School board tours Tradition‑area developments as district maps new school sites

St. Lucie School Board members spent April 28 on a work‑session bus tour of large residential developments near Tradition and Becker to review where future students are expected to come from and how the district will site new schools.

The superintendent convened the board at 9:30 a.m. and turned the program over to Mr. O'Leary, who reviewed three planned stops and the packet of maps and enrollment data attendees would use on the tour. "We did run mitigation tour yesterday," O'Leary said, and asked board members to bring the folder provided "because we'll be referring to that on the bus." The tour focused on a quadrant west of Midway and I‑95 and south to Becker.

Why it matters: developers told the board that the combined developments in the tour area represent several thousand new housing units and multiple reserved school sites. That scale of growth — and an associated $40,000,000 agreement to accelerate road work — will affect traffic patterns and when and where the district must open additional K–8 and high‑school capacity.

Developers and district staff described project‑level timing and student‑generation expectations. Mr. O'Leary and others cited Oak Ridge as the largest single community in the study area, giving figures in their presentations ranging from about 8,600 to 8,900 homes, with roughly 7,600 single‑family units and the remainder multifamily. Colter Homes' Josh Hoot said the Verano DRI and related communities include roughly 2,770 residential units in the original Coulter project and that the company expects the last ~300 lots to come on the ground this year.

Carl Albertson, vice president of acquisitions and entitlement for Mattamy Homes, told the board that Mattamy and city partners are accelerating a road funding agreement. "We're accelerating $40,000,000 worth of road improvements," Albertson said, and he said segments of Sundance Vista to Discovery are scheduled for completion around April 2028 under the current plan. Albertson and other presenters also identified multifamily site plans under contract or pending city review — for example, a 557‑unit multifamily parcel described as scheduled for a May 11 approval and a 312‑unit site moving through site‑plan review.

Board members pressed developers on access, parks and public facilities. Presenters said a park site adjacent to Legacy High School will be transferred to the city and noted a planned police substation and shared access roads to keep bus and private traffic from using school driveways when construction is finished. Developers gave price‑range indications for initial move‑ins (one presenter said roughly $350,000–$400,000 to over $1,000,000) and described a mix of single‑family, townhome and multifamily products across pods and DRIs.

Construction details for the district's Tradition Lakes K–8 were also shown on the tour. Staff and contractors walked the board through the auditorium, performing‑arts and classroom areas, described sequencing for air handlers and finishes, and explained how the contractor will close individual zones as mechanical systems come online to allow ongoing work in other areas.

What the board did not do at the meeting: there were no formal votes or motions recorded during the work session; the event was an informational site tour and briefing. District staff said the packet's enrollment portal and ongoing monitoring will be used to refine timing for school openings as developers finalize plats and builders begin model homes and sales.

Next steps: the board completed the indoor briefing and proceeded to the three scheduled stops on the bus tour. Staff will continue enrollment and capacity modeling tied to the district's real‑time development portal and return with recommendations on timing and locations for new school openings as projects reach entitlements and start construction.