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Hernando Today

J.D. Floyd Environmental Program To Stay Put

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By LINNEA BROWN, Hernando Today

Published: February 6, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - J.D. Floyd will continue as a mini-magnet.

That's the direction the Hernando County School Board decided to take Tuesday, leaving the district's middle school environmental program at its current location at J.D. Floyd Elementary School in Spring Hill, instead of relocating it to Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics in Spring Hill or West Hernando Middle School in Brooksville.

Currently, only 24 of 238 middle school students in the environmental program enter the program from schools other than J.D. Floyd.

However, in the five years that the program has been in existence, it has only been open to students entering middle school from four schools: J.D. Floyd, Deltona, Spring Hill and Suncoast Elementary Schools.

That's because the environmental program was originally designed to eliminate overcrowding at middle schools those students would have been zoned for.

However, several board members made it clear that they want to open the program to students countywide.

"I would not limit anyone from going there who wants to," Vice Chairman Jim Malcolm said. "I think it should be open to all kids, if they so choose."

Officials also plan to do a better job at publicizing the program to other schools.

Upon suggestion from board member Diane Bonfield, staff will look into the possibility of placing a similar program at Eastside Elementary School in Brooksville.

"The kids on the east side of the county have endured long bus rides for too long," she said. "It's not right to make them commute all the way to J.D. Floyd. I don't see why we can't create a duplicate problem for the folks over there."

Board member Pat Fagan agreed.

"How important it is to provide programs everyone can be a part of?" he said. "We need to make sure (schools don't) feel they've been left out."

Board member John Sweeney also suggested the program expand to students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade in the future.

Either way, even with the option of looking at additional programs farther down the road, there's no need to dismantle the successful program at J.D. Floyd, board members said.

"I have not heard a thing today that convinces me it should be moved elsewhere," board member Jim Malcolm said.

The program at J.D. Floyd will now be housed in a new board-approved wing, while removing existing portables.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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