JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County School Board voted Monday evening on whether to change high school boundaries and consolidate several schools across Jacksonville.
The proposed changes were part of the district’s plan to address a major budget shortfall.
The consolidation proposals have sparked strong pushback from many families who say they worry about what this means not only for students, but also for their communities.
“Why get rid of them? Why consolidate them? It hasn’t worked. So why now? And then if it doesn’t, what are we gonna do next?” April Hall Lloyd, who is against consolidation, said.
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The district’s consolidation plan, which has been in place for more than a year, is set to help close its $1.4 billion budget gap.
The school board is looking at changing boundaries for these high schools:
- Atlantic Coast High
- Mandarin High
- Englewood High
- Sandalwood High
- Terry Parker High
The board also considered merging two elementary schools:
- R.L. Brown Elementary with Long Branch Elementary — even though R.L. Brown already went through a consolidation earlier this year.
- Another proposal would combine Anchor Academy with Mayport Elementary.
At the meeting, after a lot of debate and opposition, the board decided to postpone the consolidation for R.L. Brown until the 2027- 2028 academic school year.
Board Member Darryl Willie said he wanted the chance to explore options to work with the city or find public-private partnerships to help save the schools.
Board members also approved the Anchor Academy consolidation for the 2028-2029 school year to give them more time to see if they would receive a grant that would help build a brand-new school.
Last year, the board unanimously voted to merge four schools with others.
District leaders said the goal is simple: cut operating costs by reducing the number of schools.
This was just one of several consolidation proposals made by the district.