A study shows that the total economic impact of the Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) construction program on the Orange County economy will be $2.27 billion from 2014 to 2021, with an average of 1,930 jobs supported per year.
Part of that economic impact includes a new planned Apopka school for kindergarten through eighth grade, which is expected to open in August 2022.
In 2019, Orange County Public Schools pushed the construction schedule of its first K-8 school in Apopka from 2026 to 2022, which would relieve student overcapacity in the northwest Apopka area.
To be built north of the Northwest Recreation Complex area located on the west side of Jason Dwelley Parkway, the relief school would take the burden off nearby Wolf Lake Elementary School and Wolf Lake Middle School.
As of May 15, Wolf Lake Elementary had 1,132 students and Wolf Lake Middle had 1,462.
The new Apopka relief school is still on track for construction to begin this December with an opening date of August 2022.
The OCPS study showed an additional combined impact of $388.7 million from 2014-2021 is the result of capital renewal spending during the same period, resulting in an average of 255 jobs per year.
PFM Group Consulting, located in Orlando, presented the study “Economic Impacts of Orange County Public Schools’ Construction Projects” on June 16.
The economic impact study only observes the schools’ design and construction. “It doesn’t include the jobs, so the actual impact, if you include that, will be way, way more,” said Lauren Roth, spokeswoman for the OCPS Facilities Department.
The total economic impact has three primary contributors: direct, indirect, and induced impacts. Direct impacts are those generated from the actual employment and local spending by OCPS, for example the hiring of a builder for the school construction.
Indirect impacts are generated from the employment and local spending that is the result of OCPS’ spending on goods and services. An example of that would be subcontractors the builder hires for the construction project.
Induced impacts are those generated from the household spending of both the direct and indirect employee households.
The impact within Orange County of the replacement projects for Wheatley Elementary School (2014); Clay Springs, Lovell, and Apopka ES (all in 2015); and Dream Lake ES (2016) was $89.6 million. Those projects generated 585 jobs.
Meanwhile, the OCPS Facilities Department is reviewing its design guidelines and looking at possible changes to them to upgrade requirements to make schools safer against COVID-19. This includes the incorporation of plexiglass as safety shields in the main office between employees and visitors, installing more water bottle fillers throughout the schools so that children won’t make direct contact with the water fountains, and reducing the number of touch points in bathrooms.
“We’re looking at potentially expanding that design so that not every student entering or exiting the bathroom would have to touch the door,” Roth said.
Requirements for Plexiglas and more water bottle fillers will be incorporated into the guidelines, Roth said. The reduction of touch points within bathrooms is still being examined due to the cost effectiveness such as battery replacement.
“They want to look at whether that’s something we can maintain long term, but that is being considered,” Roth said.
Even before the coronavirus, OCPS’ building design guidelines undergo continual revision, Roth said.
This story first appeared on page 1A of the Friday, July 31, issue of The Apopka Chief. Subscribe today!
