JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville City Council joined with the Duval County School Board on Wednesday morning to hear about some of the school district’s key issues.
On the agenda was the search for a new superintendent, a proposal to close dozens of schools, and an update on the investigation into how the district handles allegations of teacher misconduct in the wake of scandals at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.
It was a chance for council members to catch up on these big topics and ask questions, especially as many of their constituents are concerned about the possibility of their neighborhood school closing.
These upheavals drew a crowd to a school board meeting Tuesday night.
On Wednesday morning, School Board Chair Darryl Willie told the Jacksonville City Council that he feels the two finalists for superintendent — Dr. Christopher Bernier and Dr. Daniel Smith — are poised to lead the district through a transitional time.
“This is a moment of challenge and opportunity. That’s what I’ve been saying about this role. There’s a number of challenges that we have, every school district has them, but also we’re looking for a person who can understand those challenges, have solutions for those challenges, and then create opportunities,” Willie said.
School district staff also had the chance to explain how some of these issues came to be and cited inflation, increased homeschooling, and expanded school choice, including an expanded voucher program implemented last year that allows for private school subsidies for families, regardless of income.
The district reported it is losing about 3,000 students a year and has plans to leave hundreds of staff positions vacant and possibly consolidate dozens of schools in the coming years to “rightsize” the district. That proposal has drawn ire from advocates like Jane Anders Ruffin, a former kindergarten teacher at Fishweir Elementary School, which is on the list of schools that could close.
“Every single human being in that building works together as a team, the staff, the principals, it’s just the camaraderie, and, the teachers are so special. I mean, it’s an ‘A’ school,” Anders Ruffin said.
The district acknowledges that the plan was put together by an outside consultant with efficiency in mind, without regard for things like school performance and history that are important to many families and staff.
The district is planning to take input from the community on their concerns at a series of public meetings in the coming weeks before making any decisions on consolidation.
The DCPS interim superintendent Dr. Dana Kriznar also spoke about the investigation conducted by an outside law firm into how the district handles allegations of teacher misconduct.
That investigation started following the arrest of longtime Douglas Anderson School of the Arts music teacher Jeffrey Clayton, who has since pleaded guilty.
Kriznar said the investigation is still ongoing but they are taking steps to improve the reporting of sexual harassment or misconduct, including the implementation of an online reporting tool, that can be anonymous.