The Alachua County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to provide the Gainesville Police Department with access to school security cameras.
School security cameras will be linked to GPD’s real-time crime center, which uses different technologies to monitor crimes, such as live video or license plate readers. The policy will allow GPD to watch live video during emergencies, such as school shootings.
The contract for the agreement will start immediately and run until Aug. 1, 2030.
Although the board unanimously passed the motion, vice chair Tina Certain said she had concerns about privacy, adding that she didn’t want video to be used against students in occurrences off school property.
She doesn’t want the camera access to be used inappropriately, she added.
“That’s a big concern of mine, it being used to over-surveil students and staff,” Certain said. “Law enforcement sometimes has done things that haven’t been right.”
Interim Superintendent Kamela Patton said it’s important to remember the agreement is only for emergencies and the access is exclusive to GPD. The school board is in control of the agreement, and it can decide to revoke access at any time, she added.
“We have the ability to audit this as much as we want,” Patton said. “We want to take a weekly look at this for the first couple months.”
Testing calendar
Also at the meeting, the board unanimously approved the uniform assessment calendar, setting the dates for state testing in the district for this school year.
Board member Leanetta McNealy had concerns about end-of-year math progress-monitoring tests, which measure student progress throughout the year, for third- through fifth-grade students.
The district believes more instructional time is needed for math, specifically in this grade range, to give instructors more time to teach and review before the test takes place. She said students may miss out on crucial time if tests are taken earlier in the statewide window, which runs from May 1 to May 29.
Third- through fifth-grade mathematics progress monitoring testing in the district is slotted for May 12 to May 21. Board member Thomas Vu said May 21 is the last feasible primary testing date in order to accommodate makeups.
Previously, the 2024-2025 window for third- through fifth-grade mathematics progress monitoring was April 23 to May 23.
The superintendent said the testing calendar last year was “very pushed up” and principals, who choose the testing windows at their schools, were testing students too early within the district window.
“We said this year, we need to help guide [principals],” Interim Superintendent Patton said, “I feel a lot more confident this year than where we started in March.”
Superintendent updates
Some board members are concerned about the timeline of the superintendent search. McNealy asked the board to place a superintendent search on its next agenda.
She said their time is “rolling fast,” and in her experience, the search isn’t usually completed quickly.
Board member Vu agreed and said beginning in November would be too late to effectively search and set up timelines.
Patton’s interim contract ends on June 30, 2026.
The next school board meeting is Oct. 7.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @logandmcbride.
Logan McBride is a journalism junior and the Summer 2025 city commission reporter. In his free time, he enjoys watching TV shows or playing basketball at Southwest Rec. He is also a big football fan and will die for Dak Prescott.
