The School Board’s months-long battle with the city of Jacksonville may have reached a resolution.
On Monday, Duval County’s School Board hosted a private meeting with its legal counsel and approved a stipulation for settlement to end its lawsuit against the city.
The agreement — which was delivered to the Office of General Counsel Monday evening — said the School Board’s master plan would be put forward unchanged on the November 2020 general election ballots. The half-cent sales tax would fund a $1.9 billion plan to improve and rebuild schools.
“It’s unfortunate we had to get to this point,” School Board Chair Warren Jones said. “We thought the most difficult part ... would be selling this to the voters.”
Though an hour’s worth of the meeting was held “in shade” — when public officials meet privately with attorneys without the presence of the general public or media — City Council member Brenda Priestly Jackson attended and spoke during the public comment portion.
“I want to share my appreciation to you in waging the good fight,” Priestly Jackson said. “The challenge of the independence and autonomy of the School Board was posed. We have longed hoped for a ruling that did not subordinate the School Board, but one that recognized its independence like the 66 other counties in the state of Florida.”
In January, Circuit Court Judge Gary Wilkinson ordered that the School Board had the right to hire outside legal counsel and sue the city despite the Office of General Counsel saying otherwise.
“We thank Judge Wilkinson for his order that memorialized your independence,” Priestly Jackson said. She went on to announce that she supports the School Board’s voice and wants to “continue to serve” as a liaison between the School Board and City Council.
Last week, Mayor Lenny Curry’s office announced that they were working with the School Board and its attorneys and looking forward to putting the back-and-forth in the past.
Curry could not be reached for comment as of publication time, but Chair Jones said he, along with other council members have indicated their support.
“He’s [Curry’s] called me several times very anxious to get it on the ballot,” Jones said.
As noted by the Times-Union, the city spent over $200,000 in legal counsel to fight the School Board on placing the referendum on a ballot. The School Board originally wanted to see the referendum on a 2019 special election, but when time ran out continued the push instead for the 2020 general election.
On Feb. 14, the city’s legal counsel appealed Judge Wilkinson’s order, which could’ve potentially stalled things even longer.
The School Board’s outside counsel — which is composed of attorneys Hank Coxe, Scott Cairns and Audrey Moran — has yet to bill the School Board, but Jones said things would be squared up once the smoke clears.
According to Cairns, the stipulation for settlement document signed Monday said the School Board would provide terms the city would have to agree to before the School Board would settle. Cairns said his team worked with the Office of General Counsel on formulating the agreement and that there would be “no surprises.”
Jones told the Times-Union that the terms put forth are unchanged and dollar figures, including what the school district agreed to allocate to charter schools, is the same as the original ask.
Cairns said the document will result in a resolution being presented to City Council at its meeting Tuesday night. If it passes, the School Board’s resolution will be one step closer to getting approved for the November ballot.
From there, a public hearing would take place on March 10 and a vote on March 24. Still, even if the City Council approves everything, the referendum still has to get past the voters.
If it does, the law wouldn’t allow collections to start until January 2021. But the district said designing and planning would start as early as this year.
“Thank you all,” Moran told the School Board. “You really showed a lot of courage by standing up and filing this lawsuit.”