New high school will be built in Lakewood Ranch

The School District of Manatee County is moving forward in the process of building a full-service high school, currently referred to as High School AAA, located at Rangeland Parkway and Post Boulevard in Lakewood Ranch. 

The district and school board members were exploring the possibility of a collegiate type high school, where students could earn their associate degree, but with limited sports and arts opportunities in order to reduce the cost of building the brand new school. The High School AAA will go forward with full sports and arts facilities.

School Board Member Richard Tatem said he thought the collegiate school was an idea that the board was open to pursuing, but no parent told him that is what they wanted. Instead, everyone said they wanted a full high school with all of those usual high school opportunities.

“Essentially the community is getting exactly what they want: a big high school with everything in it,” interim superintendent Kevin Chapman said. 

Chapman said the school will be similar to Parrish Community High School and will be built in two phases. He said a full campus with 2,000 student stations — two academic buildings and full athletic and arts facilities — will be ready by August 2027 at a price of approximately $200 million. The school will be approximately 265,000 square feet. 

During the July 29 workshop discussion, the full high school option was estimated to cost $149,000,000 and provide 1,250 student stations. Since then, the board has decided to build two academic buildings instead of one, which provides 2,000 student stations instead of 1,250, which is why the estimated price has risen. 

A third academic building is planned as a potential addition if it is needed down the road. It would cost between $15 million and $20 million and would provide an additional 500 student stations. 

“I’m glad we’re going forward with the full high school, and I am thankful to everyone who contacted the board and the district on this topic to make their voices heard,” said Board Member Heather Felton. “We need to hear from our constituents. We need to know what they want.” 

The same architect and builder that was used for Parrish Community High School will plan and build High School AAA. Schenkel Shultz Architecture is the architect and Gilbane Building Company is the builder. 

Chapman said the school board members will take a “major step” in regards to the full-scale project when they vote on the project during the Aug. 26 regular school board meeting. That vote is considered a formality at this point.

Photo by Madison Bierl

The preconstruction general maximum price, which is an estimate for the price to build the school, will be discussed on that day. 

Schenkel Shultz Architecture is under contract, and Chapman said the final architectural plans should be complete by mid September. He estimated there will be shovels in the ground by early November. 

“The state of Florida says that school boards, their duty is to provide a free, high quality, safe and secure public school system,” Tatem said. “I hope that when the school is built, that will be the result.”

“I would love for (students) to go there and go ‘Oh gosh, this is an awesome school’ and start clubs and make friends, join sports and put themselves on the map in whatever way they can,” Felton said. “Some of our schools are amazing in sports, some are outstanding in science and math. I want them to put themselves on the map.”