Sunday Favorites: Florida's Last One-Room School Shuts Doors for Good

DUETTE – While the rest of the district was celebrating their last day of school, tears flowed freely from employees, parents and students at a little schoolhouse in East County. After years of fighting to stay open, the last one-teacher school in the State of Florida shut its doors on Thursday.

Donna King, the school principal and teacher, worked there for over 30 years. King has fought to keep the school open since the 1980s when local perceptions shifted, hypothesizing that students would be better off in a newer, more modern setting.

In 2009, when Duette Elementary School was shut down for the first time, King was instrumental in re-opening the school under contract with the Manatee County School District.

King has gone to great efforts to save the school, even forfeiting her salary in 2012 when district officials said they were losing money allowing the Duette Elementary School to remain open. However, after a bout with cancer, King decided to retire this year and chose not to renew the contract her foundation held with the district.

She held the tears back all day Thursday until she was given a dozen roses by a parent during a bittersweet goodbye celebration. Overcome by the gesture, she finally cried.

Although it’s often referred to as one-room, Duette actually consists of five rooms, with the largest serving as a classroom. One teacher and one teacher’s aide taught a variety of curriculum to children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Duette School opened in 1930 when a few smaller "strawberry schools", including Albritton, Bunker Hill and a smaller version of Duette, were consolidated. Strawberry schools closed during harvest season so children could help their families by working in the fields.

When it opened, the larger Duette school kept the strawberry schedule and served children through 12th grade, but as enrollment increased and curriculum advanced, the older students were eventually transported to Palmetto High School.

Over five generations of families have attended the school, but low enrollment has been an issue in the last few decades. Duette residents have fought to save their school for a variety of reasons. Located on 11 acres of land, the school not only provided education for local children, but also served a community center for the approximately 1,000 citizens living in the village.

Seeing the cultural and historical value of the school, Superintendent Diana Greene hopes it will continue to serve Manatee County residents. She recommended restoring it to its turn-of-the-century condition, and using it as a field trip destination so it could be enjoyed by students and visitors alike.

The Duette Community Association, which was founded by King, hopes the district will donate the building to the foundation so it can become a community center.

Ultimately the Manatee County School Board will have the final say about the fate of the small school. Until then, its destiny remains uncertain.