The race to replace Charlotte Joyce on the Duval County School Board has attracted multiple District 6 candidates who are campaigning to crack down on fighting and student discipline in Duval public schools. But fighting across the district has been on a gradual decline over the past five years, according to data collected by the Florida Department of Education.
Lindsey Denmark, Clarence James and Michelle Petty, all of whom are registered Republicans with backing from local conservatives, say violence in the classroom will be one of their prime concerns if elected to the school board, sometimes citing data that district officials said they are not familiar with. The race has also set off an internecine dispute among Duval Republicans over whom to support.
Although violence is the dominant, recurring theme in the race, local public schools are at a critical moment…