Back-to-School: Jacksonville woman offers solutions to DCPS’ school consolidation dilemma

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s a new school year with new challenges for the Duval County School District. The possibility of more schools consolidating continues to be a big issue.

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Action News Jax talked to a local woman who formed a group to come up with possible solutions.

Susan Aertker has been an education proponent for years.

“I started a Facebook group. It’s called, ‘Article for Public Education,” Aertker said.

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Her group is commenting on the proposal to close and merge dozens of Duval County public schools to save money and operate more efficiently.

Earlier this year, the school board decided to consolidate R.V. Daniels Elementary in Northwest Jacksonville with R.L. Brown Gifted and Talented Academy after the 2024-2025 school year.

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The plan for the possibility of 30 more school closures is due to a billion-dollar funding gap related to the district’s 2019 master plan.

Aertker claims the state could keep those neighborhood schools open.

“Our state budget going to public education was slashed in 2008 and has not been brought up to those levels. The state could adequately fund us, so we don’t have to close our neighborhood schools,” she said.

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Since the pandemic, the district has seen a decline in student enrollment. It’s trying to ensure each school has 85% capacity.

Earlier this year, Duval County school officials held 6 community meetings to get feedback from the public about the consolidations and closures. Some parents blamed the state for extending private school vouchers to every student.

“This whole mess is the result of the voucher program and the result of private charters [using] public funds,” one woman said at one of the meetings.

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Other parents agreed with the closures.

“I support school closures ... Holding on to under-enrolled schools doesn’t make sense. It’s a simple business decision,” said another parent.

Aertker said both sides may be right.

“It’s like saying, ‘Close our neighborhood schools.’ Horrible. Well, that’s different than consolidating because consolidating may mean more options, which may be good,” she explained.

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Consolidating schools could provide more educational opportunities by combining resources. However, those against consolidation argue neighborhoods are often built around schools, and if those schools close, communities could be negatively affected.

Nothing has been decided for this school year. only the consolidation of R.L. Brown and R.V. Daniels has been decided for next year, but discussions will continue on which other schools could be next.

Aertker said the public needs to be vocal and not only show up at the meetings but also at the ballot box.

“You have your list of what you want to vote on, and public education should be high on that list in my opinion. We [need to] quit electing people to the state legislature who defund our public schools,” Aertker said.

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