JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Duval County Public Schools board is preparing to vote on a significant proposal that could move its district headquarters away from the Southbank riverfront location it has occupied for decades.
However, District 3 Board Member Cindy Pearson expressed concerns about the deal on Facebook on Friday, days before the vote takes place on Tuesday afternoon, calling it “bad deals for DCPS and taxpayers.”
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Pearson explained in her social media post that if the deal were to go through at the current offer of $20 million, DCPS would receive $12.5 million at closing and $7.5 million three years later.
She notes that the payment structure would require DCPS to take out a loan to purchase the property at Prominence Parkway, the former site of Southeastern Grocers’ headquarters.
“DCPS would be paying interest on that loan but not receiving any on the $7.5 million delayed payment from the purchaser,” she writes. “Any excess funds that DCPS would realize between the sale of 1701 Prudential and the purchase of the Prominence Parkway building would be delayed for three years.”
Pearson also says that the property would require DCPS to pay an annual property owners’ association fee of $42,000.
Additionally, she explained that the Prominence Parkway property does not have “a natural space” to hold monthly school board meetings, and instead, the proposal seeks to hold those meetings at the Schultz Center off of Beach Boulevard, which would require additional renovations.
“The lack of alignment in closing dates, the split payment on the sale of 1701 Prudential, the Prominence Parkway location at Baymeadows and 95 (including the plans to develop most of the former office park into residential units), the plan to split staff between Prominence Parkway and Schultz Center and the awkwardness of holding board meetings at Schultz Center leads me to believe that the negatives outweigh the positives,” she said.
The school board meeting on Tuesday night will include two key votes: one to sell the current headquarters property and another to purchase a new facility near Baymeadows Road, specifically off Prominence Parkway.
Pearson concluded her post by saying her preference is to keep the headquarters on the riverfront until a more central location can be found, and a sale and purchase agreement that better serves the district and taxpayers can be negotiated.
Despite these concerns, DCPS considers the factors favorable and is moving forward with the votes. The results of the school board’s decisions will be reported later tonight.