Members from the Glades County School District and Wiseman Construction officially break ground on the new Moore Haven Elementary. [Photo by Richard …

MOORE HAVEN- Glades County Schools held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Moore Haven Elementary School on Aug. 8.

 Funding for the new school was included in the state budget signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 15 in 2023. The school will be located at 400 West Ave in Moore Haven.

Glades County Superintendent Dr. Alice Beth Barfield said that the construction of the new Moore Haven Elementary School is a testament to Glades County’s commitment to providing the best possible education for their children.

The groundbreaking ceremony at 400 West Ave in Moore Haven had a large turnout. [Photo by Richard Marion/Lake Okeechobee News]

“Within these future walls,” said Superintendent Barfield, “we will cultivate the engineers who will design our cities, the scientists who will push the boundaries of knowledge, the mechanics who will keep our world in motion, the farmers who will nourish us, and perhaps even the school superintendents who will lead the next generation of educators.”   

In 2023 a public, joint meeting was held between the Glades County School Board, Glades County Commissioners, and the City of Moore Haven to discuss options for the new school's placement. Four locations were brought up as to where to place the school, where the current school is located, where the current high school baseball field is located, where the athletic fields are located, or on 9 acres of property that is adjacent to the Chalo Nitka Grounds.  

During the meeting the pros and cons of each of the four areas were discussed. Constructing a new school where the old school is located was felt to be a positive due to its proximity to the high school and current utility accessibility. However, building the school on that property would require the school district to acquire portable school buildings and displacing students for two full years. It was estimated the cost of the portables buildings as well as the other safety features required by the state would be over two million dollars.

Deputy superintendent Brian Greseth listens as superintendent Dr. Alice Beth Barfield speaks at the new Moore Haven Elementary groundbreaking. [Photo …

The fourth option was the eventual landing spot. Of the nine acres owned by the school district, six of those acres are currently unused and located off West Street. A big positive of the location was that it was ready to build on, there were no pre-existing structures on it. The school district owns three acres adjacent to the six acres that currently house the transportation department. It was found that if the new school utilized that property, the state of Florida would provide additional funding to replace and build a new transportation department. The current transportation project is over 30 years old.  

Moments before the groundbreaking. [Photo by Richard Marion/Lake Okeechobee News]

The timeline for the new elementary school is for it to be opened by the fall of 2025.