Winter Park residents ask for rezoning to city schools

Does Winter Park have enough schools for its students? One neighborhood has come together in pursuit of a common goal: to put their children in the Winter Park school system.

Residents of the Lake Bell neighborhood in Winter Park came before the City Commission on Monday asking them to officially support their endeavor of getting rezoned into Winter Park schools.

Resident Hillary Bressler told Commissioners that the neighborhood has roughly 30 elementary school-age children, with most of them being zoned for Hungerford Elementary to the north in Eatonville.

Most of the children are currently being homeschooled or sent to private schools, Bressler said, but at least 161 residents have signed a petition to be rezoned.

Bressler, who has two children of her own, said she’s seen more and more families join the neighborhood over the past 12 years. Parents want the quality education Winter Park schools offer, she said.

“Historically, Hungerford has underperformed,” Bressler said. “The Winter Park schools are some of the better ones in the county.”

“The Winter Park school that we’re closest to, which is Killarney, is about a half mile closer to our neighborhood than Hungerford. I don’t understand how the zoning was done.”

Bressler said it also boils down to a safety issue for children walking and riding their bikes to Hungerford.

“Wymore doesn’t have any sidewalks,” Bressler said. “The other way to go would be down Lee, up 17-92 and up Kennedy. Both of those are dangerous for walking.”

“I wouldn’t even walk down Wymore by myself,”

But City Commissioners were hesitant to get involved, as Orange County Public Schools will make the final decision on a large-scale district rezoning on Dec. 8.

“My only concern is that we have thousands of Winter Park students who are not in Winter Park schools," Commissioner Carolyn Cooper said.

"I just wanted to make certain that we weren’t intervening in a process that would put pressure on other officials that have a process that they have to follow.”

Mayor Steve Leary and Commissioner Steve McMacken said that the city should at least support a resolution to the school board that residents within the city should be attending their schools.

“We’re not asking anybody to be rezoned,” Leary said. “We’re asking for consideration, and we’re saying that we support the notion that Winter Park residents go to Winter Park schools.”

Other commissioners reasoned that it’s pointless to push for all Winter Park students to attend Winter Park schools, as the city simply doesn’t have enough room for all for all its students.

“Right now we don’t even have enough schools in the city of Winter Park to take care of all of that, so I don’t think it makes sense,” Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel said.

The resolution was denied as Commissioners Cooper, Sprinkel and Seidel voted in opposition.

“If the city can assist without a resolution, we’re here to help out our residents in any way we can,” Leary said.

Bressler said Lake Bell neighborhood residents will continue working with Winter Park and Orange County Public Schools to try to get their area rezoned.