Lake County School Board approves Eustace Elementary site plan, defers final capacity decision
Summary
The board approved a site plan to rebuild Eustace Elementary on its existing Citrus Avenue parcel and directed staff to negotiate with Saint Thomas Episcopal Church and the City of Eustis, while postponing a final decision on the school’s capacity to a later workshop; the motion passed 4–1.
The Lake County School Board on Nov. 10 approved a site plan to rebuild Eustace Elementary School on its current Citrus Avenue site and directed staff to negotiate leases and infrastructure changes with Saint Thomas Episcopal Church and the City of Eustis, while leaving a final decision on the building’s capacity for a future meeting.
Kelly Bridal, the district planner who presented the revised master plan, said the preferred approach is to preserve the historic front of the school and Building 7 (constructed in 2006), demolish and replace older wings with modern learning spaces and reorient the school to Lemon Avenue. "We are looking at rebuilding on-site, keeping the historic front of the building, and Building 7," Bridal said, summarizing the concept and the site work needed, including a possible long‑term lease with the church and vacation of nearby streets.
Bridal told the board the district initially planned a 750‑student design but recommended building for 650 student stations because of site constraints, uncertainty about near‑term growth and potential exposure under the updated Schools of Hope rules. "Given the size of this property…we would propose to build the school at 650 student stations instead of 750," she said. The proposal would construct one of the two classroom wings as a single story to meet the lower capacity target.
Board members pressed staff on whether the design could be configured to allow future vertical expansion. Bridal and staff said modern building‑code changes mean a guarantee that a second story could be added decades later is uncertain; staff offered a shelled second‑floor option and other design approaches for further study. "The building code has changed in the past 20 years…we are no longer able to meet code and build a second story," Bridal told the board, noting that a shell option had different cost implications.
Staff provided cost estimates for the options discussed: not building a second floor could save roughly $1.5 million to $2.0 million up front, while building a second floor as a shelled space would yield more modest savings (around $500,000) compared with a full two‑story build.
Superintendent Kornegay recommended approval of the concept plan "with the capacity not to exceed 650 student stations on the current site at Citrus Avenue" and asked the board to direct staff to begin design development and negotiate with the church and city. The board then voted to approve the site plan and to authorize staff to move forward with negotiations while leaving the precise capacity decision to a later workshop discussion. Board Member Mathias made the motion; the motion was seconded and passed by a 4–1 vote with the chair recorded as the lone no vote.
Board members asked staff to return with additional design and preconstruction proposals and to schedule capacity discussions at an upcoming December workshop so the board could consider whether to adopt a shell, a single‑story design or a full two‑story build.
The district said construction would begin after the high school moves out of its current facility in 2027, with a planned two‑year construction window and a projected move‑back in 2029. Staff will continue negotiations with Saint Thomas Episcopal Church and the City of Eustis and present more detailed design and cost information before a final capacity decision.
