The Leon County School Board elected new leadership on Nov. 18 and revived a contentious discussion on how to reduce costs amid more than 6,000 empty student seats districtwide.
School Board member Marcus Nicolas will serve as the 2025-26 year chair, while board member Darryl Jones will serve as vice chair.
Nicolas said that, as chair, he plans to prioritize accountability and to dive deeper into data analysis when looking at district programs and policies.
“I stand on the shoulders of giants. Each one of my colleagues brings something incredibly unique to the chairmanship and I hope to carve out my niche in bringing some accountability, bringing data,” Nicolas said.
Board member Laurie Cox, the only Republican member on the panel, had been nominated and unanimously approved by her colleagues to serve as chair in November 2024.
Return to cost reduction discussions
In October board member Alva Smith discussed whether to consider closing or consoliating some under-enrolled schools in an effort to reduce costs amid underfunding from the state. The board returned to the discussion during the Tuesday evening meeting.
Nicolas said the tentative plan shouldn’t be for “consolidation” or closing schools, it should be about enrollment. Other board members added it should be about budget and space utilization.
Rita Brown, founder and director of Brownsville Preparatory Institute, a private school in Tallahassee serving students from pre-K through 3rd grade, asked the Board if it would consider leasing space at under enrolled schools for a pre-K program.
“Historically districts and private schools have not always been aligned, but at this moment we have a chance to reset the narrative,” Brown told the board. “We have a chance to demonstrate that supporting early learning is not competition. It is a shared responsibility.”
Smith said the request presents a chance for the board to get ahead of the state’s “Schools of Hope” program, which would allow charter school operators free use of available space in low performing public schools.
Smith said the district has over 6,000 open student stations, or empty seats available. She advised the district to entertain Brownsville’s proposal to lease to a “successful, homegrown program.”
“She has a waiting list of kids waiting to get into her school, and we have empty seats,” Smith said.
Superintendent Rocky Hanna said he plans to meet with Brown to discuss the idea further before presenting it to the board.
The board is set to have a more robust workshop discussion on the cost reduction plan Dec. 8 and then revisit a more concrete, formal discussion during its annual board retreat in January.
Alaijah Brown covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at ABrown1@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter/X: @AlaijahBrown3.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon School Board picks new leadership, starts tackling question of consolidation
Reporting by Alaijah Brown, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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