The Duval County School Board is considering withdrawing from a troubled pilot program to teach overage students, for which the district has already spent at least $471,000.
The program, Schools for the Future, opened without a proper curriculum then slid into disarray mainly because its former principal ignored district policies and then lied to administrators, district staff members said.
“There was a lot of misrepresentation early on, especially by the [former] principal,” Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals said.
Although Pratt-Dannals said the program is back on track after the district took corrective action, including removing the principal, its future is unclear.
“I think its too early to tell whether we pull out of the program,” Pratt-Dannals said.
District staff will have a recommendation to the board by May for possible action in June.
“It’s going to take an awful lot to convince me to spend any more money on this,” board member W.C. Gentry said.
Gentry was among board members Tuesday questioning whether the district should continue in the program, which is a partnership with Boston-based nonprofit Schools for the Future, the Bridge of Northeast Florida and several other local nonprofits.
The program costs about $1.7 million, with about $750,000 coming from private donations.
Board members voiced misgivings after their auditor, Michelle Begley, went over her findings on the program. The board requested the audit last month after learning of problems that led district administrators to replace the program’s original principal, Michelle Joseph.
You need to be a member of First Coast Tea Party to add comments!
Join First Coast Tea Party