More than 15,000 students take advantage of Duval school choice program

Students statewide will soon be allowed to transfer to any school of their choice while more than 15,000 students in Duval County have already taken advantage of the district's school choice program.

Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation that will allow students across Florida to attend any public school in the state that has space available beginning in 2016.

Parents are moving their kids for a variety of reasons, from home schooling to charter schools.

Education experts tell Action News Jax that school transfers will be more frequent in the coming years.

"Parents and students want more choice," Trey Csar, president of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, said.

Csar said a growing number of parents are choosing their child’s school, especially during the transition from middle to high school.

“Everybody wants to be able to customize everything, from their shoes to their cell phone,” he said. “This is another way to customize education for a specific child."

During the 2015 to 2016 school year, approximately 16,500 students transferred out of their school.

That is a little more than half of the 30,000 high school students in the district.

Of the students who transferred, approximately  half -- 7,250 -- moved to a dedicated magnet school or program.

Not a single student transferred out of four magnet schools in the area, Paxon School for Advanced Studies, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Stanton College Preparatory School and Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology.

Csar said parents are becoming more interested in magnets because of they like the idea of specialized themes.

"You'll continue to see that trend not only in Duval County but across the state, where schools will be more thematic,” he said. “There will be a lot more movement in choice."

Cox Media Group