{"id":263852,"date":"2026-05-08T19:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/263852\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T19:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:43:10","slug":"jacksonville-city-council-member-removed-from-classroom-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/263852\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville City Council member removed from classroom position"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Jacksonville city councilwoman has been removed from her classroom duties in the Duval County Public Schools during a human resources investigation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\/news\/local\/2026\/05\/07\/dcps-confirms-councilwoman-was-removed-from-classroom-after-human-resource-investigation\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the school district confirmed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Tyrona Clark-Murray, <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2025\/02\/21\/vacant-school-community-center\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">councilwoman for District 9<\/a>, is currently employed as an ESE Site Coach at Alfred Dupont Middle School, according to the district\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.duvalschools.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The school district<\/a> did not specify what led to Clark-Murray\u2018s removal from the classroom, but the district said she had been \u201ctemporarily reassigned to a role with no student contact pending the outcome of a human resources investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to School Board member <a href=\"https:\/\/jaxtoday.org\/2024\/08\/02\/school-board-candidates-find-common-ground-at-final-forum\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Melody Bolduc<\/a>, Clark-Murray was reassigned for inappropriate physical contact. Bolduc released this statement:<\/p>\n<p>While the investigation must be allowed to run its course, I think this moment also highlights a much larger issue that deserves public attention. Our ESE teachers and paraprofessionals work with some of our district\u2019s highest-needs students every single day, often in extremely challenging circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>No student should ever be harmed by an adult. At the same time, many people do not realize that our educators are regularly bitten, kicked, slapped, pinched, scratched, groped, and physically assaulted while serving students with significant behavioral and emotional needs. These incidents happen far more often than the public understands.<\/p>\n<p>During Teacher Appreciation Week, I believe it is important that we acknowledge not only the dedication of these educators, but also the intense demands placed upon them. Our teachers need stronger support systems, proper staffing, training, resources, and safe working environments so they can continue serving students with compassion and professionalism.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to give a special shout out to our ESE teachers and paraprofessionals. I often tell them they are some of the most selfless, patient, and underappreciated heroes in public education. The work they do matters deeply, and many of them continue showing up every day with extraordinary love and commitment for students who need them most.<\/p>\n<p>The school district said the investigation is active and no further information would be provided.<\/p>\n<p>Nex4Jax reached out to the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office to see if any reports had been filed, but the department said the agency was \u201cunaware\u201d of any report.<\/p>\n<p>The Mayor\u2019s Office referred any questions to the school district and Councilwoman Clark-Murray\u2019s office. Clark-Murray declined to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>City Council President Kevin Carrico, in a statement, called the situation \u201cdisturbing.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs someone who works with children of all ages day in and day out, it\u2019s obviously troubling to read. I will reserve judgment and action as council president when I have more facts and a report to review,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>News4Jax asked Carrico whether Clark-Murray would continue to serve on the City Council in her usual capacity. He said a council member could be removed from office only if they face a criminal charge, and only Gov. Ron DeSantis has the ability to do that.<\/p>\n<p>Councilman Matt Carlucci responded to the incident with praise for Clark-Murray, saying this situation should not tarnish her reputation.<\/p>\n<p>Tyrona Clark-Murray is an outstanding person, a compassionate educator, and a dedicated public servant who truly cares about people. I cannot defend the reaction itself, because educators must be held to a high standard, but I also understand how difficult those classroom situations can be. What speaks to her character is that she immediately self-reported the incident, showing honesty and accountability. One mistake should not define a lifetime of service to others.<\/p>\n<p>This story was produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news4jax.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">News4Jax<\/a>, a Jacksonville Today news partner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Jacksonville city councilwoman has been removed from her classroom duties in the Duval County Public Schools during&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-263852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}