How to transfer from ORANGE county to SEMINOLE county high school? (Orlando: best schools, property taxes)

[concerned_parent2017]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum but I'm hoping someone can give me some advice!

My son is a 16 year old freshman currently enrolled in Apopka High and he HATES it. We had to move to Wekiva last year, but previously we were located in Sanford and he would have been zoned for Lake Mary High (a school that he would have enjoyed). He is having a very hard time with the social scene at Apopka/violence/student behavior.

Lake Brantley is literally 10 minutes from our house, but we are considered Orange county so we were not zoned there. Is there any type of circumstance that would allow us to transfer him to Lake Brantley? Has anyone here successfully transferred out of county? I'd greatly appreciate your advice!

[boy3365]

The state just (foolishly) passed a law allowing transfers to other districts, but it won't be active until the 2017-18 school year. What about Wekiva HS?

Gov. Scott signs education bill that allows transfers to any school - Orlando Sentinel

[WithDisp]

As of now, no, your property taxes pay for Orange County Schools. You'd have to move to Seminole county to have your student educated there.

You can look into Orange County Magnets for now and move him about- but you'd be responsible for transportation.


I have no idea how that new law is going to fly. It seems absolutely bonkers and I'd imagine taxpayers will have no incentive to pass budget measure since they can always piggyback on a better school system.

[Xx2O11xX]

What's wrong with Wekiva? That's a good school.

[LoLo4444]

Originally Posted by concerned_parent2017

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum but I'm hoping someone can give me some advice!

My son is a 16 year old freshman currently enrolled in Apopka High and he HATES it. We had to move to Wekiva last year, but previously we were located in Sanford and he would have been zoned for Lake Mary High (a school that he would have enjoyed). He is having a very hard time with the social scene at Apopka/violence/student behavior.

Lake Brantley is literally 10 minutes from our house, but we are considered Orange county so we were not zoned there. Is there any type of circumstance that would allow us to transfer him to Lake Brantley? Has anyone here successfully transferred out of county? I'd greatly appreciate your advice!

People specifically move to Seminole County for their schools, SCPS has one of the top school districts in the state, OCPS not so much. Apopka doesn't have the best schools in Orange County either. As other posters have mentioned, you are paying taxes in Orange County so your son cannot attend Seminole County schools.


Per the SCPS website:
The Seminole County School Board monitors student enrollment to verify that only Seminole


County students attend Seminole County public schools and that students comply with


attendance zone and/or transfer policies. Due to the high performance of Seminole County


Public Schools, significant numbers of non-Seminole County students annually seek to enroll in


Seminole County schools. The Out-of-Zone Residency Check Hotline, 407-320-ZONE (9663), is


the most recent addition to the district’s on-going efforts to ensure Seminole County Public


Schools are populated by Seminole County residents.




Your best bet is to move. I lived in Orange County for over a decade, moved to Seminole County three years ago and there's no way I'm moving back.

[boy3365]

Originally Posted by LoLo4444

People specifically move to Seminole County for their schools, SCPS has one of the top school districts in the state, OCPS not so much. Apopka doesn't have the best schools in Orange County either. As other posters have mentioned, you are paying taxes in Orange County so your son cannot attend Seminole County schools.

Given that we have county-based school districts in Florida as opposed to municipal-based or random boundary based districts, many districts here are simply too large to make such a large negative swipe.