Next slate of boundary changes adopted at Tuesday school board meeting
4/5/2016
At its meeting tonight, the Duval County School Board approved the next set of program and boundary changes. See below for a summary of the changes.
R.L. Brown Elementary
The proposal to convert R.L. Brown Elementary to a dedicated gifted and talented academy was ultimately passed unanimously by the school board. That was following assurances that there will be no criteria for entry, and that neighborhood students would have priority in applying to attend the school. The motion that ultimately passed included an amendment introduced by Board Member Becki Couch to ensure that the school would hold a school-wide expo to ensure that parents have a full opportunity to opt in to the school for next year. Students in the R.L. Brown attendance boundary who do not opt in will be rezoned to John Love Elementary and Long Branch Elementary, which were also modified by a school board vote tonight.
See the board agenda item here.
John Love Elementary and Long Branch Elementary
This proposal, which was passed 4-3 (with Becki Couch, Connie Hall and Paula Wright dissenting), will convert John Love Elementary to a PK-2 center and Long Branch to a 3-5 center. In addition to students in kindergarten through grade 2, John Love would be a center for students as young as 3 years old through the district's Head Start and prekindergarten programs. This is one of several proposals to create PK-2 and 3-5 centers modeled on the current R.V. Daniels/Susie Tolbert and Merrill Road/Don Brewer schools that are currently in that configuration.
See the board agenda item here.
Andrew Jackson High School
The proposal to convert Andrew Jackson High School to a dedicated magnet was passed 6-1 with Paula Wright dissenting. The magnet will focus on video game design, cybersecurity, information technology and sports medicine, marketing and broadcasting programs, which will all be connected to Dual Enrollment courses. The program will phase in over time so as not to displace any current students or existing programs, starting with ninth grade in 2016-17.
See the board agenda item here.
Update: See stories about the decision in The Florida Times-Union and WJCT.
The board is still considering several more possible boundary changes. We'll keep you posted when we learn more about them. What are your thoughts about what the board decided? Share your thoughts in the comments.