ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — St. Johns County is booming. Just ask anyone who lives there.
On Tuesday, the St. Johns County school district shared plans to build almost 11 schools in the next ten years. The announcement comes as the district shared its five-year work plan.
“There’s been an explosion of growth here,” kindergarten parent Jamie Minchew told Action News Jax.
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Minchew knows firsthand about St. Johns County’s explosive growth. His family has been in Nocatee since 2015.
The school district’s work plan outlines nearly $350 million dollars worth of new builds, maintenance, repair and remodeling projects.
Other parts of the plan show the available revenue for the next five years, including more than $90 million from the half-cent sales tax, which was approved by a majority of St. Johns County voters.
The plan also lays out construction of two new kindergarten through eighth grade schools, the expansion of South Woods Elementary, and a new elementary school.
Minchew welcomes the growth.
“That’s good for everybody’s house values around here, probably,” he said.
“Looking forward to the next five, ten years, I want to work together with our district to make sure we can still attract professional educators and support staff to St. Johns,” said St. Johns Education Association president Michelle Dillon.
Dillon is also excited the district is growing, but worries about the current teacher shortage.
“Looking forward to the next five, ten years, I want to work together with our district to make sure we can still attract professional educators and support staff to St. Johns,” she said.
Dillon has seen as many as 120 resignations and 70 teacher openings.
“I talk to teachers every week who are thinking of leaving the profession,” Dillon explained.
Aside from low pay, overcrowded classrooms is a big complaint Dillon hears from teachers.
The district’s plan lists projected classroom sizes in the 2025-2026 school year being anywhere from four to 24 students per classroom.
Dillon says the state limits Pre-K-through-third grade classes to 18 students, fourth-to-eighth grade classes to 22 students, and ninth-to-twelfth grade classes to 25 students.
Action News Jax asked Minchew if he worries about overcrowding.
“Yeah, that is a possibility, sure that’s a concern,” he said. “Hopefully the county can keep up with the growth, and they have so far, so hopefully it will continue.”
Minchew is staying hopeful. Like Dillon, he wants good teachers to come to St. Johns County.
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“St. Johns is one of the better counties in Florida, so hopefully we’ll attract a lot of teachers here in this area,” Minchew said.
Action News Jax reached out to the school district for comment, but nobody was able to get back to us by news time. We will update this story if we get a response.
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