CLERMONT, Fla. – Neighbors are pushing back, even taking legal action, against a new charter school coming to Clermont citing the lack of space and infrastructure to support hundreds of students.
The school would be built near Citrus Tower Boulevard and Steve Street.
Danielle Page lives a stone's throw away from the selected site and filed an appeal with the city of Clermont asking council members to take another look at the placement of the facility.
Page argues that there's just not enough room to house more than 700 reported students on the 5-acre lot.
On Oct. 9, City Council members voted in favor of building the school, however it didn't come without its concerns from staff and Lake County School Board members.
When city staff received the charter school's application initially and did their own analysis on land use, zoning and traffic condition they turned it down.
That decision was echoed by the planning and zoning commission based on traffic conditions.
It was at the second public hearing where council took the staff's input into consideration but still voted in favor of moving forward.
"The City Council took staff’s input into consideration and ultimately approved the project, taking other factors into account beyond the land development code, and expressing a higher concern for the welfare of children and the benefits that the charter school could bring to the community," city of Clermont spokeswoman Kathryn Deen said.
Initially, school board members voted against the building as well, but after representatives with the charter school made changes to the plans, they conceded.
School board member Stephanie Luke said there were concerns but even if they voted against it, representatives could appeal in Tallahassee.
"We're not in favor of the location. There's not much that we can do about that except say our opposition and hope that they listen as good partners in good faith," Luke said.
Rod Jurado, chairman of the Florida Charter Educational Foundation released a statement regarding the future of the charter school:
"The Florida Charter Educational Foundation is sincerely committed to bringing a high quality educational choice to students in Clermont.
"We have been granted approval by the City Council and have seen positive reactions from parents who want their children out of portables and into a school built with the latest in safety and security measures, proven educational results, state-of-the-art technology and dedicated teachers who go above and beyond to provide a personalized learning environment for students.
"Our board governs multiple schools that provide the educational choice parents want and students deserve.
"We have chosen Red Apple Development to build our school and Charter Schools USA to manage it based on decades of exceptional student-driven results.
"We have proven time and time again that our schools are good citizens and add tremendous value to every community in which we operate."
Colleen Reynolds, a representative with Charter Schools USA said the Florida Charter Educational Foundation asked Charter Schools USA to submit the application on their behalf.
"Lake County School District provided the attached information showing that their schools have an issue with overcrowding. In an email they said, although the school district has since refuted that information, FCEF chose to move forward based on the information received from the district along with other factors such as lack of high quality educational choices in Lake County," Reynolds said.
To date, Reynolds said FCEF has not been served with any lawsuit and is unaware of any legal action.
"The choices of thousands of parents who are sending their children to overcrowded schools and who have very limited available educational options should be considered versus one parent who doesn’t want a school in their backyard," Reynolds said.
City attorney's are reviewing the appeal sent by Page.
The charter school, under the management of Charter Schools USA and under the name Seven Lakes Preparatory Academy is expected to open August 2019.