All open school board seats on the Duval County school board, representing Districts 2, 4 and 6, will head to run-off elections in November. With conservative school board members April Carney and Charlotte Joyce not appearing on the ballot this year, the Duval County school board may experience a repositioning in its political alignment.  

Although school board races are legally nonpartisan, culture war issues and conservative politics have burdened the district as the board continues to review and remove books from school library shelves.

Still, Duval County Public Schools is wrestling with school closures and consolidations, low student enrollment, improvements needed in student achievement to maintain an A-rating and teacher retention.

District 2

Republican Donovan Bradley and Democrat Donna Westrich are competing for the District 2 seat to replace Moms for Liberty-backed Vice Chair of the board April Carney. 

The two candidates will face off in a run-off election. Bradley won 49% of the vote, and Westrich won 39% of the vote. 

Bradley, a Jacksonville native and graduate of Duval County Public Schools who seeks to increase school safety, expand school choice “options” for students, expanding career readiness paths and  keeping teachers in the district. 

Westrich has spent two decades in public school classrooms, and both of her sons are currently in public schools. Being on the frontlines of teaching and interacting with students firsthand is what pushed her to run for school board, she said.

Bradley is outpacing Westrich in campaign contributions, totaling to $61,934, with major endorsements from current board members April Carney, Melody Bolduc and Reginald Blount, City Council member Rory Diamond and the Fraternal Order of Police of Jacksonville. 

District 4

Rhodesia Butler and James Jacobs are the frontrunners for the District 4 race. Butler and Jacobs are both registered Democrats, although Jacobs is endorsed by local Jacksonville Republicans including City Council member Matt Carlucci.

James Jacobs, a dean of students at Duval County Charter School at Westside, unsuccessfully ran for a seat on City Council in 2017, 2019 and 2021. Jacobs makes promises of being “present, accessible, and accountable to the families of District 4.”

Rhodesia Butler, an area director for the Boys & Girls Club of Jacksonville, long-time business owner of Simply Rho Lee 3 and former dean of students and assistant principal of 21 years, says she would like to focus on retaining teachers and showcasing the best District 4 has to offer to attract more families. Butler has attended  District 4 schools for most of her education. All three of her children matriculated through public schools in Jacksonville.

Butler’s priorities include keeping teachers in the district, ensuring that District 4 schools remain open and demonstrating the best the school district has to offer. 

“I think from the community view and what parents and community stakeholders are interested in is the half cents tax, and where that has in the past four years allowed us to build some new facilities, specifically in District Four as well,” Butler said. 

James Jacob won 39% of the vote despite raising only $11,203 compared to Butler’s nearly $20,000 in contributions.

District 6

Lindsey Denmark, a local realtor, and Clarence James, a police sergeant with the Duval County Public Schools Police Department, garnered the most votes during the primary election and will appear on the ballot in November.

Both candidates have campaigned on reducing the amount of violence in schools, citing numbers in the thousands for fighting incidents. The district officials said they are unfamiliar with the numbers each candidate touts. 

James has raised over $100,000 in campaign funding with significant contributions from the Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police, Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, City Council member Kevin Carrico and Moms for Liberty-backed City Council member Rory Diamond.

Denmark views taking on student discipline in District 6 as her “primary goal” if elected to the school board. Denmark also has received the support of current District 6 school board member Charlotte Joyce, Duval school board vice-chair April Carney and state Senator Clay Yarborough.

All of those elected officials have since received financial or public endorsements from Moms for Liberty.

Denmark won 34% of the vote while 21% of voters cast their ballots for James.

Trinity Webster-Bass covers education for The Florida Trib. A recent Howard University graduate, she served as president of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, reported for The Hilltop, and covered the 2024 Democratic National Convention and local politics for Howard University News Service.

She began her career interning at WJCT 89.9 FM in Jacksonville before joining The Washington Post as an audio intern, where she produced an investigative story on police use of AI. Most recently, Trinity interned at The New York Times through the Ida B. Wells Society, reporting on cannabis legislation and pitfalls in the organ donation process.

She received awards from the White House Correspondents' Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the National Association of Black Journalists for her work.

You can reach Trinity at trinity.webster-bass@floridatrib.org