Meet the Duval County School Board, District 6 candidates: Clarence James

The race for Duval County School Board District 6 features a five-candidate field vying to succeed incumbent Charlotte Joyce, who is stepping down after two terms.

The leading fundraisers are Lindsey Denmark and Clarence James, who have dwarfed the rest of the field in fundraising. Michelle Perry, Robert Stafford and Tammyette Thomas are also running.

Assuming no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the Aug. 18 Primary, the top two will advance to a November runoff.

Florida Politics asked all candidates to answer a few questions. We are publishing their responses unedited so voters can hear directly from candidates. Here’s what James told us:

— Profession: 32-year career law enforcement officer and public servant with 9 years serving as an active school board police sergeant.

— Education: I received my Bachelor’s Degree in criminal justice from Columbia Southern University with advanced certifications.

— Years in the district: I am a 5th-generation westside resident who has lived here my entire life.

— Community involvement: Through the Fraternal Order of Police Foundation, we are involved in every part of the community, including giveaways, sponsorships, shop-with-a-cop, children’s special needs Christmas Party and many others. I also support my nine-year-old daughter in her gymnastics passion, and serve as a volunteer with Gymnastics Unlimited.

— Why are you running? What are your top priorities if elected? I am running to get the violence out of the schools. My priorities are school safety, literacy rates, and fixing the budget.

— What background and experience make you most qualified and best positioned to serve on the school board? I am a father and grandfather of the district, with kids in our public schools in District 6. I have served in the classroom for almost ten years now, and have been in a leadership role with the School Board Police Department and am on the frontlines each day. I know what goes on in the district, because I’m on the front lines every day with multiple schools under my span of control.

— What do you see as the biggest challenges facing Duval County Public Schools (DCPS), and what can you realistically do about them if elected? The biggest challenge is getting the disruptive behavior out of our schools,  and getting the parents energized to help our students. What I can realistically do, is be a bridge to our parents, teachers, and community, but also with the administration to focus on getting our kids the best education possible.

— School choice is popular with many parents, but has also led to declining enrollment and funding for public schools. How would you address the challenges vouchers cause? Bottom line is public schools need to be more competitive because school choice is popular with parents. It’s hard to choose public schools with drug problems, disruptive behavior, and gang problems when school choice offers a different environment. Vouchers are simply parents looking for a different environment to meet their child’s needs. I am pro choice, because parents determine their kids’ environment.

— AI creates challenges for educators, but students also benefit from learning to use AI tools. How should AI be incorporated into classrooms and lesson plans, and what guardrails would you like to see implemented? Research needs to be conducted, and I would like to see guardrails for the material accessed by the age of the student. AI is here to stay, and it’s going to be incorporated more in the future. Teachers and Parents need to be involved when it comes to the data available to their child.

— America’s second-largest public school system recently banned screens for young students. Should DCPS do the same? Why or why not? Absolutely. Phones during the school day are a disruptive problem. I have seen it myself and dealt with it firsthand, it is a constant problem. There are scenarios where much of the violence originates because of cell phone usage during the school day. I have also seen noticeable changes between phone use that is limited or prohibited at charter schools compared to public schools.

— How can the district improve student achievement and proficiency in basic math, reading and writing? This comes down to learning the basics. The teacher can’t teach students, if the problematic students take away time from the teacher. The teacher can’t teach if they aren’t paid well. We have critical skill gaps at DCPS, and many vacancies. Basic math, reading and writing come down to time applied in the classroom, outside of the classroom, and a productive learning environment. I want to ensure that there are after school programs for reading, math, and writing, instead of combating teen takeovers and planned brawls from the schools I work at. There can also be an expansion of summer school to focus on these issues, where there would be less distractions and students come back and may need to be retaught.

— What are some specific ways DCPS could improve students’ mental health? We need to ensure that every school has a counselor, and we are short on counselors. We also need to have the proper amount of counselors as there are some schools with none, or one counselor for thousands of students.

— Outside of vocational schools like Frank H. Peterson, should schools bring back classes like woodworking, auto repair and home ec, and teach financial literacy and other life skills? Absolutely. I was a product myself of the Westside Skill Center which involved heating and air conditioning which is a vital HVAC trade in Florida. I believe we need plenty of trade programs as electricians, HVAC, and auto repair are skills and careers that are here to stay and can’t be done with AI. Regarding financial literacy, writing a check, learning about 401k’s, and balancing a bank account are vital to our students’ success post graduation. When our students attend college, student loan costs can skyrocket without the right knowledge, including interest capitalization which affects many young students in their early years of college.

— Shrinking enrollment has led to discussions about closing historic schools like Fishweir Elementary. Is it worth keeping older school buildings open, or is there a point at which repairs and maintenance costs no longer justify their continued use? I am a product of a neighborhood school, however, we need to run the district better, and they are hard decisions. The older schools were built in the middle of neighborhoods and the traffic patterns have changed. Now you have a lot of students riding to school, driving across town to different schools, and less students using the bus or walking to school. This creates a safety hazard, as without students in the seats of that local neighborhood school, the school becomes an asset that can no longer sustain fiscal functionality. If you want to support our local neighborhood schools, then the community needs to ensure that they have all their students attending that school, but with the rise of school choice, parents take their students to where they see fit. Regarding cost and maintenance of older schools, we have to make tough decisions in the interest of the district, some schools need vast amounts of money, and I will look at grant options as well if elected to support those schools.

— Anything else you want voters to know about you before they cast their vote? I am an active school police sergeant, who has lived on the Westside my entire life, and my kids are a part of our public schools and public servants here in Jacksonville. I want all students to succeed. I am not climbing a political ladder, and I am willing to take a substantial pay cut to run for this position. I’ve attended four debates across the district, knocked on over 10,000 doors, and ran a campaign strictly on the issues. I will be a bridge-builder across the city, and that is why so many leaders support my campaign.