As the new school year begins, some Duval County families say they’re struggling to afford school uniforms, and local advocates warn that the need is keeping students out of class.

The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, Public School Defenders and other advocacy groups protested to advocate for an “inclusive future” for students before new Duval County Public School board members were sworn in.

City Year Jacksonville recruits idealistic young leaders between the ages of 18-25 to serve for one year as a Student Success Coach in a Duval County Public School. Their objective is to mentor and tutor students by focusing on the whole child—behavior, character building, and attendance as well as academics—–for student success. Ahvaney “Avi” Porter-Cook shares her experience as a Student Success Coach serving for a second year at Highlands Estates Academy and Allishia Bauman, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of City Year Jacksonville, speaks on the organization’s current local initiatives. To learn more about becoming a Student Success Coach, or other ways to get involved with City Year Jacksonville, visit www.cityyear.org/jacksonville.

The reports are the result of the districts 'Know the Line' campaign.

Duval County Public Schools is taking steps forward to continue its efforts in protecting students and creating a safe environment with employees.

News4JAX will sit down for a one-on-one interview with the Duval County Public School’s newest superintendent and we want to hear from you.

There are questions about the independence of a citizens committee tasked with overseeing the Duval County Public School’s use of funds from the half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2020.

Over 700 teacher and staff positions could be eliminated next school year, the school district announced last week.

The group Public School Defenders attended the Duval County Public School board meeting to voice concerns about Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri’s presentation at the school safety workshop on February 20th.

Duval County Public School officials will discuss safety measures at school games after a teen shot into a large crowd Friday night at a high school football game, according to police.

Just as jury selection for a long-time Duval County Public School custodian facing multiple sexual battery charges was about to begin Monday morning, Wayne Williams pleaded guilty to a single charge of lewd and lascivious molestation.

The new school marks the third elementary school — out of 28 new public schools being constructed in Duval County — to be built under the taxpayer-funded master facility plan.

In an effort to bolster internet safety and technological security, Duval County Public School leaders discussed the adoption of a new application that will provide parents more access to their student’s activity on any district-provided electronic device.

Duval County Public School leaders plan to break ground Wednesday on a 94,000-square-foot rebuild of Southside Estates Elementary School, which will see the consolidation of students at the school’s current campus and Windy Hill Elementary, when it opens in August 2024.

A Jacksonville substitute teacher is speaking out after he said he was fired from Duval County Public Schools after posing a video that went viral.

Duval County Public School announced Thursday that officials will use Friday to assess any damage to schools due to Tropical Storm Ian, close down shelter operations and begin cleaning up their campuses.

The Duval County Public School board is poised to again discuss a recently released report from a Florida grand jury which accuses the former director of DCPS Police Department of severely underreporting instances of crimes on school campuses over a four-year period.

"School District headquarters are currently closed as a precaution as JSO investigates a suspicious package," Duval County Public Schools said.

Parents, students and a nonprofit organization have filed a federal lawsuit against four Florida school districts, challenging the constitutionality of a new state law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms.

The Duval County School Board strengthened the district’s rules against students taking video recordings on campus.

No Duval County Public School has ever won a state soccer championship. Can the Fletcher girls change that history?

Duval County students as young as five years old got their second dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Saturday morning.

While Duval County students enter the homestretch of another difficult, pandemic-laden school year, grading data shows a subtle but apparent deficit in achievement by those students engaged in virtual learning when compared to those in traditional, brick and mortar classrooms.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County public school parents who want to take their children out of virtual learning for the third quarter can do that now, the school district announced Friday. Cancellation forms for Duval HomeRoom, the virtual learning option for Duval County Public School students, are available through the Parent Focus Account now through Dec. 4. “If the student is succeeding academically in HomeRoom, and the parents prefer for them to remain on the online platform, then no further action needs to be taken,” the district wrote in a press release. Florida’s education commissioner said this week that the state will allow for virtual learning into next year, but there are still questions about funding. Anyone with questions is asked to contact their school directly.

To help parents and students keep track of the number of reported COVID-19 cases in schools, the Duval County school district released an online dashboard. The dashboard only reports Duval County Public School employee or student cases impacting school operations. The total number of employees or students diagnosed with COVID-19 may be higher, according to DCPS. The cases are reported by DCPS on the date in which the district confirmed the results. Charter school data is not included due to incompatibility of information systems, according to DCPS.

The half-cent sales tax money would also go towards safety and security, building upgrades and renovations at schools across the city. For instance, at John E. Ford, a K-8 school in Northwest Jacksonville, the district decided on $11.7 million for upgrades. So when our children are in school, they’re healthy, we know that they’re safe, as far as the building is concerned," Buckley said. And in some of the other Northwest areas of Jacksonville," said Carlucci, co-chair of Duval Citizens for Better Schools. To see exactly how much of the tax money would go to each school if the measure is passed in November, click through to find every school on the interactive map below.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Its back to the drawing board for Duval County Public School leaders after the school board voted Thursday to reconsider some aspects of the superintendents reopening plan. I dont know that this particular time for our community is ... safe, said school board vice-chair Elizabeth Andersen. The final version of the reopening plan will be presented to the school board July 23. Parents with children who plan to use virtual learning through Duval Homeroom or the virtual academy need to register on the district website. The deadline is July 24 for Duval Homeroom and July 31 for the virtual academy, but there are some late enrollment possibilities.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Most Duval County Public School teachers and parents want to continue online learning if it’s not safe to return to campuses when the new school year begins later this year, according to the results of a survey released Thursday by Duval County Public Schools. The district said it received nearly 50,000 survey responses from students, teachers and district employees. Based on average scores, most parents said they were most comfortable continuing online learning until it is safe to return to brick and mortar schools. Teachers also said they were most comfortable continuing online learning until it is safe to return to brick and mortar schools, with the next most popular option selected being a combination of face-to-face and online learning to ensure social distancing. Students, parents, teachers, district personnel and DCPS employees all felt least comfortable going to a completely online platform when returning for the school year.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Police searched Mandarin High School on Friday after reports that a student was seen with a gun on campus, keeping students in a code red lockdown for a couple of hours. Police are searching the school to determine if a firearm is on campus, and therefore the school remains on code red. Because the school is on code red, please do not come to the school at this time. Despite that message, dozens of parents showed up, the line wrapping from the driveway past the high school's sign on Sunbeam Road. We are in the process of reaching out to parents at this time related to the Code Red at Mandarin High School.