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Funding For New Jefferson County School In Legislative Limbo

Jefferson County Elementary School

The Florida legislature is poised to fund five new schools in cash-strapped districts across the state, but one local project in Jefferson County  is on a waiting list. The district is so small it can't generate enough funding to build a school on its own, and has requested funding from the state.

The Jefferson County School district needs to build a new elementary school. It’s current facility is more than 40 years old and looks twice its age.  Jefferson is on a list of recommended projects but so far, it’s on a waiting-list or funding. Still, Democratic Senator Bill Montford says that doesn’t mean Jefferson won’t get its new school.

“They’re ship has not sunk. It’s still floating, and hopefully we’ll be able to fund not only Jefferson, but the other four as well," Montford says.

Taylor, Hamilton and Liberty County are also waiting on new schools. If Jefferson gets the funding, it would move students from Jefferson County Elementary into the district’s middle-high school, which was originally built as an elementary school.  The new school would then become the middle high-school.

Follow @HatterLynn

Lynn Hatter is a Florida A&M University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Lynn has served as reporter/producer for WFSU since 2007 with education and health care issues as her key coverage areas.  She is an award-winning member of the Capital Press Corps and has participated in the NPR Kaiser Health News Reporting Partnership and NPR Education Initiative. 

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