JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — School board leaders want to pause the consolidation of two East Side elementary schools. They shared that with parents Thursday night at a community meeting about merging Long Branch Elementary into R.L. Brown. Leaders say they want extra time to work with parents.
The merger was already delayed once. It was initially supposed to take place this school year. Now, school board members are set to vote on another extension.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
The discussion involves two schools that were supposed to be made one: Long Branch Elementary School and R.L. Brown Gifted and Talented Academy. In December 2025, the Duval County School Board voted to merge them, then put it off a year. Now, board members are asking for one more delay to hear the community out and develop a plan for next steps.
“We realize these are historical communities. We realize this is a historical school. And we just wanted to tell the parents, hey, you are a part of this process,” said Reginald Blount, District 5 school board member.
“The greater conversation to have is how do you not just have these piecemeal closures and consolidations, have a larger conversation around what is possible in the community. Eastside’s a great opportunity to do that,” said Darryl Willie, outgoing District 4 school board member.
Parents in the meeting voiced concerns about what would happen to R.L. Brown’s magnet status. It is one of three DCPS sole magnet schools for gifted and talented students, according to the district’s website.
READ: DCPS votes to merge four schools after budget, enrollment issues
Blount says the magnet program will remain but operate separately if the merger happens.
“You have the magnet school, you have those operations, and then you have the normal school that they’ll continue to operate in,” Blount said.
The district says it has closed 17 schools since 2020, many of them because of low enrollment.
“When those numbers start fluctuating, especially when you start talking about STEM, where students are bussed in, it has to be, everybody has to have a voice in it,” Blount said.
Leaders say there are about 70 schools that do not meet that 500-student requirement, so having more conversations with families is becoming necessary.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.