Manatee County School Board reviews Long Range Master Plan

After five steering committee meetings, three community meetings and months of analyzing data, the Manatee County School District has answers as to where schools are needed.

East County definitely needs an additional middle school and might receive a new high school, based on Long Range Master Plan recommendations from consultant DeJONG-RICHTER.

A new middle school will ease congestion at Carlos E. Haile and R. Dan Nolan middle schools, which are both over capacity.

"The strongest comments we received were about the need to build a middle school out east," said Patrick Leopold, of DeJONG-RICHTER.

Estimated cost is $40 million.

A new high school — the most popular option among community residents who attended forums over the last few months — is slated for Parrish or another area considered to be in "north county," or East County.

"We definitely need a new high school," board member Bob Gause said. "We obviously have to do that."

Leopold presented the final results of the plan at a Jan.19 workshop.

So, what's next?

School Board members will continue to review the final recommendations and they will make a recommendation to Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene on next steps.

The board will again discuss the plan at the Feb. 9 workshop, as part of Phase I, Greene said. She will then determine timelines for the most financially feasible projects.