JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Three schools could soon combine into one as Duval County Public Schools continues to consolidate and some buildings left behind could be demolished.
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On Tuesday night, the school board will vote on an item that is the latest step in implementing the district’s master facilities plan approved in 2019.
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“Each of these mergers represents reduced administrative overhead costs for the district,” a district representative said in a statement.
S.A. Hull, Reynolds Lane, and Picket Elementary Schools will combine at a new Pickett Elementary set to be built on a new campus by August 2025.
S.A. Hull could be demolished as part of the plan and turn into green space.
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“That’s kind of upsetting me because I feel like it shouldn’t be demolished. It should be a community center or something for the children of the community,” Johnnie Mae DeCosta, who lives across the street, said. “If they just demolish the school, it’s going to look like a dessert over here and we don’t want that in our neighborhood.”
The district held a community meeting on the change last week.
S.A. Hull and Reynolds Lane are “substantially underenrolled” according to an analysis by Castaldi that will go before the school board Tuesday night.
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S.A. Hull dropped from 280 students enrolled in the 2018-19 school year down to 154 projected for the next school year, which is just 36% of the school’s total capacity. Reynolds Lane had 346 students in 2017-18 and dropped to 209 projected for the next school year, which is 40% of the school’s capacity.
A district representative said, “While annual enrollments fluctuate, enrollment in these schools has generally declined since the emergence of charter schools and private school scholarships.”
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