The Jacksonville City Council isn’t giving the green light to more legal autonomy for the Duval County School Board.
By a 8-9 vote, the legislative branch voted down a resolution to back a local bill in Tallahassee that, if passed, would give the board its own general counsel, sending a message to the state legislature should this bill get taken up in Tallahassee.
The Duval Delegation will get to vote on the bill next week and potentially carry it forward anyway.
The local charter would have to be changed to make this happen, given the city’s foundational document stipulates the general counsel as the primary legal authority.
While the school board would still have access to city lawyers, the move was supposed to make DCPS more competitive with other districts and more able to get a lawyer who specializes in educational issues.
Debate ahead of the vote was heated.
In support of the bill, Republican Chris Miller said the vote was to back “the elected officials who know what they need … to be able to operate more effectively.”
Republican Rory Diamond said that this was an effort to fix one of the “problems of consolidation” and allow it to “evolve with the city.”
Republican Raul Arias chided General Counsel Michael Fackler for not hiring a lawyer for the school board that they wanted.
“Take their recommendations 100%,” he advised.
“I see you all as my co-equal,” said School Board Vice-Chair April Carney, advocating for the bill and noting board members are elected just like the Council.
She went on to say that the school board reports to the Board of Education, and that “it’s really unfortunate that 57 years ago this was not brought up.”
Democrat Jimmy Peluso agreed with Diamond that consolidation had flaws, but the decennial Charter Review Commission is a better way to deliberate the proposed change.
“A J-Bill ain’t the way to do it,” Peluso said, calling this a move toward “deconsolidation.”
“Bad precedent. Bad policy. Bad move,” said Republican Ken Amaro, who opposed the move to give the board a “private attorney” in two committees.
Republican Matt Carlucci denounced the “strike at the very heart of our consolidated government.”
“It’s a key in the lock of deconsolidation,” added Democrat Rahman Johnson.
Ahead of the vote and on behalf of the Mayor’s Office, Mike Weinstein expressed concerns about lawsuits still being the province of the OGC, creating a “management issue.” He also suggested future school boards could use city government, or vice versa, to hash out disputes.
“The General Counsel’s office is exactly why consolidation works,” Weinstein added.
After the vote, some members discussed ways to give the school board more autonomy in getting input on legal representation.
