DCPS heard more concerns from parents and neighbors during a meeting at Ortega Elementary as the district moves toward an Aug. 4 vote that could close the school.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duval County Public Schools gathered community feedback Wednesday as it moves toward an August vote that could permanently close Ortega Elementary School, with parents and neighbors again raising concerns about traffic, safety and the size of its proposed replacement school.
District leaders hosted a community meeting at Ortega Elementary, one week after a packed meeting at Venetia Elementary. While Wednesday’s turnout was smaller, many of the same concerns dominated the discussion.
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Under the proposal, Ortega Elementary would close, and students would eventually attend a newly built, consolidated Venetia Elementary campus designed to serve about 1,200 students. The plan is part of the district’s long-term Bold Plan, which the School Board adopted in 2019.
“Our neighborhood cannot fit a 1,200-student school,” said longtime Ortega resident Susan Donnell. “We are not opposed to a neighborhood school, but this size just does not fit.”
Donnell and other neighbors said they worry the project could worsen traffic congestion, affect property values and change the character of the neighborhood. Several urged the district to delay demolition of the current Venetia Elementary campus until a traffic study is completed.
“We’re for the students. We’re just not for a huge school to land on a small piece of property,” Donnell said. “The consolidation doesn’t take into account the neighborhoods.”
Ortega parent Alex Stone said he believes the district is moving too quickly without fully addressing residents’ concerns.
“If the school needs to logically close, let’s logically close the school, but we haven’t met that criteria yet,” Stone said.
District officials said the traffic study remains on schedule and will help guide the final design of the proposed school.
“We typically do the traffic study in conjunction with preparing to demolish the building and design the new building,” said Deputy Superintendent Corey Wright.
“We’ve heard that traffic is a major concern of the residents and we want to make certain that we’re doing our part to address those concerns,” Wright said. “While our priority is making certain our students have the best learning environments possible, we have to remember that our actions impact residents.”
Demolition of the existing Venetia Elementary campus is expected to begin in January.
School officials said that the upcoming Aug. 4 School Board vote is limited to whether Ortega Elementary should close and whether the property should be declared surplus.
Still, the actual agenda item says specifically that it is also for the “consolidation of its attendance boundaries into Venetia Elementary School #68 for the 2028-2029 school year.”
They said a future decision to construct the new consolidated Venetia Elementary campus would require separate School Board approval at a later date.