Have plans for new East County high school perished?

Since he became a student at Lakewood Ranch High School two years ago, Noah Candocia has learned to appreciate the ham sandwich he packs every morning for lunch.

He said waiting in line for a cafeteria lunch, along with the hundreds of other sophomores on lunch break, would take him 25 minutes. 

"It's pretty busy in the cafeteria at lunch," Candocia said. "The hallways are crowded when we're all walking to classes, too. But I don't notice how crowded school is when I'm in class. I have about 20-25 other kids in my classes."

Candocia is one of the 2,290 students who attend the East County high school, which has the largest student population in the county and operates with 581 students more than its capacity.

His mother, Yudit Candocia, hoped the school's population would decrease by the Manatee County School District choosing East County as its location for the district's newest high school. But Lakewood Ranch High's population might not be changing too much.

The district is taking steps toward building its new high school in Parrish.

"I'm pretty sure we need another high school here," Yudit Candocia said. "We love the school and they do a good job of balancing classes, but sometimes, a month into the school year, students have to switch classes because there are just too many kids in one class."

April 1, Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene announced the district made an offer on a 50-acre property on Erie Road in Parrish. The land is adjacent to property the district purchased in 2005.

Officials planned to build an elementary and middle school on that property, but instead hope to utilize both parcels for the 80- to 100-acre expanse that will house the high school, which Greene hopes will open by the 2019-2020 school year.

As of press time Tuesday, the district hadn't heard whether its offer was accepted.

Greene said the school will help ease congestion at the three high schools currently running at or above capacity, Palmetto, Braden River and Lakewood Ranch.

"We hope those (East County) parents will drive to Parrish," Greene said. "We haven’t drawn up an attendance zone for that school yet, so it's too early to say which areas will benefit the most from the school. We will be going through that process later."

The district will have to create an attendance zone for the school, a geographic area that has been designated to determine which students are zoned to attend the new high school.

"Even though we're a school district of choice, if you live in that school's attendance zone you are guaranteed a spot at that school," Greene said.

School choice has been a factor in surging enrollment in the eastern portion of the county.

At Braden River High, 122 students travel from Palmetto, Ellenton, Parrish and Myakka to attend the school. Lakewood Ranch High is home to 400 students from those areas.

Braden River High registrar Ellen Meade agrees a Parrish location will take stress off Braden River and Lakewood Ranch high schools, while also better serving students who travel from Myakka and northern areas for school.

"Parrish makes sense," Meade said. "There are no schools on that north side other than Palmetto High, which already has more kids than I have here right (at Braden River) now. Once Fort Hamer Bridge is built, it will be more appealing for kids in Myakka to go there, too. Some of those kids have to get up at 5:30 a.m. to catch their bus. That school would capture that whole area."

Greene said the district considered utilizing the 60 acres of property it owns on Rye Road, but that wasn't enough space for the school.

Those acres are also located in a flood zone with railroad tracks nearby.

"That piece of property had quite a few challenges," Greene said. "It just wasn't a good fit. We weren't comfortable with choosing that space."

Braden River High Assistant Principal Don French agreed that Parrish could use a high school, but he sees how crowded his school is each day.

"People love this area," French said. "They want to raise their kids here."

"When we moved here, I was about 4 or 5," French said of the Lakewood Ranch area. "There was nothing but dirt at a certain point on State Road 70. East County was farm land. Now, there's a Wawa here and a Walgreens there. We're growing."

Aside from Candocia, other parents of Braden River and Lakewood Ranch high school students agreed the county should have chosen Lakewood Ranch as the high school's new site.

Michael Plovenic and his family moved from Queens, N.Y. a couple months ago. He has already noticed how packed Lakewood Ranch High is, as he sits in line and waits to pick up his children at the end of the school day.

"When we toured the school and I saw all those portables out back, I knew there had to be a lot of kids here," Plovenic said. "There are more kids in school here than what my kids were used to in New York."

Clara Dabage has children who attend Lakewood Ranch High and Nolan Middle School, which is running at 219 children over capacity.

Although both schools are crowded and it can take Dabage more than 25 minutes to exit the parking lot when picking them up or bringing them to school, she wouldn't consider driving 17 miles to the Parrish site to bring her children to school.

"This is just a crowded area," Dabage said. "But I still won't drive to Parrish."

She hopes the opening of a new school will make the parking lots and her children's classrooms less crowded.

"It's a different environment at this high school," Dabage said. "A lot of people are coming in from other areas. Not everyone lives in Lakewood Ranch." 

Although her children are still in elementary school, B.D. Gullett Elementary parent Stephani Lis has been staying informed on the high school crowding situation.

Her children are zoned for Braden River High, and where she lives is at least 30 minutes from Parrish. Driving to the new high school would require her to drive past her zoned school to bring her children to the new school.

But if she lived closer to the interstate, she might consider driving to Parrish to avoid packed classrooms.

"Once Fort Hamer Bridge is open, it will be easy to get back and forth to Parrish," Lis said. "It's hard for students now to come from Parrish. They have to take back roads or I-75, which is always congested. I think this school will help lighten our schools and will be more efficient for the students who live out that way."