A new high school on Leon’s Southside? The state tanked the idea a few months ago, but the Leon County School District is trying again. The school district is reapplying for a new high school.
The idea is to build a new facility which will house Rickards. Fairview Middle, which includes the PACE school, would move to the existing Rickards high school facility. Superintendent Jackie Pons says he’s ready to make the case to the state for why a new school is needed.
“We’re not walking away from any facilities. We’re using all our facilities. PACE is up on the hill with 30-40 portables [and] it would move in to a facility," he said. "We wouldn’t be walking away. And DOE’s job on this is to make sure you have the seating capacity that generates a need for a new high school.”
The state rejected the school district’s earlier request. Most of the district’s schools aren’t full. But Pons notes it took nearly a decade for Chiles High School, the newest in the district, to be built, and he’s willing to wait.
