Sept. 17, 2024 – Tuesday morning, Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier discussed the current iteration of the district’s revised Master Facilities Plan with the Duval County Public School Board during its workshop.
Revisions to the original Master Facilities Plan, which was approved by the School Board in 2019, became necessary as the district experienced the impact of post-pandemic construction costs and increased requirement for revenue sharing with charter schools.
Broad goals of the revision have been: 1) to reduce district operating overhead cost by decreasing the number of schools; and 2) to wisely use the voter-approved half-penny facilities tax given the increases in costs and sharing requirements.
The district began the process with a consultant’s proposal in March. Following extensive community feedback and participation, the plan is moving closer to a final recommendation for action, anticipated at the Oct. 1 regular monthly School Board meeting.
While the Superintendent’s plan is not yet final, staff and parents of seven schools are being informed this week that their schools are under consideration for closure at the end of this year and consolidation to other schools for the 2025-26 school year. Six of those are the following elementary consolidations:
- Annie R. Morgan into Biltmore
- Kings Trail into Beauclerc
- Don Brewer into Merrill Road
- Susie Tolbert into S.P. Livingston
- George Washington Carver into Rufus E. Payne
- Hidden Oaks into Cedar Hills
In addition to these consolidations, the plan under discussion includes the closure of the Young Men’s/Women’s Leadership Academy program at Eugene Butler Middle School. Under the current iteration of the plan, the district’s Bridge-to-Success (BTS) middle and high school programs will consolidate on that site along with the existing PRIDE program, which will remain on the site.
The BTS programs have been housed in buildings of two former elementary schools. The middle school program is currently held at St. Claire Evans Elementary, which consolidated to Northwestern Legends Elementary in 2020. The BTS High School program is currently housed at the former Henry F. Kite Elementary School, which merged in 2023 with Rutledge Pearson Elementary School, the first brand new school constructed with funding from the voter-approved half-penny sales tax.
These consolidations are in addition to the consolidation of the R.V. Daniels magnet school into the R.L. Brown magnet school, which the School Board approved earlier this year.
Following the workshop, the district will present the final plan to the Community Review Groups that helped district officials understand community values and factors the district should consider in making a consolidation decision.
The next steps are as follows:
- The final revised Master Facility Plan recommendation will be shared with the Community Review Groups at their final meeting on Sept. 24.
- The School Board will act on the final recommended revisions to the Master Facilities Plan at its regular monthly meeting Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. in the Cline Auditorium, 1701 Prudential Drive, 32207
- District administration will initiate the Consolidation Impact Review Process on all school consolidations planned for 2025-26 (except for the R.V. Daniels-R.L. Brown merger, which already went through this process).
- The School Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2025-26 school consolidations on Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. in the Cline Auditorium, 1701 Prudential Drive, 32207.
- The School Board will act on the proposed 2025-26 school consolidations at their regular monthly meeting Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Cline Auditorium, 1701 Prudential Drive, 32207. (Note: This meeting is on Monday, due to election day).
- If the Board approves any proposed consolidations, the schools involved will begin working collaboratively with families, students and staff to ensure a positive and successful transition for the 2025-26 school year.
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