After Action News Jax's series of reports that students in low-income areas were being excluded from picture day, Duval County Public Schools said Wednesday that starting next year, every school in Jacksonville will have picture day.
It was two weeks ago Sandra Taylor told us about her heartbreak over being denied a class picture for her second grader.
"Just because we live in a certain section of town, we shouldn't be judged," Taylor said.
Using information provided by the school district, we created a map of Duval County Public Schools that didn't offer picture day and found most schools that didn’t offer picture day were in Jacksonville’s low income neighborhoods.
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Fast forward two weeks: Dozens of local photographers offered their talents and four local schools were taken off the map.
At Rufus E. Payne, students donned caps and gowns for the first time in years.
Martin Luther King Jr. Academy welcomed us in, the kids bubbling over with excitement.
At John Love Elementary, where Taylor's son is a second grader, photographers offered parents a digital imagine of their child for $1.
Taylor was thrilled. On Wednesday, an email was sent to us by a school district spokesperson saying, “the district will ensure every school has a picture day next year, either through district funding or support from businesses."
A few hours later, we received a statement from DCPS superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti: “I want to personally thank Paige for her work on this issue and story. As a district, we are examining which schools do not have a consistent process for school pictures and even yearbooks. Through this analysis we will determine how gaps can be filled through district funding or support from the community or vendors. However, I can say with a strong commitment that all of our students will have access to school photos and a yearbook next year.”