EATONVILLE, Fla. – Advocates with the historic Hungerford property are calling for the Orange County School Board to return the land back to the community for their control, adding that the property is sacred to the town of Eatonville.
A lawsuit against the school board claims the district is “acting outside of its legal authority” in seeking the remaining 100 acres of the property.
On Friday, attorneys with the Southern Poverty Law Center asked the judge to declare that the school board failed to release a deed dated back to the 1950s which requires the property to be used for educational purposes.
“In 1951 a court decided that the Hungerford property should be transferred to the school board for the use of education for Black children. At the time there were no schools for Black children in Orange County, and that deed restriction has continued to run with the land consistent with the original charitable trust that was established by Ms. Hatler’s ancestors and others who had set aside this land for educational opportunities for Black children since the late 1800s,” said Kirsten Anderson, Deputy Legal Director of Southern Poverty Law Center.
In February, leaders in Eatonville voted against a zoning plan for residential and retail space and in March, a contract to purchase the property fell through after a developer offered to build more than 300 homes.
“Ultimately our goal is to call on the school board to do what’s right and to return this land for the community to control because this is sacred land for the people of Eatonville and they should exercise their own self-determination over what happens to that land,” Anderson said.
Orange County Public Schools continues to own the property.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: