Local

Thousands of parents show up for Duval County school choice expo

Thousands of parents visited the Prime Osborn Convention Center on Saturday to learn about Duval schools in preparation for the school choice shift.

Under the new law, Florida public school students aren’t limited to schools in their neighborhoods, or even their districts.

The expo featured educational options for the 2017-2018 school year, including magnet programs, career academies, acceleration programs and choice schools for all grade levels.

“Our programs are more competitive, I believe, (than) other surrounding counties in Florida,” Dr. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Duval County Public Schools, said.

The St. Johns County School District, which neighbors Duval County, is consistently ranked among the top in the state.

Vitti believes parents have a negative perception about the Duval school district, but he’s not concerned about losing students during this shift.

“Those other counties are smaller, less diverse. (They) don’t serve the same number of children in poverty that we do," Vitti said.

Parents at the expo said the number of choices is overwhelming.

“It makes a big difference to find out what schools offer certain programs so you can be prepared to go through the application process and the lottery program," Meagan Avery said.

Parents said the expo is like homework: time consuming but worth it in the end.