Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry tweeted a poll out Sunday night asking who was watching Sunday night football or the Emmys. A teacher replied saying “I am working on lesson plans wondering if the A/C in my class is going to work tomorrow.” The Twitter thread took on a life of its own.
“If you’ve got air conditioning units that are not working and they’re not being fixed and you have a request in, that’s a problem,” Curry said Monday.
Curry followed up that teacher's tweet with an open invitation for anyone to email him their classroom needs.
A Whitehouse Elementary employee emailed Curry with an extensive list of concerns.
“In my own classroom, there are many cracks in the floor,” the employee wrote. “It’s not level, so desks and tables wobble, making writing difficult. There’s no storage. The extremely old fans in the bathrooms allow wasps to fly in. I’ve had a student stung by a wasp in the classroom this year.”
An email from a mother of a Sabal Palm Elementary student says the A/C is being cut off too early at her daughter’s school.
“They have after school programs going on but the A/C doesn’t work,” the mother wrote. “Guess it gets cut off at 2:45 pm. Pick my daughter up from extended day, walk in, it's hot and muggy and she’s drenched in sweat, often dehydrated.”
Others suggested the mayor worry about school funding so the school board can afford the maintenance.
“What a kind offer, but I hope you can understand my hesitation with how you have fought against the district over the last few months,” tweeted the teacher who was worried about the A/C in their classroom. “I think a better plan is for you to take care of the Landing and the murder rate, and let the people vote to give the district the resources it needs.”
This comes after the Duval County School Board filed a lawsuit against the city, which refused to include a half-cent sales tax referendum this year.
The school board had asked that voters be allowed to decide on the tax, which would pay for school repairs. Curry says it was shot down because the board sent its proposal too late.
“It’s unfortunate that they chose to go the litigation route,” Curry said. “I stand ready. It’s very, very simple. Collaborate with all constituents and stakeholders. Reach an agreement with folks that includes equity for all schools, including public charter schools.”
Duval County Public Schools issued a statement after the mayor’s tweet, saying “The most effective approach would be to allow voters to have their voices heard. The ballot box, not Twitter, is the best way to solve the problem of Jacksonville’s outdated school facilities.”
The statement goes on to say, “Our team has proven to be very skilled at putting maintenance band-aids on outdated systems. The issue is that many of these systems are well past their useful life and should be fully replaced, not just repaired. That is why our School Board’s proposal for a half-penny sales tax referendum is so important to the future of our schools.”