The original plans had been for Butler to be a K - 8 school, with the students in grades 6 - 8 sharing facities with Butler. The population of both student bodies grew far more quickly than the school district anticipated; as a result, the middle school students don't have adequate access to these shared facilities. They are not allowed anywhere in the Butler buildings except for the gym. That means that they can't go to the library / media center, even if there were grade level appropriate books. The bookmobile comes from Defuniak every Thursday to serve as a library for the 350 students.
There is a wonderful science lab, and acquatic, I love the idea of students taking Oyster Lake on as a project. However, the lab is used as the music / band / chorus room, so the students are limited in the amount of research and testing that they could do.
The teachers and administration are doing an outstanding job with the resources at hand. If they had adequate facilities, they wouldn't just fly - they would soar.
The school district has the money to build a new school with all of the facilities - they just don't have the land. They need 20 to 30 acres. There was a request on yesterday's BCC meeting agenda for some land, but the item got postponed until the next meeting. This particular land is well located, but I'm not sure if it is appropriate for a school.
And please, don't shoot the messenger - I'm a mom who volunteers at the school.