Orange County Public Schools is in the beginning stages of getting a new adult community education center designed and constructed in South Apopka with a targeted opening date of late fall 2021.
The district’s Building Department is working with OCPS Career and Technical Education in establishing an Orange Technical College site across the street from Wheatley Elementary School, on the same tract where a building addressed at 1410 S. Central Ave., Apopka once stood. OCPS will advertise for an architect to design the facility.
“We’re in the process of defining the scope and the budget,” said Lauren Roth, OCPS facilities spokeswoman.
A certification for health unit coordinator and a GED program are two of
several possible offerings considered for the new education facility.
The concept for the Orange Technical College
is to have one classroom possibly offering many programs. Two considered are a certification class for health unit coordinator and a GED
program.
“The idea is to meet the needs of the community,” Roth said.
Once a grocery store, the building at 1410 S. Central Ave. was purchased by OCPS for $412,670 in June 2016. Eminent domain was “on the table,” but the district did not use that option, Roth said.
OCPS had the edifice demolished about three years ago. The education center may or may not bear the same address as the grocery store property, according to Roth.
Five stand-alone Orange Technical College sites currently exist: Avalon, Mid Florida, Orlando, Westside, and Winter Park. The closest in Orange County’s northwest region is Westside, located at 955 E. Story. Rd., Winter Garden. OCPS intends to move that site to near Ocoee High School, Roth said.
This story appears on page 1A of the February 21 edition of The Apopka Chief.
