Duval County Public Schools Packet Summary — 2026-07-01
Meeting: Wednesday Jul 1, 2026 6:00 PM EDT July 1, 2026, Regular Board Meeting - REVISED Amended on: July 2, 2026 1:09 PM School Board
Duval County Public Schools' July 1 packet presents a broad agenda spanning student mental health, instructional programs, employee compensation, transportation, technology, facilities, real estate, and Board policy. Much of the business is scheduled on the consent agenda, while the revised agenda places the Code of Student Conduct, Council of the Great City Schools membership, the proposed surplus designation of Ortega Elementary School, and several Board policy revisions in the discussion/public-hearing portion of the meeting.
Key Items on the Agenda
Student Mental Health Plan and Full Service Schools
The Board is scheduled to consider the district's 2026–2027 Mental Health Assistance Allocation Plan. The packet says the district is projected to receive $6,575,900 through the State Mental Health Assistance Allocation, with $1,547,258 identified as the proportionate share for charter schools. The broader plan identifies $8,123,158 in 2026–2027 MHAA funds plus $1,156,593 in unexpended prior-year funds, for total MHAA plan funds of $9,279,751.
The plan is intended to maintain districtwide access to school-based mental health services and includes a multi-tiered framework covering prevention, early identification, counseling, crisis response, treatment and recovery. The packet identifies evidence-based approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Trauma-Focused CBT, Trust-Based Relational Intervention, Motivational Interviewing, suicide-prevention programs and the Child Functional Assessment Rating Scale.
A related consent item asks the Board to approve a 2026–2027 United Way of Northeast Florida Full Service Schools contract of up to $2 million. The partnership would provide school-based mental health counseling through subcontracted service providers across 144 DCPS schools and 34 charter schools. The packet reports that the Full Service Schools network served 2,627 students in response to 4,813 mental-health and/or social-service referrals during 2025–2026.
The Full Service Schools arrangement is supplemented by anticipated contributions of $1,558,000 from United Way of Northeast Florida and $3,403,000 from Kids Hope Alliance.
$83.4 Million in Referendum-Funded Employee Pay
The Board is scheduled to consider memorandums of understanding governing 2026–2027 referendum-related employee pay for multiple represented employee groups.
The packet estimates the total cost of wages and benefits covered by the recommendation at $83,428,730, funded by the voter-approved referendum. For nonunion employees, maintenance employees, school safety assistants and exempt employees, the annual allocation is listed as $5,864 per employee after a 22.75% benefit rate; the corresponding allocation for district administrators is $4,430. Cabinet members, the Superintendent and Board members are excluded.
The district says the agreements would continue employee supplements that were implemented during 2025–2026 and are intended to support recruitment and retention.
READ 180: Five-Year Middle School Reading Investment
Staff recommends a five-year agreement with HMH Education Company for READ 180, a reading intervention program for students in grades 6–8 who are reading below grade level.
The recommended agreement runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031, with a stated financial impact not to exceed $3,024,826.70. The program combines teacher-led instruction, adaptive software, assessments, print materials and professional support.
The packet reports that the percentage of students at Level 1 in the cited middle-grades data declined from 33% in 2022–2023 to 31% in 2023–2024 and 29% in 2024–2025. Staff identifies inconsistent implementation and instructional fidelity as remaining challenges.
AI-Integrated CourseMojo Expansion for Middle School ELA
The Board is scheduled to consider a $225,000 outcomes-based contract with CourseMojo for grades 6–8 English language arts.
CourseMojo is described as an AI-integrated instructional platform that works with the district's StudySync curriculum, providing students with personalized scaffolds and feedback while giving teachers real-time information on student understanding. The proposed agreement would cover July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.
The packet says 1,328 sixth-grade students at seven schools participated in a February–May 2026 pilot, with 38.6% increasing an achievement bucket or level, or maintaining Level 5. The proposed expansion would cover grades 6–8 at Mandarin Middle, Kernan Middle, Landmark Middle, Fletcher Middle, Westview K-8, Westside Middle and Southside Middle.
Nursing Services Allocation Would Rise to $900,000
Staff recommends increasing the authorized amount for temporary contracted nursing services from $600,000 to $900,000.
The packet reports that 17 of the district's 41 nursing positions are vacant, increasing reliance on contractors for school-year and summer coverage. Staff also cites an increasing number of students with medically complex needs, including students requiring one-to-one nursing support.
The additional amount would be funded with unexpended nursing salary and benefit funds. The packet notes that the Board previously increased the authorized amount to $600,000 in April 2024.
Instructional Programs and Student Services
The consent agenda includes a substantial group of instructional contracts and partnerships.
- Unique Learning Systems and News to You: Staff recommends a purchase not to exceed $207,697 for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. The curriculum serves students with significant cognitive disabilities working under Florida's Access Points standards.
- Turnitin: A proposed $131,796 one-year agreement would continue districtwide high-school access to plagiarism/similarity detection, writing feedback and related academic-integrity tools. The packet says this would be the district's third year using Turnitin's newer originality and AI-detection features with Feedback Studio.
- Jacksonville Teacher Residency: The proposed partnership with the University of North Florida would cost no more than $156,600 and is expected to develop up to 30 teacher candidates. The packet reports that 17 of 20 residents in the most recent cohort signed open contracts with the district.
- Comprehensive Evidence-Based Reading Plan: The agenda includes approval of the district's 2026–2027 reading plan.
- Additional instructional agreements: The Board is also scheduled to consider agreements involving Imagine Learning, Edmentum, Ramsey Education, READ USA and Title I instructional services for eligible private-school students.
Several additional partnerships address attendance, academic progress, tutoring, enrichment and wraparound student services, including agreements involving Communities in Schools, the I'm A S.T.A.R. Foundation and PACE Center for Girls.
Major Financial and Operational Items
Technology Services
The Board is scheduled to consider agreements with Protera Technologies, LLC for technology support and managed services. The packet lists costs of $167,775 per year for 2026–2027, 2027–2028 and 2028–2029.
Transportation Contract Changes
Two consent items involve Student Transportation of America.
For GSA 4, staff proposes a seventh amendment responding to ongoing driver/staffing shortages that have prevented full route coverage. The amendment would revise the scope, compensation and performance provisions and remove minimum-mileage payments for the 2025–2026 school year; the packet describes the financial effect as cost avoidance rather than a new expenditure.
A separate GSA 5 item proposes a ninth amendment addressing minimum mileage under that student transportation contract.
Baldwin Middle-Senior High Campus
The Board is scheduled to consider accepting a donation and conveyance from the Florida Department of Transportation involving a former U.S. Highway 301 right-of-way in Baldwin. The district says the property is needed for construction of the new Baldwin Middle-Senior High campus.
Facilities and Easements
Other operational items include:
- An amended temporary construction easement with the Jacksonville Electric Authority for the McMillian Street Force Main Replacement.
- An easement to Peoples Gas System for gas service at Chaffee Trail Elementary School No. 142 and Chaffee Trail Middle School No. 140.
- Contractor prequalifications for educational construction projects.
- An amendment to continuing OEO construction-management services contracts.
- Additional design services associated with Loretto Elementary School No. 30.
- A third renewal for an asbestos environmental-services consultant continuing contract.
- Periodic reports covering completed and designed major-maintenance and minor-capital projects under $1 million.
The monthly change-order report states that there are no change orders to report for the month.
Ortega Elementary School Property
One of the meeting's discussion items concerns Ortega Elementary School No. 16 at 4010 Baltic Street.
The packet proposes that the Board declare the school property and related structures surplus, unsuitable and unnecessary for educational purposes, allowing staff eventually to dispose of the property. The item is tied to the planned consolidation of Ortega Elementary students into Venetia Elementary School No. 68.
The packet says construction of the new Venetia Elementary is expected to begin in fall 2026, with consolidation planned for August 2028. Once the consolidation occurs, the Ortega property would become vacant.
Staff identifies several potential effects:
- Elimination of 346 excess student-station seats.
- Avoidance of future operating, maintenance, utility and liability costs.
- Potential proceeds from a future property disposition.
- Estimated Ortega building operating and maintenance costs of $185,949 during 2024–2025.
- Two qualified appraisals were underway when the packet was prepared.
The revised agenda identifies this item as pulled for discussion and amended, making the timing and process surrounding the proposed surplus designation a significant item to watch.
Public Hearings and Policy Changes
2026–2027 Code of Student Conduct
The Board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on proposed revisions to the 2026–2027 Code of Student Conduct and then consider approval of the revised code.
Because this is a public-hearing item, the packet should be read as presenting proposed action rather than an already adopted code.
Chapter 1 Board Policies
A separate public hearing concerns a proposed revision to School Board Manual Chapter 1, Policy 1.22.
Chapter 5 Board Policies
The Board is also scheduled to hold a public hearing on proposed revisions to Policies 5.20, 5.27 and 5.44.
This set of revisions is particularly relevant to the district's governance and school decision-making framework. The revised agenda places the item in the public-hearing and vote section rather than on consent.
Chapter 8 Board Policies
Another public hearing covers proposed revisions to Chapter 8 Policies 8.50, 8.51, 8.53 and 8.59.
Together, the Chapter 5 and Chapter 8 items warrant attention because the packet presents multiple related policy revisions at the same meeting.
Financial Reporting and Transparency
The consent agenda includes adoption of May 2026 budget resolutions and presentation of the district's April 2026 monthly financial statements.
The May 2026 Purchase Report is an informational item rather than a proposed approval. Under Board Policy 7.70, the report identifies competitively awarded purchases and certain purchases of $50,000 or more. Among the reported transactions, the packet shows a $950,000 increase for fuel purchases, bringing the referenced purchase-order report total for that fuel arrangement to $4,805,000.
A separate surplus-property retirement report is also included for Board review.
What to Watch at the Meeting
Several items stand out because of their financial scale, policy implications or direct effect on students and employees:
- Referendum compensation: approximately $83.43 million in employee wages and benefits is tied to the proposed 2026–2027 memorandums of understanding.
- Mental health services: the Board is being asked to approve both the district's state-required mental-health plan and a $2 million Full Service Schools contract, within a broader network of district, United Way and Kids Hope Alliance funding.
- Reading intervention: the proposed READ 180 agreement represents a five-year commitment of up to $3.025 million for middle-school intensive reading.
- Ortega Elementary: the proposed surplus designation would advance the process toward eventual disposal of the property ahead of the planned 2028 consolidation into Venetia Elementary.
- Board policies: four separate public-hearing agenda items cover the Student Code of Conduct and revisions across Chapters 1, 5 and 8 of the Board's policy manual.
- Transportation: amendments with Student Transportation of America reflect continuing bus-staffing and route-coverage challenges.
- AI and academic technology: the agenda includes both the proposed expansion of CourseMojo for middle-school ELA and continued Turnitin services for high-school writing and academic integrity.
This packet summary is based on publicly available meeting materials from Duval County Public Schools.
Civic Translator summarized publicly available meeting materials.
