St. Lucie County's new Tradition Lakes K-8 school will not open on Monday, Aug. 10 as planned, pushing the start date back one week to Aug. 17 and leaving approximately 1,100 enrolled students and their families scrambling to arrange last-minute child care. St. Lucie Public Schools announced the delay on Thursday, just four days before the originally scheduled opening.
Superintendent Dr. Prince said he made the decision after personally inspecting the school site at 10701 SW Sundance Vista Boulevard in Port St. Lucie and consulting with teachers and staff. Prince said he did not want students to navigate what essentially remained a construction zone on their first day. "That's not the first impression that I wanted to make where you're kind of walking and you're kind of part of a construction zone and I just didn't think it was fair," Prince said. "After kind of seeing things for myself, I was really worried that when people rush they make mistakes and I just felt like it was in our best interest to take a pause."
Parents expressed frustration at the short notice. Asia Shouford, a working mother of four children, said the timing completely disrupted her carefully planned arrangements. "I was honestly annoyed, because school starts on Monday, it was Thursday when we got that call.
You could have told us a week ago," Shouford said. "Working mom, four kids, I have two little ones at home. I already had everything planned to start on Monday and now I don't know what we're going to do." Parent Taylor Atkins said the delay put families in a tough situation with limited options on short notice.
"It's hard because he can't go back to summer camp. It's closed it's another school, you know, they're going to be starting," Atkins said.
The school district said the one-week delay will not impact overall instructional time and the school's academic calendar will remain unchanged. To help working families manage the unexpected delay, the district is coordinating with the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA to offer affordable child care options during the interim week. Open House is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 14, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., where families can meet teachers and tour the campus before the first day.