Jacksonville Joint Planning Committee Reviews Venetia Elementary and DCPS Facilities Plan - October 30, 2026

The Joint Planning Committee (JPC) met on October 30, 2026, to receive Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) follow-up information on the proposed Venetia Elementary replacement and Ortega consolidation, hear public testimony, and make an advisory recommendation on the DCPS master facilities plan. The committee approved the plan as presented with an accompanying memo addressing three review concerns.

Consent Calendar

• The minutes from the prior meeting were approved by voice vote after a motion and second; no opposition was noted.

Public Comments & Testimony

• The committee adopted a three-minute limit for public comment by voice vote after a motion and second; no counted tally was recorded.
• Laura Garcia, of Ortega, raised concerns about traffic and the Chaffee Trail experience, saying a prior traffic process did not prevent later problems; she urged review of boundary lines and school capacity before deciding and said she was not against Venetia staff.
• Caitlin Armstrong said she grew up in Venetia and has children at Stockton; she argued west-side growth requires updated zones and that forcing larger enrollments into existing areas does not fit; she opposed treating school capacity numbers as one-size-fits-all.
• An unnamed speaker urged that any recommendation be made subject to comprehensive-plan compliance and traffic-study approval; he argued distances should be measured from students' homes and that sites near Collins Road and Sadie Tillis deserved more consideration.
• Cassie Bergstrom, 4660 Yacht Club Road, supported reworking queuing and access but warned that the Winn-Dixie/Roosevelt exit without a signal could cause accidents and likely require costly signalization.
• Jason Burdy, 4376 Longgo, asked whether the school is fixed at 840 students or remains expandable to 1,200.
• A public-school advocate whose name was not clear criticized the order of events and said students were moved prematurely; he called the counsel memo an opinion, raised a conflict-of-interest concern about shared counsel, and said the alternatives presented were not the community's proposals.
• A Venetia teacher at 2280 Tyson Lake Drive supported the new build and said the master facilities plan has been underway for years; she said state FTE funding makes schools below roughly 750-800 students difficult to sustain.
• A speaker identified as Yasina said the 2019 plan always included Venetia and Ortega consolidation; she alleged racism and microaggressions in the process, noted about 35% military families at Venetia, and asked the Stockton community to support Venetia families.
• Tiffany Clark urged more knowledge of the consolidation history and defended the school board's responsiveness; she said bias concerns had influenced the process and that some opponents prefer the students stay elsewhere, while challenging characterizations of students as bad, saying they are brilliant and determined.
• A later speaker opposed the scale and cost and possible later expansion to 1,200; he said the 94,000-square-foot building is well over the 40,000-square-foot zoning-exception threshold and would heavily affect the historic neighborhood; he suggested renovating existing schools and reconsidering alternative sites.

Discussion Items

• School Board staff presented four requested bringbacks on Venetia: a legal memorandum from school district counsel concluding DCPS followed the collaborative process under Florida statutes, the amended interlocal agreement, and School Board policy, while expressing no opinion on whether technical or operational aspects fit the city comprehensive plan; three traffic-study components, including a September limited study, the city traffic engineer's October 15 comments, and the school board traffic engineer's October 16 redline response; a conceptual site plan showing possible access on Timuquana and behind Winn-Dixie/Roosevelt; and an alternative-site analysis. Staff said a Roosevelt Boulevard study is underway and that FDOT coordination through Jim Knight includes a supplemental agreement for the US 17 and Timuquana signalized intersection, with 20-year background traffic projections to follow approval. A broker is negotiating possible additional access or an easement with the private owner of the Winn-Dixie property, but staff said that outcome is not certain.
• The alternative-site analysis said the combined Ortega/Venetia boundary had 809 students in 2025-26 and 761 projected for 2026-27; 244 boundary students choose other schools, 116 attend charter schools, and private-school counts were unavailable. The proposed capacity is 840 versus 814 existing combined stations, a 3.19% change, below the 5% review threshold. Sites reviewed included John Stockton (11.656 acres, floodplain, rebuild to 1,250, 53% in boundary), Timuquana (10.214 acres, about 1,150, 71% in boundary), Ortega (3.247 acres, impractical), Bayview (30.76 acres, about 1,000, 56% in boundary), Fishweir (3.756 acres, too small, 44% in boundary), and Sadie Tillis (12.17 acres, about 1,150, 79% in boundary). Distances from Venetia ranged from 1.3 miles for Stockton to 4.7 miles for Sadie Tillis. Several sites had city MOUs or parks; Stockton had floodplain and a city park, and Bayview had a city emergency telecommunications tower.
• The Venetia principal said she has been principal for 10 years and at the school for 13 years; she supported the new build and said students do not walk on Roosevelt or Timuquana, no car-loop accidents had occurred in 10 years, the new queuing system could hold almost 200 cars versus about 15 now, buses could line up on campus, and about 35% of students are military-connected. She said the school has been in the community since 1942 and is ready to move back home.
• Planning staff explained that a public building over 40,000 square feet requires a zoning exception, with a public hearing before the nine-member Planning Commission appointed by the mayor; notice goes to neighbors within 350 feet and signs are posted; staff evaluates exception criteria, including comprehensive-plan consistency. The Office of General Counsel said the JPC does not make the final comprehensive-plan consistency determination; that rests with the local government, and the JPC's role is to make an advisory recommendation. Planning staff preliminarily found the proposal consistent but would do a formal review with actual plans. The chair noted comprehensive-plan policy 2.1.6 on direct access to collector or arterial roads; planning staff said that policy is aimed more at new sites and Venetia is an existing school.
• Committee members raised concerns about the unfinished final traffic study, the Roosevelt and Timuquana intersection, queuing, and possible off-site improvement costs. City and school board staff said traffic and queuing would be reviewed through the zoning-exception and civil-plan processes, and that permit or stop-work mechanisms apply if required improvements are not completed. The chair proposed three conditions for the recommendation: a city comprehensive-plan consistency determination, final traffic study review and approval by the city traffic engineer, and final queuing plan review and approval by the city traffic engineer, all before construction-plan approval. Legal staff advised that such conditions would be advisory and largely redundant, and recommended conveying the concerns in a memo instead.
• At the outset, Councilman Johnson asked that JPC meetings be streamed, recorded, and archived on Jackson Plus and asked the general counsel's office to ensure transparency and accessibility.

Key Outcomes

• The committee approved the minutes from the prior meeting by voice vote.
• The committee adopted a three-minute public-comment limit and later closed public comment by voice vote after motion and second; no counted tally was recorded.
• By voice vote, with all in favor and none opposed, the committee approved a motion to recommend the DCPS master facilities plan as presented, including Venetia, with an accompanying memo addressing three concerns: a city comprehensive-plan consistency determination; final traffic study review and approval by the city traffic engineer; and final queuing plan review and approval by the city traffic engineer. The recommendation is advisory and does not bind the Duval County School Board.
• Staff announced that an ILA working group meeting should be scheduled in early 2027 and that the JPC should receive future plans around April 2027 before School Board votes; a February meeting is already scheduled. Attendees were encouraged to sign in for notices, and the meeting was adjourned.