JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — With Duval County Public Schools facing an over $100 million budget deficit for the 2025-2026 school year, district leaders are now looking for ways to cut costs.
One of those proposed solutions drawing controversy among parents is possibly cutting district-provided magnet school transportation.
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Michelle Slater is a Duval County Public Schools parent who lives in Jacksonville’s Girvin area, with one child attending and another applying for one of DCPS’s most popular magnet schools: Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.
Slater told Action News Jax Friday morning she’s just one of many in her neighborhood reliant on the transportation the district provides to and from non-zoned magnet schools.
“It’s almost like a contract,” Slater argued. “We signed up thinking there was transportation and to take that away in the middle of your kids’ education just feels very disruptive.”
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According to stats from the district, around 7% of all DCPS students enrolled in Duval County Public Schools are reliant upon that very magnet school transportation.
Slater explained Friday to Action News Jax that for many parents, doing away with it would be detrimental.
In her mind, Slater feels that the solution would be defeating the very purpose of school choice to begin with.
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“I just kept thinking that school choice with these insurmountable barriers just isn’t a choice at all,” Slater said. “Especially at 4 o clock driving downtown, it’s just not gonna work for so many people.”
Action News Jax did reach out to the district who clarified magnet school transportation cuts are simply an idea to one of many possible budget solutions, not a final proposal.
They also clarified if these changes were to go into place, it would not affect the 2025-2026 school year.
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