Hernando school board approves two huge subdivisions near I-75, Lockhart Road

Two big subdivisions between Interstate 75 and Lockhart Road cleared the Hernando County School Board on June 9, putting as many as 1,885 new homes into the county’s growth pipeline. Black Jack Ridge would add up to 978 houses, while Ginny Grove would bring 907 units, a scale that can quickly ripple into enrollment forecasts, bus routes, school capacity and future construction costs.

The board’s sign-off came after the Hernando County Board of County Commissioners had already acted on the projects, underscoring how closely school planning is tied to subdivision approval in Hernando County. The school district says it works with the county and the City of Brooksville through a concurrency management system meant to align school planning with residential development. Major subdivision applicants must secure a valid certificate of concurrency before conditional plat approval, and the district determines whether enough school capacity exists to absorb the students a project could generate.

That framework makes the Ginny Grove proposal especially important. Commissioners had already dealt with a 226-acre property between Lockhart Road and I-75 that would become a 907-unit housing development called Ginny Grove. The Hernando County Planning and Zoning Commission approved the zoning request 4-1 on March 9, but commissioners unanimously postponed the zoning items on April 15 at the applicant’s request so concerns about roads, EMS access and transportation could be addressed. Residents who spoke against the project raised worries about lot size, density, sidewalks and safety for children and families.

The school board’s approval does not settle the broader cost of growth. Hernando County’s population rose from 194,510 in the 2020 census base to an estimated 221,701 in July 2025, a 14.0% jump, and Spectrum News reported the county grew nearly 9% between 2020 and 2023. That pace of expansion is already showing up in the district’s books: its 2025 five-year facilities work program, filed with the Florida Department of Education, lists $281,661,912 in total revenues and $237,808,289 in planned project costs over five years.

The Hernando County School Board, chaired by Kayce Hawkins with Shannon Rodriguez as vice chair, is now watching another wave of rooftops advance through the county’s development system. For families in Brooksville, Spring Hill and the corridor along I-75, the question is no longer whether growth is coming, but whether schools and infrastructure can keep up before the next subdivision is built out.