Looking for a good school district and a safe neighborhood (Sarasota: condo, homes)

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

Really? Longboat Key is in the Southside School District. Southside Elementary is considered to be the #1 elementary school in Sarasota.

It's Southside Elementary and Booker Middle and High but I doubt much will be found out there for $1200/mo and certainly not gated.

You can go here: https://ags2.scgov.net/findyourschoolzone/ to see the different school zones and then look up the ratings.

[Sunshine Rules]

If you have a specific address you can go to the county school board websites and use the school locator feature to determine all 3 school districts for that property. From there it is easy to find school ratings, rankings and reviews.

Lakewood Ranch is in the Manatee county school district, Palmer Ranch is in the Sarasota county school district.

3 bedroom single family home rentals within Palmer Ranch generally start at around $2500/month. You can find condo rentals for much less, but most condo communities within Palmer Ranch do not allow tenants to have pets. Serenade is one of the exceptions - residents (including tenants) may have 1 cat or 1 dog, aggressive breed dogs are not permitted. That being said, not all landlords will allow tenants to have pets even if they are permitted because of potential for damage and higher insurance costs.


Rental rates like home prices typically are higher for properties located within sought after neighborhoods/ school districts. Lakewood Ranch and Palmer Ranch are very popular with both buyers and renters for their locations, amenities and school districts. You may find options that are a closer fit to your planned budget by going outside of those two popular locations in your search for a rental.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

It's Southside Elementary and Booker Middle and High but I doubt much will be found out there for $1200/mo and certainly not gated.

You can go here: https://ags2.scgov.net/findyourschoolzone/ to see the different school zones and then look up the ratings.

Is there school choice at the junior high and high school levels?


OP Expect to pay at least $1.10 per square foot in Sarasota. So for $1200 you can expect to get 1100 sq feet and that is not considering the premium for premium neighborhoods or gated communities. Landlords have community fees to pay and those get passed on to you.

[SoFLGal]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

Is there school choice at the junior high and high school levels?

Yes, there is but several of the schools don't have school choice because they are already full. In addition, for the next school year (2015-2016) the school choice was from Feb 2-20th. You have to apply within a certain timeframe each year. It's usually in Feb sometime for the following year. If your child does receive their school of choice, the parents are responsible for transporting their kids. I don't think Riverview High has been on school choice for years. I can't remember if Sarasota High was on the list. For some reason the link to school choice on the county website is not working.

FWIW, and according to state rankings, this past year-Booker and Sarasota High have almost identical rankings and are both rated a "B" school.

There's always the charter school option--Sarasota Academy of the Arts, K-8; Sarasota Military Academy, 9-12; Sarasota School of Arts & Sciences, 6-8; Suncoast School for Innovative Studies, K-8. That's if you don't like your districted school in Sarasota county and want to request a different school.

Then there's the various private schools-Cardinal Mooney, Out of Door, Sarasota Christian, Julie Rohr, New Gate, Prew, St Marthas, Tabernacle, etc

[Sunshine Rules]

For the 2015-2016 school year, Sarasota & Riverview High schools were both open to the school choice option for grades 9-11. The other high schools open for school choice were Booker, North Port and Venice (grades 9-11).

The only closed middle school was Sarasota Middle.

Elementary schools closed to school choice were Ashton, Fruitville, Phillippi Shores, Southside, Tatem Ridge, Taylor Ranch and Venice.



By the way, Riverview High's rating (Federal Uniform Rate) went from a B to an A while Sarasota High maintained a B grade for the 2013-2014 year. Venice High also went from a B to an A while Booker and North Port high schools both maintained B's.

[SoFLGal]

I was told by many friends that they applied to Riverviews school choice this year and were denied school choice. They were told they were told they were full and choice was not an option. They applied the day school choice opened. This happened to several last year applying to Riverview as well.

The published info is not always the most accurate.

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by SoFLGal

I was told by many friends that they applied to Riverviews school choice this year and were denied school choice. They were told they were told they were full and choice was not an option. They applied the day school choice opened. This happened to several last year applying to Riverview as well.

The published info is not always the most accurate.

My source on open enrollment was official Sarasota county schools published information, so I am going with the understanding that the county school board is the more accurate source of information. It stated both of these schools were participating in the choice program, not how many openings were available at each school.

[Cardiff by the Sea]

Just who do you believe?

A couple weeks ago I went to the Sarasota County School offices at the Landings. I went to the school choice department. I didn't want school choice. I just wanted to verify which attendance zone a particular property was in, because the school website information and mls information did not match.

A very nice woman helped me. I love that about Sarasota--public servants are soooo nice here. And she assured me that they had it from on high that now their website was reliable. I guess that means it was not reliable before.

But just in case, she suggested I contact both the person in charge of long range planning AND someone in the transportation department. The thinking was if you get the same answer from multiple sources, it is more dependable.

We lost interest in that property so I did not follow through. I do wonder what I would have done if the two sources told me different things.

[Sunshine Rules]

Originally Posted by Cardiff by the Sea

Just who do you believe?

A couple weeks ago I went to the Sarasota County School offices at the Landings. I went to the school choice department. I didn't want school choice. I just wanted to verify which attendance zone a particular property was in, because the school website information and mls information did not match.

A very nice woman helped me. I love that about Sarasota--public servants are soooo nice here. And she assured me that they had it from on high that now their website was reliable. I guess that means it was not reliable before.

But just in case, she suggested I contact both the person in charge of long range planning AND someone in the transportation department. The thinking was if you get the same answer from multiple sources, it is more dependable.

We lost interest in that property so I did not follow through. I do wonder what I would have done if the two sources told me different things.

There are occasions where I find the school district information to be incorrect in the MLS. Most agents do take the time to verify information they are inputting to the MLS, but not all. On occasion I will find utilities info errors as well (it will show public sewer when it should be septic), sometimes a flood zone designation gets missed on the listing info (although that is easy to check elsewhere).

[Lahla]

I love your posts. They are always informative and you are so helpful!