JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Parents and children demonstrated what their walk to school would be like if Fishweir Elementary School closed and those students were forced to attend Ruth Upson Elementary.
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The two schools are about 1.6 miles apart. That’s a seven-minute drive, but a 30-minute walk for students.
The master facility plan under consideration for Duval County Public Schools includes a proposal to close nearly 30 schools.
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It’s part of an effort to make up for a $1.4 billion gap in the budget.
Although nothing has been decided yet, the changes would impact nearly every DCPS student.
Parents have numerous concerns, including large class sizes, longer commute times and losing a sense of community with smaller schools.
The parents and students at Fishweir Elementary are very passionate about keeping their schools open.
“I just don’t want it to close because it’s been there for so long and a lot of the teachers will lose their jobs, impact the neighborhood,” fifth-grader Ella Flinn said.
The school has been open for 100 years.
“We just celebrated our 100th birthday and we are hoping for our second act, we work hard, academically high achieving school,” Fishweir teacher Christina Olson said.
A parent talked about her concerns about the commute for her child.
“I want to walk my child to school, I don’t want to sit in a car line, travel across town, shouldn’t have to do it for elementary school,” Laura Bearl said.
A student at a nearby school talked about overcrowded classrooms.
“Lots of kids go there, if they put them in other schools, then they will need more teachers and more classrooms because they are bunching up other kids into schools,” Steven Mornta said.
The district has been asking the public for their thoughts. They’re also considering creating 12 focus groups to represent the schools. The next community meetings will be held on June 10 and June 11.