Duval County school board votes to spend thousands on training parents argue is partisan
First Coast News | By Renata Di Gregorio | December 10, 2024
The board voted to send board members to a training run by the School Boards for Academic Excellence and Florida Coalition of Conservative School Board Members.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In a move that went against what most parents urged during public comment Monday, the Duval County School Board voted to spend thousands of dollars to send board members to a new training.
In a 4-3 vote, the board voted to spend just over $7,000 to send five board members to an education policy and training summit next month that’s run by the School Boards for Academic Excellence (SBAE) and Florida Coalition of Conservative School Board Members.
Some parents and school board members argued the district should not spend that money during a budget shortfall, while also believing the training will be partisan. The majority of board members voted to go, saying it’s important to see all points of view.
“It is hyper partisan if you look at their social media, and that concerns me,” said Katie Hathaway, a Public School Defenders member and Duval County Public Schools mother who attended the meeting. “We have nonpartisan school board elections. These people were elected to represent every child in our district. I think that we need more transparency about what’s gonna be happening at this summit.”
First Coast News asked the executive director of SBAE, David Hoyt, who runs a Jacksonville charter school, about the three-day summit.
“We are a truly nonpartisan group,” Hoyt said.
Hoyt explained that there will be workshops on school safety and chronic absenteeism at the summit. The summit agenda also includes sessions geared toward “legislative advocacy” with titles including “Mastering the Art of Persuasion” and “Acing the Unscripted Answer,” which references “the fake news media.”
First Coast News asked Hoyt about the following comment made during the meeting:
“This very much is a partisan event,” said one woman during public comment. “It’s literally in the co-sponsor’s title.”
The title she referenced was the Florida Coalition of Conservative School Board Members.
“Conservatism is a set of values, it’s an ideology, but partisanship is a political party,” Hoyt said. “So, I think there’s an important distinction to be made there. FCCSBM is an organization that we’re very proud to work with.”
During the meeting, board members said they were all invited to the summit. In November, the board discussed sending Board Member April Carney and Board Chair Charlotte Joyce. On Monday, they voted to send the new board members: Tony Ricardo, Reginald Blount and Melody Bolduc.
Some school board members argued sending five board members was too many during a budget shortfall and board members Darryl Willie, Reginald Blount and Cindy Pearson voted against it. Ultimately, the majority voted for the following viewpoint.
“If we are going to be effective leaders as a board, we need to be looking at both sides,” said Carney.
The school board was expected to also hold a public hearing and vote on a policy revision on how students and teachers can interact on Monday, but that was pushed to a later meeting.
