JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In two months, Duval County Public School students are expected to be back in the classrooms.
These last couple of months have been filled with community conversations and meetings regarding the District's Master Facility Plan and the possibility of school closures.
According to Duval County Public Schools, no school closures or consolidations are happening in the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.
The board will continue hearing from parents and community members during focus groups starting next week. Revised plans will be made and then in the fall the board is expected to vote on a new plan.
In just three days, the Duval County Public School Board will hold its first set of focus group meetings to hear more feedback from the community on the master facility plan.
Courtney Abernathy is an Anchor Academy mom who will be representing District Two in these focus groups.
"We’re doing it pretty quickly after all the public forums have wrapped up, so it gives us the chance to bring our ideas that are fresh on our mind," said Abernathy.
According to the school district, the focus group will have a representative from every school, whether it's a parent or community member.
The focus groups will meet June 24, 25 and 27 and all the input from those meetings will go to the Master Facility Plan consultant and operations team where revisions will be made. The revised plan will go back to the focus groups near the end of July, for additional input.
Then a new plan will go before to the school board for a final vote in the Fall.
"Whatever the approved plan is, it will be implemented over the course of multiple years. It’s not going to be an immediate school closure if there’s a school identified to be closed, there’s a planning process of at least a year to get to that point," said Corey Wright, DCPS chief of staff.
With all this community input, Abernathy just hopes the feedback is implemented.
"I’m happy that the school board has taken a pause to get this much feedback from the community and I hope that it is listened to," said Abernathy.
According to the School District Chief of Staff, they will compile all the information from forums, focus groups, emails and surveys to see what each community values.
The goal is to have the School Board take action on a new plan in September or October of this year.