JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools has informed employees that it is expecting to eliminate a huge number of positions as it grapples with the loss of COVID-19-related relief funds and the impact of declining enrollment as school choice options have increased in recent years.
Initial estimates are that 199 district-level positions (11%) will be eliminated, and 507 school-based positions (6%) will be eliminated, according to the school district.
DCPS sent an email to all employees Friday afternoon laying out the potential future plans regarding measures the district is taking, including reducing staff and increasing class sizes.
“To all our teachers, counselors, and paraprofessionals: In normal circumstances, the decision to budget for an increase in class sizes would be the last of my recommendations. However, the financial situation is so challenging, it really leaves no other option to reach a balanced budget under the financial challenges we face,” Interim Superintendent Dr. Dana Kriznar wrote in the email.
The district said it is primarily funded through state and local sources based on the number of students it serves. However, the district noted that homeowners are taxed based on the projected number of students being served in all forms of public education, including private school vouchers, charter schools and traditional schools.
Primarily due to the increase in private school vouchers, the number of funded students (including private school and charter school students) in Duval County has increased from about 130,000 in 2019-20 to an estimated 142,000 in 2024-25, the district said. But those numbers are misleading, the district said.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Duval County School Board’s proposal to close & realign schools
“While the total number of funded students has increased, the district’s share for traditional schools has decreased from about 108,000 in 2019-20 to a projection of 98,000 next year. So, while taxes have increased to fund the rapid growth of the total number of students, our share has decreased due to our falling enrollment. With the absence of the federal ESSER funds, this decrease of 10,000 students over a five-year period cannot be absorbed without decreases to our staffing and increases to our budgeted class sizes,” Kriznar wrote.
An interactive map News4JAX built shows the enrollment changes within district schools from 2018-19 to 2023-24.
The district said the COVID-19 relief funds have supported 720 positions in the district, but those funds have dried up.
With the absence of the federal COVID-relief funds, budgeted class sizes out of operational revenue for next year will change as follows:
- Kindergarten through third grade — from 20 students this year to 22 students in 2024-25.
- Fourth and fifth grade — from 24 students this year to 26 students in 2024-25.
- Grades six through eight academic core classes—from 26 students this year to 26.5 students in 2024-25 with a reduction from an eight-period schedule to a seven-period schedule.
- Grades nine through 12 — from 27 students this year to 29.5 for 2024-25.
Kriznar noted that some positions that will be eliminated are in places where the district already has vacancies.
“While this is not the news I was hoping to bring as we approach the end of the school year, I know that one of Team Duval’s greatest strengths is resilience,” Kriznar wrote. “Through whatever adversity we face, I am confident that we will continue meeting the needs of our students and families. While we must make difficult decisions to operate with the funding we have, my pledge is to do all I can to support all of you, especially those of you personally impacted, to the best of my ability.”
The district said the changes will also result in reductions to school counselor positions, paraprofessionals and other school roles.
The district said it will continue to work with school principals to refine the final recommended budget before it is recommended to the school board over the summer and becomes final in September.
Local State Representative Angie Nixon said she got calls from local teachers concerned about losing their jobs.
“I did speak with a few members of the school board and they say that just due to attrition and some vacancies that those cuts that were announced to those teachers may not be that drastic,” Nixon said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed a sweeping education bill at a charter school in Mixon Town. Among the changes, HB 1285 will “simplify the process to convert failed ‘turnaround schools’ to charter schools.”
Nixon said that’s part of the problem.
“A lot of it is because there is just not a lot of money to go around and so these charter schools are popping up left and right, these private schools are sometimes popping up left and right and so that money has to be pulled from somewhere and it’s coming from public schools,” Nixon said.
DeSantis has said that he wants parents to have a choice, and Nixon agrees, but she also doesn’t believe charter schools have the same level of accountability as public schools.
News4JAX tried to contact DeSantis, every Duval County School Board member, and the Duval Teachers Union president but none have commented yet.
In a workshop earlier this month, the Duval County School Board also discussed a much-debated plan to rebuild, close and renovate schools within the district.
The workshop gave the first look at a potential timeline for public school consolidation in Duval County.
The plan, which includes a proposal to close nearly 30 schools, will impact nearly every student enrolled in Duval County Public Schools. Closing or consolidating schools would allow the district to make up for a $1.4 billion gap in the budget.
But nothing has been decided yet, and before making any decisions, the school district wants to hear from the public.