As the McDougal family settles into its hotel room in downtown Jacksonville, Dad asks the kids, “What would you guys like to do?”

 Freckle-faced 10-year-old Butch says, “Gee, Dad, I want to see the School Board building. I’ve heard so much about it!”

“I bet it’s a heck of a lot better than the one we have in Sheboygan. I heard it’s a whopping six stories tall!”

“Well, son, Matt Carlucci says it is great, so I guess we better get on over there to beat the crowds,” Dad says.

That is the sort of reaction we can imagine after Carlucci, who is registered as a Republican and seemingly is a permanent fixture on the City Council, challenged other council members to stick their noses into the School Board’s business by advising them not to move the school district headquarters to the suburbs.

The resolution Carlucci filed would urge the school administration not to leave downtown, which is where they can be reached more conveniently, Carlucci told the Daily Record. It also would be detrimental to downtown redevelopment, Carlucci said.

Of course, if a private business moved into the spot it would produce property tax revenue but that doesn’t seem to be a concern.

The school administration has been in its current offices on the Southbank since 1981. School officials began talking about moving four years ago and last year hired a real estate firm to sell the building.

Not all the elected officials who are by law charged with overseeing the government schools in the county were grateful for Carlucci’s attention.

School Board Member April Carney agreed that the headquarters should not be hogging prime space on the waterfront, which was a criticism of its current location before the fact.

But, Carney told Eye on Jacksonville, Carlucci needs to let the school board take care of school board business. “The Duval County School Board and superintendent have the community’s and taxpayers’ best interests in mind.”

Perhaps the city should have a study conducted to determine how much the presence  of a bunch of bureaucrats downtown benefits either the city government or the taxpayers – or little freckle-faced kids.

We’re now wondering whether the Carlucci resolution is a signal that he plans to run for the School Board after his current term.  We had assumed her was yearning to be mayor but maybe he is so thrilled with Democrat Donna that he has changed his mind.