JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nearly every seat was filled at the Jacksonville Public Education Fund (JPEF) candidate forum Tuesday with hopes of hearing from the two women running in the District 3 election for the Duval County School Board.
Some attendees were disappointed that Rebecca Nathanson did not attend the forum at the Jessie Ball duPont Center, even though she was originally supposed to. News4JAX called and texted Nathanson to find out why she didn’t attend the forum, but she has not responded.
Nathanson’s opponent, Cindy Pearson, fielded questions for over an hour, addressing concerns surrounding Duval County Public Schools issues like school closures and state test scores.
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Latrice Carmichael lives in District 1. She’s also a site coordinator for an organization for Parents Who Lead. She attended the forum to ensure she had information about the candidates to share with people in her organization.
“Unfortunately, one of the candidates didn’t show up so all the information I did learn was from Cindy Pearson. It was interesting just to see her outlook and her perspective and her dream for our district, so it was pretty enlightening for me,” Carmichael said.
Pearson said if she’s re-elected, she has three main areas of focus, with the district’s budget being the main one.
“Making sure that our expenses are aligned with our revenue and that’s going to drive a lot of other issues that we’re talking about. The second is student achievement, making sure that we do hit that mark in 2026 where we have 60% of our students reading at grade level as measured by the exam. And then a third issue would be neighborhood schools. We’re in a big community conversation right now about neighborhood schools,” Pearson said.
There wasn’t a specific reason for Nathanson’s absence Tuesday night, but New4JAX spoke with her Monday afternoon. She said her priorities for the school board include focusing on student literacy, school discipline and safety in regard to teacher retention, and wasteful spending.
“Because those are the top concerns of voters in district three, that would be the shortest answer, because our literacy rates, every time the school district reports to the board, the academic achievement score is based on state testing, and we’re continually falling behind the state average. So, it has got to be our highest priority, we have to return to the basics,” Nathanson said Monday.
Carmichael was pleased with what she heard from Pearson. She feels education is a good equalizer for the community.
“But it only works if we’re all involved in making sure our kids have a good education,” Carmicheal said. “Events like this are so important to get involved in school board elections and education in general.”
Yasmina White, who has a daughter in a District 3 school, said she’s been keeping up with everything that has happened with the school board.
“A lot of the issues I’ve heard already because I’m extremely involved in what’s going on in the in the district. What I love to hear was that [Pearson] was not a supporter of staff having guns,” White said. “But with a student who is currently in the system, knowing that we have a board member and other board members who do not support arming teachers and staff is important to me.”
The JPEF will host three more candidate forums ahead of the upcoming school board elections on Aug. 20.
Early voting starts on Aug. 5.
You can also learn more about the candidates by visiting jaxpef.org.
The remaining forums are as follows:
- District 1: July 25 at the Citadel Church from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- District 5: July 30 at EWU Milne Auditorium from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- District 7: August 1 at Hopewell Church from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.