Vote expected on 2025 school closures
West Riverside, John Stockton and Fishweir elementary schools will remain open with the passage of Duval County Public Schools’ (DCPS) five-year capital plan for the updated version of the Master Facility Plan.
Another vote is expected at the Nov. 4 school board meeting regarding the anticipated August 2025 school closures and consolidations. These school closures are Don Brewer, Washington Carver, Hidden Oaks, Kings Trail, Annie R. Morgan and Susie Tolbert.
Public meetings and a public hearing were held last month on these closures and their associated consolidations.
Similar meetings and hearings will be held for subsequent closures and consolidations in the coming years. Ortega Elementary School remains on the closure list – but not until July 2030. Its students will be absorbed into Venetia Elementary School.
The DCPS Board voted 6-1 to approve this capital plan, which allocated funds for the projects, consolidations and closures for years one through five of the MFP and provided projected funding allocations for years six through 10 and 11 to 15. Although the plan is broken into five-year increments, school board policy now requires DCPS to revisit and review the capital plan every year.
“This is not a 15-year plan we’re going to put on a shelf and never revisit,” said DCPS Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier.
Though relieved their school has escaped the closure list, some John Stockton parents like Lauren Agresti are still concerned about the sidelined updates they believe are still needed at the A-rated school to ensure it continues to grow and attract new families. Previous MFPs called for a new wing to be built at the neighborhood school to replace its portable classrooms. Listed under Year 11, however, the notation beside John Stockton stated the “addition is no longer needed.”
“The decision to scrap the Stockton’s Master Facility Plan-slated wing replacement of its portables is short-sighted,” Agresti said at the Oct. 1 meeting.
Following the meeting, Agresti said the community will continue to advocate for the school.
“We recognize that the MFP has to have a positive impact on operational budget and continue to remind the school board and the superintendent that investing in schools like Stockton, where there is a demand and an annual waitlist is the most effective way to increase operational revenue,” said Agresti. “More students in DCPS seats equals more funds brought into DCPS.”
Bernier estimated this capital plan will save the district between $8 and $10 million. Those savings, he added, would be clearer following the vote on school closures.
District 1 Board Member Dr. Kelly Coker was the sole opposing vote to the capital plan. During board discussion, Coker repeated her past concerns that this plan is partial to those schools with the most vocal communities.
“I believe we are taking steps towards giving communities that had the loudest voices what they wanted,” she said.
Coker also shared concerns regarding the accuracy of the materials submitted to the board up to and including materials for the Oct. 1 meeting, noting an agenda adjustment just hours before the board meeting.
“I am hopeful over the next few weeks that I will be able to get to a different space in regards to that next layer of this conversation,” Coker said. “But right at this point, I feel that a vote towards this would take a step towards something that I just can’t take a step towards.
