School Board to consider middle school rezones

A targeted rezoning will take place for Chain of Lakes and Ocoee middle schools for the 2026-2027 school year. 

A targeted rezoning affects a small area and includes a limited number of students. 

Before any rezoning takes place, the Orange County School Board must meet with the superintendent; develop a timeline; meet with principals, leaders and board members; collect data from researches; have community meetings, a development workshop and finally, a public hearing. 

All these steps must be completed while meeting certain criteria. The rezoning must ensure continuity from elementary to middle to high schools, and keep communities intact. It must promote a demographic balance and prioritize proximity to reduce travel time and costs for buses, while also maximizing safety. 

Two options were provided to community members and the school board regarding the Chain of Lakes Middle rezoning in conjunction with Carver Middle. The first option would rezone nine students from Chain of Lakes to Carver. 

According to Director of Student Enrollment Staci Neal, the primary benefit of this is a significant reduction in travel distance. 

If this rezoning takes place, Carver Middle is projected to have 946 students, while Chain of Lakes Middle is projected to have 1,616 students, Neal said. 

The second option would rezone an extra 23 students. 

The goal is to align the feeder pattern so all students from Eccleston Elementary are zoned to attend Carver Middle. 

Two families have filled out a survey sent out by OCPS voting against option one, while option two had one vote for it and one vote against it. 

The superintendent’s staff recommends option two as the better rezoning plan. 

At the time of the School Board’s Nov. 6 meeting to discuss the rezoning, no board members had any concerns with the recommended plan. 

Ocoee Middle and Robinswood Middle were up next on the discussion for rezoning, with the goal of realigning feeder patterns to create a more consistent education path to students at Citrus Elementary. 

The targeted area currently affects 48 students and would allow all Citrus Elementary students to feed into Ocoee Middle and Ocoee High School, rather than having some Citrus Elementary students zoned for Robinswood Middle.

Melissa Byrd is the School Board member whose district includes Ocoee Middle. 

“Ocoee Middle School still remains under capacity — even with this small adjustment,” she said. “(And while) 48 students reside in the targeted area, not all students who reside in an area attend our schools. The actual projection is zero to 20 OCPS students.” 

As a reminder, Byrd said grandfathered transfers are available for a student who has been rezoned. Students have the option to stay at their current school, though transportation would no longer be provided. 

At the time of the meeting, no board members had any concerns with this rezoning plan.  

Families are encouraged to review the proposed options and share their feedback through surveys provided by OCPS. The survey will close Monday, Dec. 1, and the School Board will have a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9.