APRIL FOOLS : Longboat's newest retired CEO: It's Obama!

America’s most celebrated freshman-to-be has changed her mind about the college she’ll attend this fall, based largely on lessons learned during her year off after high school and her family’s choice of retirement home.

Malia Obama this week announced she will join the Class of 2021 at Sarasota’s New College of Florida as a commuter student instead of attending Harvard. And following her to Southwest Florida: the entire former first family.

Barack and Michelle Obama, Malia’s younger sister Sasha, and Bo and Sunny, the Portuguese Water Dogs, are house-hunting on Longboat Key, hoping to find that special spot for their golden years while sticking close to their 18-year-old daughter.

Obama was reported to be “blown away” by the Key’s golf, court and watersports options and is said to be enlisting the real estate help of Sir Richard Branson, a fellow lover of parasailing, jet-skiing and the founder of the multibillion dollar Virgin Group and, as it turns out, a licensed Realtor in Florida.

A visit two weeks ago, when the Obamas tried out some of what the area has to offer, won them over. The 55-year-old former president was convinced after a round at the Longboat Key Club’s Harborside course and a few drinks at the Tavern and Whiskey Bar.

“I hear you have a lot of ex-CEOs around here,’’ Obama said. “Yeah, OK. Did anyone have the nuclear launch codes? So that was a 3 on Number 5, right?”

The Obamas initially began their search on the north end of the key, with an eye toward Malia’s morning and afternoon commutes across Sarasota Bay. They have since broadened their circle to include the entire key as they consider homesites large enough to include a helipad, from which Malia can be flown to class.

Longboat Key leaders were polite but a bit surprised by the Obamas’ interest in the area. While honored to be considered by such potentially extraordinary neighbors, more mundane concerns surfaced during a recent Town Commission meeting.

“He can’t take the helicopter to Publix,’’ said resident Bob Nimby. “He’s a one-man traffic jam.”

“But maybe he can get the drawbridges to stop opening for nothing,’’ someone else yelled from the back of the commission chambers.

One property the Obamas toured, but have ruled out, is the $19.5 million Ohana home, which has been on the market for years. Though the rhyme is catchy and hard to resist on a Christmas card when combined with the traditional Hawaiian greeting, "it wouldn’t send the right message to the American people,’’ Obama said through a spokesman.

The spokesman said the family is looking for at least four bedrooms and three baths though is leery of waterfront property, given the possibility of sea-level rise "especially in the next four years.’’

Malia’s decision to take a year off after high school touched off nationwide debate over the wisdom of such a break. The New York Times called the so-called “gap year” a growing and expensive trend, and other critics called it just another case of lazy young people putting off their entrance into the real world.

In her case, Malia’s time off wasn’t all movies and video games. She interned in New York at The Weinstein Co., a movie studio run by Obama supporters Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

Malia said her year off from school taught her a lot about the business world and the importance of staying close to family. With that, it made perfect sense to swap plans from the Ivy League to Sarasota’s small, liberal arts college.

“They had me at ‘liberal,’" she said.