Atlantic Beach lawyer: School Board must protect Jacksonville schools from closure

I am dismayed — although not surprised — by the financial crisis now confronting Duval County Public Schools and appreciate the efforts made by the district to cure the present problem. While it is not possible to fully examine or critique all the reasons for these problems here, I would like to summarize my strongest thoughts and requests for the School Board to consider as they begin to formally address these issues.

My introduction to this problem was several articles in The Florida Times-Union: An April 2 piece titled “Duval mulls what schools to close: Public meetings set to outline reasons, seek input” and another on April 4, “The ‘next steps’ in closing decisions? Duval School Board to seek public input.”

These were followed on April 7 by Nate Monroe’s informative, factual and insightful commentary headlined, “Blame the pro-choice zealots for school woes.”

Since then, the residents of Atlantic Beach have rallied in record numbers, rightfully shocked that any consultant’s report would recommend the closure or consolidation of the “A”-rated, nearly full and parent-supported Atlantic Beach Elementary. It has sent shock waves through my community, the likes of which I have never seen.

On April 8, the Atlantic Beach City Commission unanimously enacted Resolution No. 24-21 “… requesting that the Duval County School Board takes action to ensure that Atlantic Beach Elementary School continues to operate as the community’s elementary school and is not subject to closure …”

This resolution was noticed for public hearing, and members of the community were invited to comment, yet there was no public comment against this resolution. School Board member April Carney, who represents Atlantic Beach, was invited to attend but did not appear.

Two other important community meetings on this issue took place to which Carney was also invited to attend but failed to do so. One was a Community Conversation meeting hosted by the Atlantic Beach Preservation group on Wednesday, April 10, in partnership with Save Atlantic Beach Elementary community group.

That was followed by a town hall meeting on Saturday, April 13, sponsored by the city of Atlantic Beach at the Gail Baker Community Center. Topics for discussion included Atlantic Beach Elementary Resolution No. 24-21. There was total support voiced for this city action.

These meetings would have registered our overwhelming support for our public school, had any School Board members attended.

The Atlantic Beach citizens have been heard through at least three public forums within the past few weeks. I most strongly support this board immediately voting to remove the Atlantic Beach Elementary School from the list of schools discussed to be closed or consolidated.

I was impressed to learn at the Atlantic Beach City Commission meeting how the parents of children attending Atlantic Beach Elementary School helped this school earn an “A” grade. First, it is the only public elementary school in Atlantic Beach. There are no charter schools here, nor is there any need for one, to further dilute the tax base.

I also learned that families who live west of Mayport Road are “zoned” to attend Neptune Beach elementary schools, which Atlantic Beach families can opt out of if they choose. If more families knew this option, Atlantic Beach Elementary School — already full and 85% utilized — would probably be over 100% attended. We certainly want to prevent it being overcrowded.

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Let’s not allow our top-rated community public schools to be the sacrificial lambs on the altar of tightening our belts due to lack of funds. We must not risk losing excellence where we have it. We must strive to elevate our less well-served public neighborhood schools by adding (or at least maintaining) additional state and federal funding, not further diluting the funds through other “school choice “ vehicles.

I totally agree with efforts underway that will establish that the Beaches communities, which are among the highest property tax bases, do not receive back their fair pro-rata share, which could help alleviate the present funding problem.

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Keep our wonderful “A”-rated Beaches neighborhood schools and their dedicated staffs intact, who serve as role models. Do not take action that destroys the best in our midst.

I urge the School Board to vote immediately and remove Atlantic Beach Elementary School from the list of schools being considered for closure or consolidation.

Carolyn S. Zisser, Esq., Atlantic Beach

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Don't sacrifice A-rated schools like Atlantic Beach Elementary