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Residents and a former school board member press council to help secure a DeBary school site
Summary
Public speakers and Councilmember Stevenson urged continued coordination with the Volusia County School Board after the school board declined the Spring Vista site; parents and former school officials asked the city to pursue alternatives before DeBary loses school locations to neighboring cities.
Several residents urged the City of DeBary City Council to pursue options to secure a site and partnership with the Volusia County School Board to build an additional DeBary school, saying the city’s children and taxpayers deserve local school capacity.
Nut graf: Commenters described a perceived planning shortfall that has left DeBary with a single school and urged renewed cooperation with the county school board on available parcels; Councilmember Stevenson reported attending a school board meeting and urged the reinstatement of municipal/board liaisons to improve communications.
Yvette Best told council she attended a January meeting where the Spring Vista site was rejected and asked why DeBary is the only city in Volusia County struggling to plan for new schools. Jamie Haines, who said she had worked on school‑site issues for decades and served on the school board, asked the council to reconsider the Spring Vista site and to meet with the school‑board team; she said a 264‑page engineering report existed and that the Department of Education (DOE) would not approve the county’s preferred alternative without further work.
Councilmember Stevenson said she attended the Volusia County School Board meeting on Feb. 25, where the board considered an unsolicited letter of intent to purchase a Buckley site; she said the school board found remediation costs high and DOE standards not met, and she urged reviving the municipal committee process (city appointees meeting with school‑board staff) to improve coordination.
Rosamondo noted that a comp‑plan consistency decision generally is not revisited for six to 12 months unless facts change and that reintroduction of a site would typically be initiated by the school board. Councilmembers encouraged continued discussion and requested staff follow up on coordination with the Volusia County School Board.
Ending: Council directed staff to continue outreach and to consider reestablishing regular city–school board communications to identify viable school‑site options in DeBary.
