School board tables vote on the closing of a Volusia County school

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — 10 p.m. Update:

The Volusia County School Board did not vote on the future of Read-Pattillo Elementary School during Tuesday’s meeting.

That’s after parents and teachers conveyed their concerns over a presentation on its possible closure.

The district said the school needs more than $20 million in renovations.

The district had a topic listed on tonight’s agenda titled, “Read-Pattillo Elementary closing” -- citing safety concerns, including roofing and plumbing. However, after over 1500 petition signatures from the public -- and what the board called a mistake -- it was removed from discussion.

Original Story:

A Volusia County elementary school is at risk of shutting down, and the School Board is discussing the future of Read-Pattillo during its Tuesday night meeting.

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The school of about 350 students was built in the 1950′s and was even visited by former President George W. Bush in 2002 during an education round table. At the time, he called the school “the perfect model.”

Now, the district said the school needs more than $20 million in renovations.

The district presentation on the topic doesn’t go into much detail but is titled Read-Pattillo closing and cites safety concerns, including roofing and plumbing.

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School Board Member Jessie Thompson said she was under the impression the discussion was about next school years zoning changes. Another presentation talks about where kids would relocate if the school shuts down. Some would go to Chisholm and others to Edgewater.

“if you look back over time, you see band aid patches on things. Not real fixes and I think that’s probably a problem at many of our schools,” said Thompson.

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Parents and schools staff said they were completely blindsided and only found out because parts of the agenda ended up on social media.

“They put so much focus on these other schools, larger schools with more students, newer schools that now they’ve come into a larger problem that its going to be an expensive fix but now you have a larger problem because you have a community that’s angry,” said Corey McCormack.

If the board does decide to close the school, it would happen in May 2024.

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