Duval County board discusses options for 3 struggling schools

Each school must submit turnaround plan to state DOE by next week

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The future of three Jacksonville middle schools and thousands of students was discussed Tuesday night at a Duval County School Board workshop. 

The eight school board members met with interim Superintendent Dr. Patricia Willis and other staff to talk about options if the schools don’t improve to a "C" grade or better this year.

Following legislation passed in Florida this year, Lake Forest Elementary, Matthew Gilbert and Northwestern Middle must have a turnaround plan submitted to the state's Department of Education by next week. 

The school board is focusing on three main options for each school:

  • Reassigning students to another school and monitoring the progress of each reassigned student.
  • Closing the school and reopening it as one or more charter schools, each with a governing board that has a demonstrated record of effectiveness.
  • Contracting with an outside entity that has a demonstrated record of effectiveness to operate the school.
  • The three schools have more than 1,300 students.

    Board Chair Paula Wright said she has confidence that the three schools in danger due to poor grades can improve, referencing the school board's turnaround track record since 2011.

    "The most important thing to me is that we make sure every student, every parent, every teacher, every administrator understand that we value the work that they do," Wright said. "We are fully supporting their efforts and we are encouraging them, but we are going to be walking the walk with them."

    The school board reiterated that this process is complex and it has not made any decisions at this time.

    Board members said they will be looking for what their Community Assessment Team Meeting brings Thursday. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and will be held at Matthew Gilbert Middle School.


    About the Authors:

    Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.

    Kent Justice co-anchors News4Jax's 5 p.m., 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts weeknights and reports on government and politics. He also hosts "This Week in Jacksonville," Channel 4's hot topics and politics public affairs show each Sunday morning at 9 a.m.