JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Duval County voters are seeing the half-cent sales tax listed on their ballot, and your vote can decide whether Duval County Public Schools will receive nearly $2 billion over a 15-year span to repair its schools.
“Back in 2007-2008, the state cut millage dollars that went to school districts,” said Dr. Diana Greene, DCPS superintendent.
Greene said state cuts for school funding total to more than $300 million over time.
The state’s cut left Duval schools to slowly decline.
“Duval County Schools has the oldest schools in the state of Florida,” Greene said. “Our maintenance backlog is about 350 million dollars.”
In a lot of cases, Greene said the buildings are past the point of needing repairs.
“It’s more cost-effective to build a new school than to continuing repairing at the older school,” Greene said.
Mayor Lenny Curry backed the referendum and said it should be approved for the schools to simply be functional.
"They need to be up to date and frankly many schools aren’t many schools are falling apart,” Curry said.
Greene said being able to bring the buildings into the 21st century with new infrastructure and technology will only enhance a student’s education.
“There’s a body of research that is starting to show facilities do play a role in student achievement,” Greene said.
Greene points out that Duval County Schools’ rating continues to improve, regardless of its infrastructure. She said the half-cent sales tax could further its progress.
“If our teachers are doing really great things in really old buildings, imagine what they can do in newer facilities,” Greene said.