Ahead of protest, DCPS moves to preserve Middle School schedules and save 69 positions

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Parents and students from a local Jacksonville arts school raised concerns to school board members Tuesday night over proposed schedule changes and faculty reductions.

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But before the protest even had a chance to begin, there was some good news announced by the district.

Thunderous music played by LaVilla School of the Arts band members greeted the school board and community members as they entered district headquarters Tuesday.

The music, played in protest, to remind district leaders of the importance of arts programs at local magnet schools.

“We’re losing students in our school district to charter schools, who often market themselves as arts, or STEM or academic types of schools, and our most competitive schools to kind of combat that loss of student enrollment are our magnet schools,” said Jennifer Richardson.

Richardson has a daughter at LaVilla and a son at Douglas Anderson.

She and other parents organized Tuesday’s demonstration after hearing the district was considering reducing elective opportunities at Duval Middle School which would have resulted in seven teaching positions at LaVilla being cut.

“And the arts area teachers at our magnet schools, they’re specialized teachers. They often have certifications that are hard to find. They’re hard to replace,” said Richardson.

But some good news broke Tuesday afternoon, with the district announcing it had made budget adjustments to allow middle schools to keep their current schedules next year.

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The change is also expected to save 69 positions districtwide.

Still, Richardson said it’s her understanding there will still be some lost positions at LaVilla.

She said she hopes the demonstration will convince district leaders to find additional ways to keep local magnet schools’ arts programs alive and thriving.

“We’re still concerned. I think there are ways that the school district can potentially capture additional funding to draw students back to our schools,” said Richardson.

As a side effect of keeping schedules the same at Duval Middle School next year, class sizes will increase.

“Class sizes may be bigger, but the classes and teachers will be there for the students,” a district spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

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