FOLIO
A two-year effort to interview a representative number of residents on their vision for the future of Duval County Schools is heading toward the consensus phase. Meanwhile, a new superintendent and four new School Board members are making plans for the district’s future.
In its One by One: Transforming Our Future Together program, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund conducted 169 Kitchen Table conversations with 1,649 participants, totaling 3,900 hours and producing a list of 15 educational themes. Anyone who wanted to could participate in the Kitchen Table talks, which were limited to eight to 12 people per session.
In the talks, participants were asked: “What would an ideal community and school system be like in Duval County?” In addition, they were asked what currently works and what doesn’t work in the school system and what needs to happen for the system to achieve these goals.
Now comes the task of reducing and refining those 15 themes and melding them into the plans and visions of newly hired Superintendent Nikolai Vitti and his employers, the Duval County School Board.
“He is eager to participate to find ways to align our work with the district and his priorities,” said Trey Csar, president of Jacksonville Public Education Fund.
The next step in the process will be to hold several community meetings this month to sharpen and focus the plans into five or six themes.
In an email, Vitti said he plans to meet with the group’s board of directors in late November “to discuss how the follow-up steps of the forums will be driven by the school district’s strategic plan.”
In early spring, the group will convene to begin working on a final document.
“This will be the community list and it is what the community is committed to make happen,” Csar said.
“Across all regions of the community, we found that people are energized to be more involved in decisions affecting the future of education and have some very specific ideas about what they think needs to be done,” the group said in its executive summary.
Three of the items on the list of 15 themes were heard more frequently than others. They are climate and culture, resources and community support.
“Within these, we heard people emphasize their priorities that schools be safe, healthy and positively motivating environments for all students; that all schools have enough resources to meet the academic and supporting needs and interests of all students; and that schools and communities around them work together to support each other in multiple ways,” the executive summary stated.
Some of the larger themes include educating the whole child, parental involvement, policy and political reform, fairness and equality, accountability for all, better communications, great teachers, reducing the emphasis on testing, wiser use of resources and greater autonomy for principals.
The education fund is asking the community to nominate delegates to a meeting in January to begin drafting a community agreement.
Sometime next spring, the community agreement will be presented to the Duval County School Board for its endorsement as an officially recognized set of priority goals for the district.
“Change doesn’t happen by magic. Change happens when you put your shoulders to the wheel and push in the same direction,” he said.
Former mayor and outgoing School Board member Tommy Hazouri acknowledged the importance of public education to the community, to teachers and to parents and students, but he said the new superintendent and four new School Board members need a chance to advance their plans.
“The Kitchen Table is big enough for everyone, but the educational leadership must be led by the new superintendent and the elected School Board,” Hazouri said.
“I think now is the time for the new superintendent and the board to step in and say, ‘We need every stakeholder to be a part of the educational successes we all want for our children and community — but we will lead that effort,’ ” said Hazouri, who is leaving after eight years on the board.
Fred “Fel” Lee, School Board vice chairman, said he welcomes the Jacksonville Education Fund study.
“I have been appreciative of the One by One campaign as the project elevated the amount of discussions regarding education,” he wrote in an email.
“As a School Board member who will remain on the board after the election cycle, I look forward to hearing the input from the community and understanding the information in more depth,” he continued.
“As we start the Strategic Plan review after the beginning of the year, this information will be useful to the new superintendent and School Board as we deliberate changes to the plan,” Lee added.
Outgoing Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals said in a statement released by his office, “I appreciate that this project has continued to keep public education in the forefront and am impressed by the geographic spread of input from the community.”
“It appears that some of the topics that are being focused on are important issues, including the need for additional resources and school climate and culture. As the focus areas become more specific, I believe that it will be important to work in conjunction with the new superintendent and School Board to align with the full review of the district Strategic Plan in the spring.”
In addition to JPEF’s work on education, there are several educational events planned for the spring.
Mayor Alvin Brown hosts a two-day education summit to be held Feb. 28 and March 1 and JCCI’s City 2025 will also focus on education.
Actor and activist Bill Cosby will help kick off the summit, which will gather leaders in Jacksonville “to help chart the way to significantly enhance the quality of education for all students.” Brown wants to raise $2 million to fund education initiatives.
Ron Word
rword@folioweekly.c
To read the full report, visit the Jacksonville Public Education Fund’s website here.
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