JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Two Duval County public schools will be merging.
Starting in 2025, R.L. Brown and R.V. Daniels will be one school.
The Duval County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve the measure, saying enrollment at both schools is under 40 percent capacity.
DCPS said the move saves transportation and administrative costs greater than $500,000 annually.
The board ultimately decided to push the start date back one year to give parents more time to decide if they want their kids to attend the new consolidated school.
School board member, Warren Jones, said parents only found out about the consolidation plans recently.
He said they weren’t given the opportunity to ask questions about what curriculum, teachers, and after school programs the new school will offer.
“We had a meeting Tuesday, Thursday of last week. The decision had already been made to close the school, so why are we here? And that question kept coming back and they [parents] had already sent emails that they had missed the school choice option because they found out about it after February," Jones said.
DCPS said parents are typically notified about consolidation efforts well in advance.
In this case, they were only notified weeks ahead of the vote.
DCPS said it's because the two schools are magnet schools, meaning anyone from around the city can attend.
Board member Kelly Coker wants legislation written to ensure every school is under the same guidelines.
“That we bring forward some kind of policy that provides guardrails on this has to happen. Those conversations have to conclude by November, December regardless of the type of consolidation that we’re doing," Coker said.
The school board also addressed its recent discussion on its master plan and proposals from a consultant to close several schools, such as Atlantic Beach Elementary, in an effort to cut costs.
The school board acknowledged cost cutting is needed, but added will do whatever it can to not close schools and will continue to discuss the proposals.