Feb 9, 2021 10:18 AM Ormond Beach, FL - The Ormond Beach City Commission voted unanimously to approve a $1,950,000 economic incentive to the Volusia County School Board (VCSB) that would pay for necessary upgrades to keep Osceola Elementary School open. Zone 1 Commissioner Dwight Selby said that the goal is to get the VCSB to reconsider choosing Ortona Elementary School in Daytona Beach. He said city staff will be at this afternoon s school board meeting in case VCSB has questions. Selby said VCSB made the decision to keep Ortona open and shut down Osceola last summer. He says the timing was not good. I think residents, parents were focused on other things. They were focused on their family, on health. They weren t paying as much attention as they normally would when you talk about closing a school. The hope is that the issue will be opened back up and that VCSB will seek more public input on the matter. Selby said schools are very important to neighborhoods. Osceol
Ormond Beach moves forward with Plantation Oaks zoning
Ormond Beach s City Commission unanimously agreed Tuesday night to approve a second reading for rezoning the Plantation Oaks subdivision, as well as lifting its 55-and-over age restriction.
They also approved a letter of support for Volusia County to purchase 76 lots in the subdivision for conservation.
After months of contention, the two items regarding the subdivision passed with only around 30 people in attendance at the meeting, and no comments regarding the agenda items themselves.
Plantation Oaks, the source of consistent debate over the past six months in Ormond Beach, has been in the works since 2002 and is separated into three phases. Phase one, which will have 699 lots, is the phase the commission has been discussing.
The Ormond Beach City Commission is considering using its emergency alert system to inform residents of a uniquely urgent matter: A School Board discussion about the consolidation of Osceola and Ortona elementary schools.
But the meeting where those talks were supposed to take place was canceled and, at the time of publication, has not been rescheduled.
It s the latest news in more than a year s worth of discussion on the topic, and shows an escalation in the cities bids to house a brand new school.
The Volusia County school district has long been planning to consolidate the schools, and previously voted to build the brand new school on the Ortona Elementary campus in Daytona Beach. But at a January workshop, board members discussed the possibility of changing that plan, in favor of building the new school on the Osceola Elementary campus in Ormond Beach.
In a few paragraphs, I m going to tell you about our plans to provide some subscriber-only content on our website. But first, a little about why local journalism matters.
In December, The News-Journal received nine first-place awards from the Florida Press Club for coverage in 2020 in local news, education, business, sports, commentary, and COVID-19 coverage.
Our reporters and editors take pride in those accolades. But what counts even more is the high quality of the daily news report we provide our readers. Just in the past two weeks, we reported the following exclusive stories:
• The continuing twists and turns for the thousands of residents of Volusia and Flagler counties who are desperately vying for a very limited number of coronavirus vaccines.