JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Teachers and students at LaVilla School of the Arts celebrated the school’s 20th anniversary Sunday by unveiling a new mural on the front of the school.
“We did the landscaping project and then also enhanced it by adding the mural to beautify the school for our guests, for our students and for the public,” principal Lianna Knight said.
The project is a partnership with The Haskell construction company who built the school and paid for the mural. Duval County School Board member Darryl Willie said schools may have to rely on relationships, like LaVilla and Haskell’s, to help repair and upgrade schools in the city.
“We have to figure out how do we create those partnerships, whether it's city partnerships or private partnerships, like the one with Haskell today, where we can get [schools] up to the level we want them to be,” Willie said.
This comes after the school district’s day in court with the city in October, about repairing the schools. The school district and teachers’ union sued the city in September for delaying a sales tax referendum that would raise money to build and repair schools.
"We're going to continue to provide the support for our older facilities as we continue to move forward,” Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene said.
Those representing the city said the school board doesn’t have the authority to hire its own lawyers because it’s part of the city government. Board members, however, said they’ll keep fighting for the referendum to repair city schools.
"We're still wanting to move forward with this conversation and figuring out how we can get there," Willie said. "So, the conversation is still happening. We're moving forward because our kids deserve it."
Willie also said the district’s case may get a boost after a group of parents filed their own lawsuit against the city. Dr. Greene said she’ll do everything she can to help her students while the lawsuit works its way through the courts.
"My number one focus is on the day-to-day operations of the school district and that's what I'm going to continue to focus on, ensuring that we can keep our facilities working, make sure our schools have the resources that they need, and all of that other stuff I leave to attorneys to deal with,” Dr. Greene said.
At the event Sunday, Knight also announced plans to add an amphitheater and sculpture garden to the school. The theater and garden were part of the original plan two decades ago. According to Knight, they couldn't afford it, though, because of budget cuts.
Sunday kicked off plans for parents and community members close to the middle school to fundraise a little more than $1 million for the project. According to Knight, the expansion will benefit not just the students, but the city too.
"I definitely think it will enhance what our kids are already doing here at LaVilla," she said. "It will give us another performance venue. It can serve as an outdoor classroom and definitely be a way for us to tie into the Jacksonville community."
Teachers and students celebrated the school's 20th anniversary at the event Sunday, unveiling a mural painted by local artist Jason Tetlak. According to Knight, the construction company that built the school paid for the mural.
The company, the Haskell Company, also paid for the landscaping outside of the school. The project was part of the company's "Green Apple Day of Service" where employees volunteer in the community.
"When [The Haskell Company] were here during our planning process, they said we need some color outside," Knight said. "It needs to match what’s going on inside the building because it’s very colorful and there’s a lot of student artwork."
The gardens as part of the landscaping are dedicated to Preston Haskell, the founder of The Haskell Company.
