New Town residents question Duval Schools on proposed closures and teacher cuts

Dozens of people peppered Duval County School Board Chairman Darryl Willie and interim Superintendent Dana Kriznar with questions about school consolidations, dropping district enrollment, teacher cuts, and more during a town hall organized by the Jacksonville NAACP on Tuesday night at the Beaver Enterprise Center in the New Town community.

With nearly 60 people in attendance, it was one of the larger community gatherings since the School Board held a workshop in March to receive suggestions from a consultant about how to reduce a $1.4 billion shortfall in its Master Facilities Plan.

Willie says the district must adapt amid a shifting educational environment.

“As a parent, you have so many choices,” Willie says. “It’s almost (like) you’re inundated with choices. And, I think we, as a public, traditional public school entity have to understand this landscape that we’re in and navigate. We have to be innovative and effective as we move forward.”

The consultant’s recommendations surprised Michelle Crumbley, the School Advisory Council chairwoman at A. Philip Randolph Career Academy who has served as a teacher at Bayview Elementary for more than 20 years. Both schools are referred for closure by the consultant’s Master Facilities Plan.

Crumbley taught at a charter school for one semester before arriving at Bayview in January 2000. The experience changed her outlook on education.

“I would never put my child in a charter school. in a charter school,” Crumbley says. “It was unorganized. We wasted those kids’ time. I have seen them come back from a charter school behind.”

Kriznar, who sat three feet away from Crumbley at Tuesday’s town hall, addressed the concern that hundreds of employees face uncertain job status.

The interim Superintendent says the expiration of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief dollars, combined with the growth of charter schools, traditional school enrollment declines, increased insurance costs and salary increases were why the district notified employees last week it may need to eliminate as many as 700 positions.

Kriznar says vacant positions, retirements and eliminating contract positions should minimize the impact to full-time DCPS employees.

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