ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The push for a new middle school in the Avalon Park area continued on Monday. Avalon Middle School currently has double the number of students that it should have.
A meeting held at school district headquarters Monday afternoon addressed a developer's offer to build multiple schools in the area.
Leaders said the developer's offer looked good on paper, and he was initially going to cover the cost of building new schools.
But the school board chairman said there are legal issues and other schools in line for money. He also said that sales tax couldn't be used to pay back the money.
Parents and district officials agree that overcrowding at Avalon Middle School is a problem. But leaders aren't sure if they should consider allowing the private developer, Beat Khali, to build the new school.
"If your proposal today is to build us a school and deed us a school, free and clear without expectation of reimbursement, then we are all ears," school board chairman Bill Sublette said.
But Sublette wanted to know why Khali made his offer to build the schools last minute.
"We are a little befuddled why this proposal of yours was not brought forward to me a month ago or three weeks ago, or to anyone in the last eight months," Sublette said.
Parents said they're concerned because Khali's proposal could delay the start of building a new school. County officials were supposed to vote on the issue last week, but postponed the decision for 30 days.
"The school should listen to my proposal, but for sure not wait until my proposal is good or not," Khali said.
It's unclear exactly what the next step will be for the district. Additional meetings have been scheduled and county commissioners could possibly vote in May.
WFTV
