The construction of twelve Orange County public schools in the 2012 – 2013 school year created 9,776 jobs and boosted the local economy by $224 million, OCPS Superintendent Barbara Jenkins said Tuesday.
Jenkins, who make the announcement at the construction site of the new Eccleston Elementary School said, the District has one of the most robust building programs in the state, thanks to the 2002 voter-approved sales tax referendum.
“As educators, we’re excited about providing 21st century schools with the updated technology our students need to compete in today’s global economy,” said OCPS Superintendent Barbara Jenkins. “As members of this community, we’re very pleased our building program is generating jobs for working families, business for our private sector, and growing our economy.”
The construction projects include two brand new relief schools and the renovation or replacement of ten existing campuses. The relief schools, built to handle new growth, are in the Dowden Road/Randal Park area near Lake Nona and on Hackney Prairie Road near Ocoee. Both are elementary schools. Construction crews will renovate four existing schools over the next year. Work is wrapping up on another six schools. These projects directly create 5,566 jobs and another 4,210 resulting from the economic ripple effect.
Kat Gordon, who represents Eccleston’s district, noted that a minimum of 23 percent of the money spent on Orange County school construction goes to minority, women-owned or small local developing firms.
OCPS remains the second largest employer in central Florida, with more than 22,000 people involved in the education of 184,000 students at 184 schools.
So Orange County School Board is building 12 new schools while at the same time closing Black schools. The School Board plans to bus students out of the Black neighborhoods to fill up the new schools. Thanks Barbara Jenkins and Kat Gordon for fighting against the community that you are suppose to serve.