St. Johns County prepares for 2nd year of open enrollment

362 seats available at 2 elementary schools for 2018-19 school year

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County is coming up on its second year of open enrollment.

It gives students the opportunity to attend any public school in the state, no matter the county, if that school has room and the parent provides transportation.

Last year, three St. Johns County elementary schools and one middle school accepted open enrollment. There were 385 seats available.

For the 2018-19 school year, that number is down to 362 seats available at only two elementary schools. 

The majority of the seats available are at The Webster School in downtown St. Augustine, which has 322 seats. At PVPV Rawlings, there are only 40 seats available. 

Construction and growth is a common sight in St. Johns County as people continue to move into the No. 1 school district in Florida.

On Tuesday, News4Jax talked to two mothers who each feel that as long as there's room in a school after each St. Johns County student has been placed, why not give the opportunity to students in other counties.

"(If) there's room in another school, I don’t see any reason why kids can't go there," said Erika Marino, a St. Johns County mother of two. 

"I'm not worried about it impacting (my children) negatively at all," said Erin West, a St. Johns County mother of two. 

One reason there could still be hundreds of seats available at PVPV Rawlings and The Webster School is because of the opening next year of new K-8 schools, KK and LL, which will alleviate overcrowding at several of the county’s elementary and middle schools. 

"So far, so great this year," West said. "We had a little bit of overcrowding in our school. But next year, we're supposed to be cut in half."

Other parents told News4Jax on Tuesday that they’re keeping an eye on their children’s classroom sizes, but they're happy so far with the way the St. Johns County School District continues to handle the explosive growth.  

Open enrollment for the 2018-19 school year begins Jan. 29 and ends Feb. 26.

Students within the county who want to attend a school outside of their zone will have first priority, followed by out-of-county students. 

If there are more applications for a school than seats available, the district will conduct a lottery. 

VIEW: How open enrollment works | Frequently Asked Questions on Controlled Open Enrollment 

Last year, 51 students enrolled in four of the available schools, even though there were 163 applications submitted, meaning some parents went with other options. This year, only two schools have available seats