JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — While the renaming process has already started, with four schools open for the community to vote, the School Board heard from the Superintendent Tuesday morning on the approximate costs the renaming will take.
To rename all nine schools would cost the district around $1.9 million. However Superintendent Diana Greene and her team broke down those expenses by looking at the costs to rename Westside High School and Northwestern Legends Elementary School.
For Westside High School, the actual cost to rename it was $184,957. The costs came from replacing athletic gear ($140,219.53), Band Uniforms ($9,768.5), JROTC ($13,671.78), Gym Floors ($17,400), and the signage ($3,898).
For Northwestern Legends Elementary, the total actual cost was $68,760. This was covered by conversion costs as the school was changed from a middle school to an elementary school.
The schools up for renaming include two elementary schools (Joseph Finegan and Stonewall Jackson), four middle schools (Jefferson Davis, Kirby-Smith, J.E.B. Stuart and Jean Ribault) three high schools (Robert E. Lee, Jean Ribault and Andrew Jackson).
The funding would come from four different sources: general funding, private donations, capital funding, and internal accounts. At no point will the sales-tax fund be used for the renaming process. The only exception would be Jefferson Davis Middle School as it is currently being converted to an elementary school. However even then, the sales-tax money will be used only for the conversion costs and not for the total renaming costs.
Here is how that funding will be broken down:
General Funding
- Signage
- Letterhead
- Logo/Logo Design
- Sport Uniforms
- School Mascot
Capital Funding: Funding of these projects will depend on the restrictions of the specific capital funding.
- Marquee
- Inlaid Gym Floor
- Painting
- Locker Replacement
- Dugouts
- Demolition and Removal of Statuary
Internal Accounts: These are funds for individual schools to use for faculty, staff, and student activities
- Signage
- Letterhead
- Logo/Logo Design
- Sport Uniforms
- School Mascot
Private Donations: These funds can be used in whatever way the donor wants or it may be a general use donation. For the Westside High School renaming, private funding paid for $2,557 out of $184,957.81. Currently the Jacksonville Public Education Fund has started a fundraiser to help with the costs of these names. The fund can be found here.
The costs for schools will differ depending on what kind of signage the school has, how many uniforms to replace, if JROTC needs to be changed, and if any gym floors or other flooring needs to be replaced.
The two recommendations from Greene to the Board is to have to board auditor validate the expenditures and estimates and to include specific funding types on the Agenda items - if a change is to be recommended.
This renaming process began last year when School Board Members Warren Jones submitted six schools as they were named in honor of Confederate Officers and Ashley Smith-Juaraz submitted three schools as they were named in honor of leaders who were responsible for marginalizing and killing indigenous people.
There is a nine-step process to rename a school. Each school is to hold public meetings to discuss possible names. The School Advisory Committees can recommend up to five possible new names. The community can then vote on those names.
Currently four out of the nine schools - Jefferson Davis Middle, Joseph Finegan Elementary, Kirby-Smith Middle, and Stonewall Jackson Elementary - are conducting their polling process. J.E.B. Stuart Middle will start their community polling process on Wednesday. To learn how to vote, click here.
Once the voting period is over, the SAC will forward the name they like best to Greene. She will then make her final recommendations and give them to the School Board. The School Board will meet and discuss the renaming process in two separate meetings. The six elementary and middle schools will be discussed in May and the three high schools will be discussed in June.
Opponents of the renaming process say it will disrupt the historic identities, decimate alumni financial support, and waste upwards of two million dollars. Supporters of the renaming process say that having public schools named in honor of confederates and white supremacists further perpetuates racism.
Cox Media Group
