6 More schools are being thought about for consolidation in the most recent change to DCPS’s plan
Six new schools were added to the Master Facility Plan by Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) on Tuesday.
In July 2019, the school board adopted the Master Facility Plan, which at the time had an estimated cost of $1.91 billion. According to the school district website, the initial plan was 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.”
But 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, DCPS began the process of revising the plan in March 2023.
This revision includes school consolidation and boundary reshaping. Furthermore, supply chain problems and inflation were factored in, and district officials currently estimate that the plan will cost $3.91 billion.
The school board gathered input from the public on the updated plan through a series of focus group sessions in the community in June and July.
In a workshop on Tuesday, DCPS Superintendent Christopher Bernier announced that the district is now preparing to present the updated plan to the school board for approval. The six additional elementary schools that are being considered for consolidation under the plan are listed below:
- 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
In addition to the suggested consolidations, other updates were included to the plan. The Young Men’s/Women’s Leadership Academy program at Eugene Butler Middle School is to be closed on Tuesday, according to the workshop. The middle and high school Bridge-to-Success programs offered by DCPS might then be combined with the current PRIDE program.
What comes next?
At a meeting next Tuesday, September 24, DCPS stated that the community focus groups will be presented with the final amended Master Facility Plan recommendation.
The final suggested changes to the plan submitted by the community will then be discussed and decided upon by the school board during their normal monthly meeting on October 1 at 6 p.m. Following that, the district administration will assess every school consolidation that is scheduled for the 2025–2026 academic year.
The school board will act on the proposed consolidations on November 4 at 6 p.m., following a public comment period on the ’25–26 school consolidations on October 29 at 6 p.m.
