Orlando airport workers may soon be able to send kids to on-site K-12 school

ORLANDO, Fla. - More than 20,000 people work at Orlando International Airport. Airport board members said it would be great if their kids could get an education there, too. The topic came up at this week's meeting of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) board, which oversees the airport.

Vice Chairman John Evans said having a school and daycare on the property would be a huge benefit for airport workers. "So momma or daddy can know their child is close by," he said.

Evans said they already have an idea of how it would operate. "We're going to model this school on a charter school at The Villages," he said, "which has just gotten extraordinarily excellent report cards."

Evans said he hopes the school could be in place in about four years, and the airport board is going to start having a series of meetings to discuss the details. He said a good school attached to the airport would help attract quality workers. "Happy employees create a happy culture," he added.

He said there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to funding, design, operation, and getting the right agency clearances. Airport union leaders have signaled that they would be on board with the idea. 

"The airport sits out away from where people may live and actually work there if they were able to get to their children, to daycare or drop them off at the school," said Doug Lowe, vice president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, Region 2. "That would just be a huge improvement for their life."