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This petition aims to urge the St. John's County School Board to reconsider their rezoning plans for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic calendar year and preserve the academic excellence that Palencia Elementary School has consistently provided by allowing our children to advance on the existing track from Palencia Elementary to Pacetti Bay Middle School and Nease High School.

Relevant Facts:

1. Academic Performance: Palencia Elementary School and Pacetti Bay Middle School are A-rated schools. Sebastian is currently rated B.
2. Sebastian Infrastructure: Sebastian Middle School does not currently have sufficient parking, enough teachers, or ample turn lanes on Lewis Speedway to accommodate the drop off/ pick up of nearly 400 new students. 
3. Rezoning Palencia /Pacetti children only shifts overcrowding issues from one middle school to another. Sebastian would very soon have the same issue. There are new developments going in at Cordova, Verano Creek and the new community developing at the US 1/ SR 312 extension, overcrowding would quickly be an issue again at Sebastian.
4. The Palencia/ Las Calinas/ Kensington school zone population is stable. There is no additional development in our communities. The population growth that is impacting Pacetti overcrowding is on the western side of the county from new communities such as Shearwater and Silverleaf.  The developers have caused that growth and under mitigation partnerships and public/private partnerships, they are responsible for providing the already planned schools in that area, which are adjacent to Pacetti attendance zones. Students should be rezoned from those areas. 

Impact on Students:
The proposed rezoning plans will force 400 students currently either attending or entering Pacetti Bay Middle School to be rezoned to Sebastian Middle School.  This sudden disruption will not only affect their emotional well-being but also hinder their educational progress by placing them in unfamiliar environments with a lower-rated school. Our students will be forced to change schools two or three times in as many years.  Additionally, it is highly foreseeable that Sebastian will also reach overpopulation quickly and we will be back in this same situation in just a few years. Our community deserves transparency about what middle school our children will attend long term.  

Impact on the Community:
Most parents in our school zone commute North to Jacksonville. Going south to school will be a problem and force parents to drive an additional 20-30 miles round trip. Potential for decline in property values by decline in value of school quality. 

By signing this petition, we call upon those responsible for making decisions regarding school zoning:

Solution: 

1. The residents of Las Calinas/ Kensington/ Palencia formally request this rezoning to be paused or tabled until a more permanent solution can vetted, which would include an architectural study including but not limited to Sebastian Middle School regarding current infrastructure, in addition to permanent alternative middle school solutions that will not result in overcrowding for Palencia students.
2. Immediate impacts could be made on overcrowding at Pacetti by rezoning students south of Palencia and South of Trailmark to Sebastian Middle School. Additionally, new schools are already in development and were included in the rezoning presentation. The already proposed new middle school NN in that area, slide number 40, is adjacent to the Pacetti attendance zone and should be responsible for rezoning and housing new/ overflow students for the same. This is a developer-sponsored/ public/private partnership school that is being built directly in correlation with the population growth in the Western portion of the county. The rezoning should correspond with those students. And Palencia students should be able to continue at Pacetti Bay Middle School currently.  

Together, let us stand united to protect the future of our children's education. Sign this petition to ensure that St. John’s County School Board continues to provide an exceptional learning environment for all students in our community and county.