Inspection forces Teacher Supply Depot building to close

District dispels concerns as Duval County teachers fear depot will shut down

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Structural damage spotted during a fire and safety inspection last month has closed the building that houses Duval County's Teacher Supply Depot and sparked rumors that the service was shutting down.

A district spokeswoman said the rumors are unfounded and that the district has no plans to end the Teacher Supply Depot. It will reopen, but the district is not sure when or where.

The supply depot, where teachers get office supplies, books and art supplies for their classrooms, is in what was once the Lackawanna Alternative Center, in an older building on Lenox Avenue, according to Superintendent Patricia Willis.

She told Duval County School Board members that the district has begun addressing areas of concern noted in the December safety report, which prompted the closing of one room during Thursday's giveaway last week.

“Apparently, as a result of this room closure, coupled with internal discussions regarding building repairs and moving excess supplies to a warehouse, it has either been misunderstood or misrepresented to others that the TSD was closing,” Dr. Willis wrote in an email to board members.

The concern from teachers was so strong that hundreds signed a petition demanding that the depot remain open.

ONLINE: See teachers' petition for supply depot

Duval County Public Schools spokeswoman Laureen Ricks said those teachers can rest easy, because the plan was never to discontinue the Teacher Supply Depot.

“Our primary concern is for the safety of our employees and the many people who volunteer in the depot,” Ricks said in a prepared statement. “In the event that the building is deemed unusable, the district will identify another location to house this program.”

She emphasized the building, for now, is just not safe to be in.

News4Jax obtained the inspection report for the building, which cited out-of-date fire extinguishers and broken windows and doors. It also cited structural integrity.

Joy Hardaker, a volunteer for the supply depot, said that although the depot isn't closed for good, the building being shut down is inconvenient because a giveaway had been planned for the first week of February.

Now it's unclear where that will take place.

“I don't see that this will be resolved by then, but perhaps the study will come out and repairs to the building to at least have the giveaway,” Hardaker said.

Among the fixes already made to the building were repairs to emergency escape windows, moving excess stock to district warehouses until needed and clearing emergency escape routes, Willis said.

The district has also hired an engineering firm to evaluate the structural concerns brought up in the safety report.

Volunteer Sharon Meehan said she hopes if the depot is moved it remains in a central location.

“Teachers work a very long day and they do not have time to go from one end of the county to another to go to a supply place, even as wonderful as it is,” Meehan said. “Time is a crucial factor.”


About the Authors:

A Jacksonville native and proud University of North Florida alum, Francine Frazier has been with News4Jax since 2014 after spending nine years at The Florida Times-Union.