6 more schools under consideration for consolidation in latest revision of DCPS plan
By Malcolm Harvey
Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) listed six additional schools in its latest revision of the Master Facility Plan on Tuesday.
The Master Facility Plan was brought about and approved by school board members in July 2019; it carried a price tag of $1.91 billion then. The original plan aimed to "address more than $1 billion in deferred maintenance, improve the safety and security of each school, remove most portables, right-size the district to cut administrative costs, and improve learning environments for our students," the school district's website states.
But, in March 2023, DCPS started the process of revising the plan which includes consolidating schools and reshaping boundaries of schools after "declining enrollment, required revenue sharing with charter schools, and pandemic-related construction cost increases" resulted in a $1.4 billion funding gap for the plan. In addition, inflation and supply chain issues were thrown into the mix, and district staff currently project the plan to cost $3.91 billion.
In June and July, the school board held several community focus group meetings to hear feedback from the public on the revised plan.
Now, DCPS Superintendent Christopher Bernier said Tuesday in a workshop that the school district is in the final stages of bringing the revised plan to the school board for consideration. The following is a list of the six additional schools, all elementary, that are under consideration for being consolidated in the plan:
- Annie R. Morgan into Biltmore
- Kings Trail into Beauclerc
- Don Brewer into Merrill Road
- Susie Tolbert into S.P. Livingston
- George Washington Carver into Rufus E. Payne
- Hidden Oaks into Cedar Hills
Along with the proposed consolidations, other new revisions made to the plan Tuesday in the workshop calls for the closure of the Young Men's/Women's Leadership Academy program at Eugene Butler Middle School, and DCPS' Bridge-to-Success middle and high school programs could be merged with the existing PRIDE program.
What's next?
DCPS said the final revised Master Facility Plan recommendation will be shared with the community focus groups at a meeting next Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Then the school board, in their regular monthly meeting on Oct. 1 at 6 p.m., will take action on the final recommended revisions made by the community to the plan. District administration will then go through a review process on all school consolidations planned for the 2025-26 school year.
After the school board hears public comment on the proposed '25-26 school consolidations in an Oct. 29 hearing at 6 p.m., it will take action on the proposed consolidations on Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.