Duval Schools referrals drop by half, but Black boys still most likely to be disciplined
The district s mid-year discipline report reviews the first 100 days of the new school year compared to previous school years. Author: Florida Times-Union, Emily Bloch Published: 11:16 AM EDT April 9, 2021 Updated: 11:16 AM EDT April 9, 2021
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. This school year, the number of infractions reported within Duval County Public Schools has decreased by more than half compared to the same time last year, new data shows. But even during a pandemic, Black boys are disciplined more often than any other group of students within the school district.
The district s mid-year discipline report, which reviews the first 100 days of the new school year compared to previous school years, revealed some trends including:
After months of watching civil rights demonstrations through the country and on the streets of Jacksonville at times even participating themselves the students were surprised when in February the school district didn t seize the opportunity to use Black History Month as an education tool to drive lessons about local racial justice movements and Black history.
Instead, the school district launched its own inaugural month-long campaign for mental health and suicide awareness called You Matter Month. While that campaign had its own issues because it encouraged students to #TakeOffYourMask during a global pandemic, some students worried the language minimized Black Lives Matter campaigns and hijacked the attention from the sole month annually centered around Black lives.
I graduated from UNF and started my career here, Superintendent Diana Greene said during the webinar. As a first-year teacher, I felt so alone and didn t understand the intricacies of teaching.
Greene said it took leaving Duval County and starting at a new school district that had an established teacher mentorship program to make things click for her. It taught me that we have to understand what teachers are coming into when they first join a district, she said.
Duval teachers experience below Florida average
In an analysis of three years of data from the school district, Jacksonville Public Education Fund revealed that Duval County s teacher retention rate is about 84 percent year-to-year across the entire district and about 75 percent year-to-year in the average school. The district said these numbers are on pace with national statistics.
Duval Schools mid-year data reports on in-person, distance learning test scores jacksonville.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jacksonville.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
High schools in Duval County will have enhanced security Thursday and Friday after numerous social media threats, according to a district official. We ve noticed a significant number of threats compared to normal over the last couple of days, Tracy Pierce, a spokesperson from DCPS, said. And therefore, we have just made the decision to implement enhanced security procedures at all of our high schools for the rest of the week.
School officials will reach out to parents Wednesday night and Thursday morning to make them aware of the enhanced security.
According to Pierce, the enhanced security will include backpack screening, metal detectors and reduced points of entry for students.