Clay County Schools is trying to respond to growth. | News4Jax
Published on December 16, 2024 at 3:59 pm
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Clay County is looking to address a pressing issue in the area — expanding the number of junior high schools.
Currently, the county has four times the number of elementary schools (28) as it does junior high schools (seven), and the district is taking steps to accommodate growth in this fast-developing area.
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The population boom is driving efforts to expand classroom capacity with current projects focusing on Lake Asbury Junior High and Oakleaf Junior High, where two-story buildings with 32 classrooms are under construction.
This will convert both schools into sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade junior highs upon completion. Presently, all junior high schools in Clay serve only seventh and eighth graders.
Clay County parents
Parents like Jeremy Davis have noticed the need for new schools. He and his family moved to Clay from St. Johns County. “That was the reason we moved to Clay because of the growth in St. Johns,” he said. “It followed us.”
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Clay already dealt with some rezoning in 2021 when a large chunk of students were rezoned from Oakleaf to Orange Park schools to accommodate the growing population in the Argyle area. The decision mostly affected students who live in Argyle.
Parent Terry Sibley expressed concerns about temporary solutions.
“They need to go ahead and build more mortar schools instead of those mobile home-like trailer classrooms,” he said. “The schools would [also] last longer with brick-and-mortar.”
The county is working toward this goal, supported by a sales tax hike approved to fund school construction and reduce reliance on portable classrooms, something the expansion of Lake Asbury and Oakleaf contribute toward.
This story was produced by News4Jax, a Jacksonville Today news partner.
