DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. – Two Jacksonville councilmembers will meet Monday morning to discuss Duval County Public Schools’ plan to consolidate schools.
Ju’Coby Pittman, who represents District 10, and Jimmy Peluso, who represents District 7, organized the meeting at City Hall to hear concerns from the community amid major backlash from parents, and even a state representative, over the plan to merge several schools.
The meeting will come just days after Duval County Public Schools announced its consolidation plan.
The plan includes merging Mayport Elementary with Anchor Academy in the 2028–2029 school year.
It also calls for Long Branch Elementary to merge with R.L. Brown in 2027–2028, marking the second consolidation for R.L. Brown.
District leaders approved these plans earlier this month, pointing to declining enrollment, reduced funding, and rising costs for the need to consolidate.
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.
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State Representative Kimberly Daniels sent a three-page letter to the school board chair just days later.
The letter says the district closed or proposed closing schools despite reporting strong reserves.
Daniels said after reviewing the numbers, something doesn’t add up.
“We have to find out what happened, how this happened, and make sure that it never happens again. So I pray that even the attention that’s being brought to it will be enough to have people to have a for so that folk can have a sigh of relief because sometimes people feel like their voice is not heard. And I just want them to know that their voice is heard and and and and we’re working on it and we’re demanding some answers,” Daniels said.
News4JAX recently spoke with Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier about where the consolidations stand.
“In the meantime, they’ve given me some instruction about continuing to work in the case of Anchor Academy. We’re gonna work with the federal grant and see whether we can get that money,” Bernier said. “In the case of the other, board member Willie has asked me to start engaging with him and the community to see what else we might be able to do between now and that closure day.”
Monday’s meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. inside the Lynwood Roberts Room at City Hall.