As the Okaloosa County School District moves forward with plans for a new K-8 school in Crestview, some community members have questioned why the district isn’t building a second high school instead. 

• Superintendent Marcus Chambers addressed these concerns during the July 22 school board meeting, explaining the strategic thinking behind the decision.

“The question is…why not high school?” Chambers acknowledged. He then detailed how the K-8 school allows the district to address capacity issues across multiple grade levels simultaneously.

“With the K-8 school, we’re now able to impact the vast majority of the elementaries in the Crestview area, the two middle schools in the Crestview area, all those schools are over capacity,” explained Chambers. “This is going to provide capacity because we’ll have to rezone students who will go to the new K-8 school. And then as that happens, more capacity will be developed at the current schools.”

Currently, Crestview High School has approximately 2,400 students, which Chambers described as “a healthy high school, not an overpopulated high school.” However, he acknowledged the challenges that come with a school of this size.

• “With the overpopulation, you look at what the inside of the building looks like when kids are moving around?” Chambers said. He noted that a recent classroom addition at Crestview High School has already helped with capacity issues.

The superintendent also addressed the debate within the community about potentially splitting Crestview into a two-high school town. “When we talked to folks, if we were to build a second high school right now, do we want a high school that has 1,200 and 1,200 [students]?” Chambers posed. “So now we take a strong, robust high school and have two 1,200 [student] high schools. And people vary in their opinions on that.”

While a second high school isn’t in the immediate plans, Chambers emphasized that the district is prepared for future growth. He mentioned that the district owns 71 acres in the north part of the county that could be used for a future high school if needed.

• In the meantime, the district has other options to address high school capacity. “We have acreage on Crestview High School right now where we have preliminary plans in place. If we had to build a 9th grade center, we have the ability to do that right now on Crestview’s campus,” Chambers said.

The superintendent also pointed out that the new Okaloosa Technical College (OTC) North campus will help alleviate some pressure on Crestview High School. “That’s also going to add capacity to Crestview High School because there will be a number of those students who will go to OTC north for their CTE courses,” he explained.

Board member Tim Bryant highlighted an important consideration regarding the high school’s population. “2,400 is what’s on paper, but that doesn’t always mean that’s 2,400 [students] that are actually in school at one time too,” Bryant noted, referring to students who may be off-campus for various programs or activities.

• Chambers agreed, adding, “First period, you’re not going to find 2,400 students at Crestview High School, and you’re not going to find that seventh period as well.”

For now, the district’s focus remains on the K-8 school and other projects that will provide immediate relief to overcrowding across multiple schools. However, Chambers assured that the district continues to plan for all possibilities as Crestview and the surrounding area grow.