Lake Manatee K-8 to open middle school in phases

When Star Farms resident Kerri McVey decided to move to Lakewood Ranch in July, a major factor was the brand new Lake Manatee K-8 that is being built at her doorstep.

McVey has two children, Brooke (a sixth grader at Dr. Mona Jain Middle School) and Harrison (a fifth grader at the newly opened Lake Manatee). 

She said the plan was to have Brooke attend Mona Jain for one year and then join her brother at Lake Manatee when the middle school opened up. With the new rezoning maps and plan for Lake Manatee, only sixth grade will open in August, with seventh in 2027 and eighth in 2028. 

As Brooke is currently in sixth grade, she can't transfer to Lake Manatee for either her seventh or eighth grade years since it won't be open yet. 

“She and many others who have been counting the days will miss the new school entirely,” McVey said. “For those kids, it is a big deal. They do not follow zoning debates. They see a beautiful school they have been promised, and they are told to keep driving past it for two more years.” 

While area parents might have assumed the entire middle school at Lake Manatee would be open, a phased opening was always being considered according to district officials.

Kevin Chapman, the associate superintendent of administration and strategic engagement, said new schools usually are opened in a phased approach for a number of reasons that include programming and hiring. 

Photo by Madison Bierl

Jennifer Sanzone, a Star Farms parent who moved from New York in June, is concerned that a phased approach will keep other area middle schools overcrowded. 

She has three children — Mikayla McLoughlin, Scarlett McLoughlin and Dylan McLoughlin. While Mikayla is headed to high school next school year, Scarlett was planning to attend seventh grade at Lake Manatee. Dylan is in kindergarten at B. D. Gullett Elementary and will attend first grade at Lake Manatee next year. 

Sanzone appreciates the new school alleviating some of the overcrowding in the local elementary schools and believes middle schools should be given the same opportunity. 

"We're all upset because we knew there was overcrowding, but we thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel with this new school opening," Sanzone said. "Now they're basically saying 'nope.'" 

Sanzone also said next year's sixth graders should be able to attend schools with upperclassmen as a "right of passage."

“I would encourage parents to attend those meetings with the district and to voice their concerns with them," said Xiomara Cappiello, a fourth grade teacher at Lake Manatee. "We're receiving the information at the same time, and we're having to make adjustments, just like parents, based on this new information. We're all kind of in the same boat.” 

Todd Richardson, the principal at Lake Manatee, said he is excited about the slower transition of opening one middle school grade at a time. He and Chapman said it gives the school more of an opportunity to establish a culture as they students rising from Lake Manatee's elementary grades will know the expectations. 

“They're not coming in as fresh sixth graders who don't know what they’re supposed to do here and how to do it,” Richardson said. “It takes a little bit of the pressure off because middle school is obviously a different animal.” 

Jamara Clark, the director of student enrollment, said there have been concerns about Lake Manatee growing its enrollment too fast. 

“People continue to move in the area, so we want to make sure we are not impacting Gullett with its enrollment too drastically. I think we're on target.” 

Photo by Madison Bierl

Brando Fetzek, vice president of NDC Construction and project executive for Lake Manatee K-8, said construction is moving toward the completion of Phase Two of the school, which is the middle school and gymnasium. It will be completed at the end of February.

Shortly after the new year, construction will begin on the elementary school addition. 

"We are excited to continue to support the growth of that school. The community needs it," Fetzek said. 

Chapman said due to the Schools of Hope legislation — which in 2025 was changed to allow charter schools to take over space in under-capacity public school buildings — the School District of Manatee County is not in a rush to get the addition completed. It will be ready for the 2027-2028 school year. 

He said the Schools of Hope legislation is “a little ambiguous about what defines capacity” and newly constructed schools purposely take years to fill a school in phases.

Chapman said the district, however, doesn't want to risk that its newly built school could sit empty and potentially be taken over by Schools of Hope. 

Members of the school district are open to hearing feedback from the public. The best way to do that is through the Let’s Talk questionnaire on the school district website under 2026-2027 Residential Attendance Zones.

“We're absolutely open to rethink these decisions, but at the end of the day, the school board's going to have the final decision,” Chapman said. “We want to make sure that the community and parents know that we're tracking all their comments, listening and meeting with parents.” 

The new zones and the final decision for the phased opening of the Lake Manatee middle school will be made on Dec. 5.