JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Annie R. Morgan Elementary, which was closed last summer on Jacksonville’s Westside, will be revived as a tech incubator and community hub, as reported by our news partners at Jacksonville Today.
Last week, the Duval County School Board agreed to sell the school, which opened in 1916, to Ronnie King’s nonprofit, the MyVillage Project, for $1.25 million.
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Enrollment dwindled to less than 200 in recent years and Superintendent Chris Bernier said consolidating it with nearby Biltmore Elementary would help the district close a $100 Million gap in its budget.
KingKing arrived in Jacksonville in 2006 after playing basketball for Billy Donovan’s Gators at the University of Florida. In 2013, he founded Scratchwerk Tech, a research and development company that “uses the power of imagination to discover equitable applications for communities of color.”
He’s spent the last 20 years serving on boards and helping grassroots organizations grow.
King plans to restore the school and looks for ways to integrate what he called a coming shift toward artificial intelligence.
The Coding in Color program is a partnership with the MyVillage Project, the 100 Black Men of Jacksonville and the city of Jacksonville, is an example of the kinds of things Annie R. Morgan will provide space for.
He said the school will have room for office space for startups, after-school robotics programs, and classes for adults.
Jacksonville City Council member Tyrona Clark-Murray has lived around the corner from the school for two decades. Last year, she unsuccessfully tried to have the building designated as a historic landmark. She said the MyVillage Project has her full support.
Clark-Murray also said she’ll commit at least $200,000 of the money from the Community Benefits Agreement to preserve and restore Annie R. Morgan, but the council will need to approve it.