JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville City Council is expected to decide whether the school board can hire its own in-house legal counsel.
This is something that every other public school system in Florida already has the authority to do. But Jacksonville has a decades-old arrangement with its office of general counsel handling the school district’s legal issues. It dates back to Duval’s consolidation.
In August, the school board adopted a resolution that proposed revisions to the city charter. This resolution paved the way for the board to seek legal independence from the City of Jacksonville’s Office of General Counsel.
The school board’s legislative platform argues that bringing a legal counsel in-house would not only align representation with the board’s vision and mission but also provide the district freedom from outside influence.
But Duval parent and advocate, Kattie Hathaway, raised concerns.
“Allowing our school board to change it just to hire their own legal counsel undermines the foundation of our consolidated government,” Hathaway said. “I cannot emphasize enough how consequential this move would be.”
A source close to the situation also told Action News Jax the change could potentially be politically motivated, with some considering General Counsel Michael Fackler’s office’s interpretation of the law too progressive and not constitutionally focused.
But District 7 School Board Member Melody Bolduc said that is not the case at all.
“It’s not political at all,” Bolduc said. “We have people on both sides of the aisle supporting this move. Truthfully, it’s just the pragmatic move; it just makes sense.”
She said there are 47 board-certified education attorneys in the state, and none of them applied to the city’s job posting.
“The city has shown itself incapable of attracting the kind of attorney we need,” Bolduc said.
The council is expected to vote on this resolution during Tuesday’s meeting.
And then the Duval Delegation of state legislators will discuss it during a local public hearing on October 22nd at 1:00 p.m.
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