that brings,” she said. “That said, it's my responsibility to make a decision that's in the best interest not just of my family, but of the district as a whole…”

District staff also said the redistricting was a necessary move. 

“Keep in mind Ashton was at 139% capacity, quite frankly shouldn't have really got that high, and we shouldn’t have allowed it to get that high,” said district COO Michael Kemp, noting the redistricting would create a more manageable level of service.

Deputy Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer Rachael O’Dea said the district's policy did not allow it to immediately offer the option for people to choose a school outside their district, as the limit for doing so was 90% capacity, which Ashton and Lakeview are still projected to exceed. 

“It's a great, great idea and it's something we will vet along with the metrics, and if we can honor it we will, and if we can't then there will be very hard data as to why we can't do that,” she said.

District documents list a two-minute increase in bus times, from 23 minutes to 25 minutes.

Little said bus routes are being evaluated by drivers, and his goal with the district is routing and planning for traffic throughout the year, rather than only during the less busy season.

He also said buses have kids separated by age, and the "vast majority" have five cameras. 

Kepp said projections are based on the assumption that all students over two miles from the school will ride the bus, stating that “we under promise, we over-deliver.”

Avenues of communication

The public also voiced concerns regarding what they said was a lack of communication on the proposal, stating they had not known it was being put forward. 

Board member Bridget Ziegler said she has prioritized communication, but that the board needed to pursue other avenues. 

"It’s easy to say because we live, eat, breathe, and sleep this; everyone else has their other lives and so it's really all about, how do we reach them?...” she said. 

“People did not try to slip it under the radar,” board member Tom Edwards said. “They thought they were communicating, they thought they were getting the word out, but everywhere I turn, including my own self, it wasn't appropriately communicated, and we should own that.”

Board member Robyn Marinelli said it was important to recognize the effects of the redistricting, although the majority of emails she received were supportive.

She said a previous redistricting affecting Brentwood Elementary had been "traumatic," but she was sure families and kids would be provided with the needed resources. 

"That's going to be something that I know Mr. Connor and the the team is going to be working on, and (Principal Jamie Hannon) at Skye Ranch I’m assuming has open houses…” she said. 

Before noting the many families seeking to attend Ashton, board member Tom Edwards discussed the promising qualities of Skye Ranch School.

"It's an amazing school; I've been there," he said. "It's going to be state-of-the-art; it's unbelievable, and if you can go, go," Edwards said.