The Alachua County School Board discussed potential changes to instructional job descriptions and approved an intent to redevelop Citizens Field in a meeting Tuesday night.
Instructional job descriptions
The ACSB discussed a first reading to amend the Behavior Resource Teacher position and the addition of a Behavior Resource Teacher Coach position.
A BRT’s current main responsibilities are to improve school behaviors by listening to students and helping them create routines and goals to better their problems.
Proposed amendments to the BRT position included changing the prerequisite qualifications and clarifications on job duties, such as making the coach position an elevated leadership position. If a school has two to three current BRTs on staff, the potential change would include both a BRT and a BRT coach.
Rather than requiring three previous years as a certified or qualified teacher, the proposal would require five years of “effective teaching” at an elementary school for the BRT position.
Superintendent Assistant of Student Support Services Anntwanique Edwards said there’s a need for both positions in the classroom.
“We were working to provide our BRTs with coaching opportunities, but time does not always permit for that to happen in a way that is meaningful,” she said. “Being able to have some of those positions transition into a coaching role and providing that support as the main focus of their job is really important for us in order to have momentum.”
District 2 board member Thomas Vu said it seemed odd the position could go to a non-BRT at a school instead of an experienced BRT, especially if the change in experience is added.
“I'm just thinking of the future and trying to future-proof this idea of a bunch of BRTs who feel they’re qualified for this job,” he said. ”They watch somebody who's never done the job get the coach job. That's going to lower morale of this group and drive some of them to leave.”
Both Edwards and Board Vice-Chair Tina Certain said there are instances in which an experienced teacher still has sufficient behavioral management over the classroom without having the title of a BRT.
Certain shared her experience in secondary schools with teachers who have demonstrated proper management and are also “already coaching her colleagues in a sense” by providing support to other teachers, she said.
“If the person is effective in their current role, they might be able to scaffold up to the different role,” she said.
The board also discussed the action of student engagement in each job description.
Board Chair Sarah Rockwell said the BRT role was for the intervention of specific behavioral instances while the coaching role was for mentoring other teachers in “practices in classroom management…to prevent behaviors entirely.”
District 5 board member Janine Plavac said the title of “Behavioral Resource Teacher Coach” itself may be open to misinterpretation, agreeing with Rockwell that the coach position should instruct teachers on how to handle classrooms.
“They [BRT coaches] could just be helping second-year teachers how to get a handle, walk in, observe, but not really be that behavior person,” she said.
The ACSB approved the first reading of the new job descriptions in a 4-1 vote. District 2 board member Thomas Vu dissented.
ACPS will hold a public hearing on the issue on June 3 at 6:30 p.m.
The changes will need to pass the hearing, a second reading and a final board vote before the descriptions are finalized.
Citizens Field
The ACSB unanimously moved to create a document of intent for a possible partnership with the City of Gainesville for the redevelopment of Citizens Field.
The board recently signed a one-year lease with the city for Citizens Field ending in June 2026.
Citizens Field is currently used as football fields for Gainesville, Buchholz and Eastside High Schools, in addition to hosting the county’s fifth grade field day.
The use of capital funds, or money contributions from stakeholders and investors given to an organization over time, can only be used on property that the ACSB owns. If the property is bought and owned, funding would consist only of capital dollars instead of general funding.
The K-12 general fund is the primary financial source for public elementary and secondary education. It covers essential expenses such as teacher salaries, classroom supplies, school maintenance, transportation and administrative costs.
The ACSB declared it wouldn’t use general funds for the project, according to the agenda item.
District 4 board member Leanetta McNealy said she spoke to individual commissioners about expectations for the property. She acknowledged the use of capital funds and said she wanted a stadium added to the property.
McNealy, along with other board members, agreed that collaborating with the City of Gainesville would be beneficial to school-based athletic programs, aiming to create participatory opportunities for sports like soccer, lacrosse and track.
District 2 board member Thomas Vu said he worries about current maintenance staffing implications for Citizens Field when there is already a staff member who “services Citizens Field and other complexes in the area that aren’t even under contract with us [ACSB].”
Sarah Rockwell said only Eastside High School has the property to build a home stadium. The other two high schools have spacing and environmental issues already faced by minor projects, she said.
Rockwell also explained how bigger counties with more than five high schools have one stadium shared amongst them. This could be attributed to ACPS advocating for a stadium, she said.
She added Citizens Field would be “an investment that will last another 40-plus years” in the future without becoming “not a viable thing expense-wise.”
“The reality is that students need somewhere to play,” she said. “Dr. Patton has said this before, and I'm going to reiterate it: Sports are our number one dropout prevention program.”
The ACSB unanimously voted to send a letter of intent to partner with the City of Gainesville. The letter will be brought back to the board for approval before it’s submitted to the city. The letter didn’t include a price for Citizens Field.
Public comment
Over 20 community members spoke in public comment, noting various concerns about the ending of Rawlings Elementary’s year-round school year.
The ACSB voted 3-2 on April 16 to end the year-round calendar at Marjorie K. Rawlings Elementary School, concluding the school’s participation in a state pilot program after just one year.
Board members cited declining enrollment, mixed survey results and academic performance concerns.
The decision came despite opposition from community members during public comment. Board members Leanetta McNealy and Janine Plavac also pushed back, arguing that one year wasn’t enough time to evaluate the calendar’s full impact.
Under the year-round model, Rawlings Elementary students began school in July and had shorter breaks throughout the year instead of a traditional summer break.
While 71% of school staff said they were satisfied with the model, only 34% of surveyed parents reported the same. Some families praised the extra academic time, while others struggled with childcare and scheduling.
Rawlings Elementary Music Teacher Donald Devito voiced concerns about the survey, which he said was given to teachers one week before the decision was made. In addition to minimal input from educators, he said a lack of access to consistent summer instruction for students would have a significant negative impact on education.
“We have teachers who are hanging on and trying to provide the best for these students,” Devito said. “And we’re not being spoken to.”
Tenisha Rawling, an intervention teacher at Rawlings, spoke about the financial strain caused by an abrupt end to the year-round program. She said staff members who had experienced continued pay throughout the summer were now left feeling “unseen” and without two months of income, she said.
“I love working at Rawlings,” she said. “That's my school; I don’t want to leave. But if I were to leave, it would be to leave this district altogether, because the disrespect has been loud.”
Following the April 16 decision, the board approved plans to expand summer school offerings across multiple campuses in an effort to support students during the longer break.
Contact Emmaly Simmons at sranta@alligator.org. Follow Emmaly Simmons on X @EmmalyRSimmons
