Response from Robert Jordan

I, as well as others, received the following email from Robert Jordan last night. Keeping sending those emails. We don't want them to forget about us or think we will just go away.:

Thanks for the letters from all of you. I knew when we were in the workshop that I would be hearing from those I serve and you have not let me down. Please note that the purpose of what we are trying to do is to ensure that we utilize the facilities that we have to the best of our abilities so that we will not have to build any new classrooms or buildings if at all possible. As you know we have been put in a very precarious position with the state budget and the over $1 billion dollar shortfall. This has caused us to take a serious look at what we have on our plates and how we can truly stretch the resources as much as possible. Administration basically gave the board 2 options, one - cap and bus... this of course would not be a very good Idea for you since it will put a burden on your family and kids. The second is soft redistricting in which we would take any "new" families that come into the community and send them where there is room (e.g. - Clearlake). This is called soft redistricting and would not affect any of our students that attend any of the schools in the Port St. John area today. Soft redistricting would only affect the "new" families. There is no plan that I know of to take students from any of our elementary schools and send them to Clearlake, they would attend the schools that they are suppose to. This is the information that we know today.

Dr. DiPatri did however send us an e-mail that basically states the following: He is going to be recommending a revised "soft redistricting" schedule to allow for more time to present a plan for the board's final approval. They are working very hard to take our comments and concerns from the workshops into consideration prior to the December 11, 2007 Board meeting (Agenda must be completed by 12/4/07). Some of these have created very complex and complicated situations, therefore, he is going to bring the "soft redistricting" item for Information on December 11, 2007 and again on January 22, 2008, followed by Action on February 12, 2008 and a Public Hearing on March 11, 2007 or March 25, 2008. I do not believe this extended timeline will be problematic for parents and students, because we are talking about "prospective" students.
Also please note that the new Middle school is still scheduled in the future. There is not a change as of today for that not to happen. I know we have to do something about the portables at Space Coast and believe that building the middle school will help us with that problem.

Please let me know if you have any other concerns. My goal is to hold your children harmless as we debate this very important subject.


Robert L. Jordan, Jr.CM
District 1Brevard County School Board
321-267-8528 jordanr@brevard.k12.fl.us