DCPS votes to consolidate several schools in revised Master Facility Plan

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County School Board held a final vote Monday night on the revisions to the Master Facility Plan that include the closure and consolidation of multiple schools in the district.

RELATED: Coverage of the changing DCPS Master Facility Plan

The five-year plan would impact nearly every student in the district, starting with those at six elementary schools that will close and the six elementary schools that will absorb those students:

1. Annie R. Morgan students into Biltmore - Approved
2. Kings Trail students into Beauclerc - Approved
3. Don Brewer students into Merrill Road - Delayed merger until 2026. The board left it open to either school.
4. Susie Tolbert students into S.P. Livingston - Approved
5. George Washington Carver students into Rufus E. Payne- Delayed merger until 2026. The board left it open to either school.
6. Hidden Oaks students into Cedar Hills- Delayed merger until 2026. The board left it open to either school.

The board voted unanimously on four of the six consolidations. The remaining two were approved 6-1 with Board Chair Darryl Willie being the no vote both times.

Willie explained Tuesday on The Morning Show that he knows schools must consolidate, but his two no votes were meant to sent a message.

“We have a system right now that wasn‘t built to operate the way it does. It wasn‘t built to have competition with privates and charters and homeschool. So we have to do something. I truly believe that we have to consolidate,” Willie said. My big question in all of the ones -- especially my no votes -- was ’Do we have a plan to ensure that we don’t end up in this situation three, five years from now? What is our plan to make sure we’re recruiting and retaining?’

“This was a signal to me to say we want to make sure we don’t end up in this situation.”

The revised MFP would have also moved the Bridge to Success programs, which are currently housed at St. Claire Evans Elementary and Henry Kite Elementary, to Eugene Butler Middle School. The Young Men and Women‘s Leadership Academy programs that are currently at Butler Middle would have closed as well. But, the board removed those items from the agenda and they won’t be brought up for the foreseeable future.

RELATED: Students, parents plead for Young Men‘s and Women’s Leadership Academy to stay open amid proposed DCPS plan

The School Board previously approved the consolidation of R.V. Daniels Elementary School into R.L. Brown Elementary School and Windy Hill Elementary School into Southside Estates Elementary School.

A recent post on the DCPS website explains the difference between the MFP, which mainly focuses on construction and capital projects funded by the half-penny sales tax, and the Five-Year Capital Plan, which is reviewed annually by the board.

Both guide long-term facilities planning in the district, including the closure of schools and the decision to build new facilities.

But the Five-Year Capital Plan identifies all projects and purchases funded through the district’s normal capital property millage and other capital funding sources, as well as MFP projects.

The MFP looks at selected projects and anticipated sequencing over a 15-year timeframe, and the upcoming year’s projects are added to the Five-Year Plan on a rolling basis, DCPS said.

The district says the overall goal of the plan is to reduce operating costs by cutting the number of schools.

The district’s Master Facility Plan is part of a larger effort to make up for a $1.4 billion budget gap.

The district’s massive budget constraints are due to the increased cost of building post-pandemic, increased requirements for revenue sharing with charter schools and shrinking school enrollment. Over the last 10 years, the district has lost 30,000 students.

The district says the changes will also make better use of the money provided by the county’s half-cent sales tax.

News4JAX’s analysis found the majority of the students who would be impacted by these proposed consolidations are disproportionately minority and economically disadvantaged.

Looking to the future

According to the DCPS website, among the potential future consolidations are:

1. 2026-27: Hyde Grove K-2 into Hyde Park Elementary
2. 2026-27: Long Branch Elementary into R.L. Brown Elementary
3. 2026-27: Anchor Academy into Mayport Elementary
4. 2026-27: Joseph Stilwell Middle into Ed White, which becomes a 6-12 grade school
5. 2027-28: Love Grove Elementary splits into a new school at Hogan Spring-Glen Elementary in 2027-28 or Spring Park Elementary.
6. 2027-28: Englewood Elementary splits into a new school at Hogan Spring-Glen Elementary or Spring Park Elementary.
7. 2027-28: S.A. Hull Elementary into a new school at Pickett Elementary
8. 2027-28: Reynolds Lane Elementary into a new school at Pickett Elementary
9. 2029-30: Whitehouse Elementary into Thomas Jefferson Elementary
10. 2029-30: Gregory Drive Elementary into Charger Academy, which becomes an elementary school
11. 2029-30: Normandy Village Elementary, into Charger Academy, which becomes an elementary school
12. 2030-31: Ortega Elementary into a new school at Venetia Elementary
13. Between 2029 and 2034: Arlington Elementary will merge into multiple area schools based on boundary changes in the area.
14. Between 2029 and 2034: Arlington Heights Elementary will merge into multiple area schools based on boundary changes in the area.

In 2025, the district will initiate the multistage community process to review the potential consolidations for 2026-27.

New School Builds

The district made a commitment to the community to replace some of the district’s oldest and most dilapidated schools. While the list of prospective new schools is smaller, the new plan still includes the following full school rebuilds:

1. Southside Estates Elementary (Under construction; opening 2025-26 school year)
2. Ribault High (Under construction; opening 2025-26 school year)
3. Baldwin 6-12 (Project begins 2026. No completion date set.)
4. Spring Park Elementary (Opening 2027-28 school year)
5. Hogan-Spring Glen Elementary (Opening 2027-28 school year)
6. Pickett Elementary (Opening 2027-28 school year)
7. Venetia Elementary (Opening 2030-2031school year)
8. Raines High (Project expected in the 2029-2034 timeframe)
9. Lake Lucina Elementary (Project expected in the 2029-2034 timeframe)
10. Westside High (Project expected in the 2029-2034 timeframe)

Schools That Will Not Be Rebuilt

Because of the changes to costs and revenue experienced since 2019 when the original MFP was approved, some new schools projected in the original plan are no longer in the current plan. New school or school re-build projects that are no longer planned under the current half-penny sales tax are listed below.

1. Beauclerc Elementary
2. Eugene Butler
3. George Washington Carver Elementary (closing)
4. Englewood Elementary (closing)
5. Garden City Elementary
6. Holiday Hill Elementary
7. Kings Trail Elementary (closing)
8. Smart Pope Livingston Elementary
9. Sallye B. Mathis Elementary
10. Reynolds Lane Elementary (closing)
11. San Jose Elementary
12. San Mateo Elementary
13. Seabreeze Elementary
14. Louis Sheffield Elementary
15. Whitehouse Elementary (closing)
16. Windy Hill Elementary

The schools listed above that are not closing will receive funding to address deferred maintenance. Windy Hill will receive a more extensive renovation and serve as a center for students with special needs.

Louis Sheffield, Garden City, Seabreeze, and a new K-8 school in the southeast sector of Jacksonville are in the plan to receive new schools in the 11–15-year timeframe, but at this time, there is no funding source for those projects.

The district said that as consolidations occur and enrollment shifts, the district may examine the need for boundary changes in the future to balance and optimize school enrollment.

For more details see the full MFP and the Five-Year Capital Plan from the Oct. 1 Board Agenda.