Seminole Co. school district considers rezoning, closing schools

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Some voters said they regret the vote they cast Tuesday, in favor of higher taxes for school.

Parent Shannon Provenzano said she chose to send her kids to Crystal Lake Elementary instead of their zoned school.

"This school was closer to my place of employment so that's why we chose this school," said Provenzano.

She gets that option because she lives in one the Seminole County School District's cluster zones.

They were created in the ‘90s for desegregation reasons and now eliminating them is on the table as the district rezones its 36 elementary schools.

The district's goal is to balance school population, while ultimately means students will be moved from one school to another.

"It's an issue of capacity. We have some schools that have space and I really feel that we owe the taxpayers the opportunity for us to balance the school zones," said Seminole County School District Superintendent Walt Griffin.

On Tuesday, voters approved raising their own taxes to help the school district avoid any drastic changes that could affect students.

When asked why rezoning wasn't taken off the table, Griffin said, "I think, you know, the tax is a wonderful thing. Of course we will make some difficult decisions on how to utilize the tax, but we have an obligation to deal with student attendance zones annually. We have to look at it."

Eyewitness News learned closing down entire schools is also an option.

"For us, it would be very unfortunate to have to leave and we'd be very sad about it," said Provenzano.

The school board will decide on eliminating cluster zones later in November.

WFTV