Duval School Board votes, again, to sell Southbank headquarters

In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the Duval County School Board approved the sale of the Southbank headquarters building to local developer Ashco. The purchase price for the riverfront property is $15.1 million. The deal gives the district three years to relocate.

The sale is the board’s third attempt to offload its aging headquarters building within the past year. The most recent sale fell through in February. Board members say they want to get off the river so the city can reap its tax revenue, and that if they wait any longer, the property’s value might go down.

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The board Tuesday night also voted to approve a 10-day unpaid suspension for Jacksonville City Council Member Tyrona Clark-Murray — who is also a teacher at du Pont Middle School. She was removed from her classroom in May after self-reporting that she kicked an exceptional-ed student who had kicked her.

The board also discussed a handful of school library books that were being challenged over inappropriate content. They voted to remove four of them, including 1984: The Graphic Novel.

These are developing stories. Jacksonville Today will continue to report on them this week.