Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed potential public school closures at a charter school in Jacksonville.
DeSantis noted that in Florida's funding model, "the money follows the student," but that he expects a robust presence in public schools even as charters and private institutions increase market share.
"The money follows the student and the family. It's not embedded in a certain system or a certain framework. And so the student and the family will be making those decisions," DeSantis said in Mixon Town at the Jacksonville Classical Academy.
"Even with robust choice, you are still going to have huge enrollment through school districts. There's no question about that. I mean, we have 400,000 kids almost on private scholarship, almost 400,000 kids in public charters. But the balance (is) millions in school districts. And so that's going to continue to be an important part," the Governor added.
The Governor's comments come as the Duval County School Board mulls a plan that could close neighborhood schools, with elementary schools being particularly hard hit.
"The closings could eliminate two high schools — Westside High and A. Philip Randolph Career Academies — and shutter much-loved grade schools … Fishweir, Lone Star and Seabreeze elementaries as well as Anchor Academy and Atlantic Beach and John Stockton," reported Steve Patterson in The Florida Times-Union earlier this month.
While Jacksonville Beach has passed a resolution opposing potential school closures, it's not binding on the independently-elected county School Board.
DeSantis said his team wants "parents to be the one that are driving this by being able to choose the school that's best for them," while avoiding weighing in on the specific closures being explored.
"And I think what you've seen in many parts of the state is the school districts have had to respond by offering programs that they want and they're really competing to get suited. So I think that's the best model," he said.
As WJXT reported earlier this month, the district has lost 30,000 students in the last decade.
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