BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A state committee ranked the rebuilding of Lake Butler Elementary School as the Number 1 project for Florida’s Special Facility Construction Account for the upcoming 2025 legislative session.
The Florida Department of Education’s Special Facility Construction Committee vote on September 5 puts the Union County School District on solid footing for a state appropriation in the 2025 legislative session.
Schools Superintendent Mike Ripplinger asked committee members for $88.5 million during the meeting in Tallahassee.
He said $64.6 million would fund the construction of a new pre-k through fifth-grade school, $19.6 million would provide money to demolish and renovate the current school for other uses, $2.2 million would renovate the middle school gym, and $2.1 million would finance moving the district’s administrative offices to the current elementary school campus.
Also seeking funds from the committee were Baker County for a new middle school, Desoto County for a pre-k through third-grade campus, and Holmes County for a new kindergarten through 12th-grade school in Ponce de Leon. The committee ranked Union County’s project first, followed by Baker, Desoto, and Holmes.
The committee’s rankings now go to the Florida Legislature as part of the Education Department’s annual capital outlay budget request. If Tallahassee lawmakers green-light the Lake Butler project and the governor signs off on the new school, the district should have around $30 million to start the project in the summer of 2025. Ripplinger said the state typically funds new school construction over three years.
Nearly $1 million for pecan grove and hay field
Ripplnger said one of the first checks the district would cut for the new school would be a nearly $1 million expenditure to Shadd Properties, LLC, for a 23.23-acre pecan grove and hay field adjacent to the elementary’s current campus. The parcel across Southwest 6th Street (State Road 121) from the Lake Butler Apartments would be the site of the new school.
The superintendent said the district and the Shadd Family signed a binder for the potential purchase, with the district paying $40,000 per acre, less a $1,000 per acre contribution from the family to the district, putting the land cost at $905,970.
“I had gone to them probably over a year ago,” Ripplinger said, “letting them know we were pursuing a new school. They’re from Union County, have children who went through Union County schools, have grandchildren in the Union County school system, and are very strong supporters of our students and community.”
The school’s chief said the district also considered another site for the school on the other side of Lake Butler but chose the Shadd property because of its proximity to the current campus.
Facilities date back to 1956
In his presentation to the Special Facility Construction Committee, Ripplinger said the elementary school’s buildings date back to 1956, and the school’s 22 portables have outlived their life expectancies. He also said the current campus is overcrowded, the large number of drop-offs and pick-ups causes traffic issues, and the district is spending an inordinate amount of money to maintain the aging facilities.
The superintendent added that the new school would allow the district to move fifth-grade students from the middle school to the elementary, eliminating the need for three portables at the middle school and converting the sixth through eighth-grade campus into a fully brick-and-mortar facility.
Ripplinger showed committee members photographs of damage caused by compromised roofs, standing water caused by inadequate drainage, and an undersized cafeteria that can only serve one grade at a time, lengthening the time it takes to serve students lunch to nearly two and a half hours.
Will be one of the largest K-5 schools in Florida
Ripplinger said that once fifth-grade students move to the new elementary school, the campus will host nearly 1,200 students.
“It will be a very large school,” he said. “You’re not going to find very many elementary schools in the State of Florida with a thousand students or more.”
According to Niche.com, the largest K-5 schools in Florida are the City of Pembroke Pines Charter School, with 1,898 students, Mater Academy Elementary in Miami, with 1,529, and Horizons Elementary in Davenport, between Orlando and Tampa, with 1,468 students.
The superintendent said the district could split the elementary school population, sending some students back to the old campus after renovations. However, that option would tamper with what Ripplinger and many in Union County feel is a cherished feature of the local school district: one elementary, one middle school, and one high school, which connects students emotionally with one shared experience and strengthens the community.
“It’s not the norm,” the superintendent said of the large student population, “but we believe it’s important to continue that common experience that (Union County students) share. Everybody’s a Tiger; we’re all purple and gold, and we move you together, all the way through your graduation year.”
Ripplinger said district officials have selected an architect and have visited Legacy Elementary in Macclenny and Bradford Elementary in Starke for design ideas.
“Quite frankly,” he said, “we visited the one in Starke because it was two-story, and we wanted to see what that was like.”
Ripplinger said the district will consider the two-story option and will also look to maximize potential capacity by designing teacher workrooms that could be converted into additional classrooms if needed.
He added that he hoped the new campus would be ready in time for the 2027-2028 school year but conceded that the uncertainties of construction, supply chain, and other issues make the timing of the school’s opening unclear.
