The Florida Department of Education unanimously approved Newberry Elementary School’s conversion to a charter school, Newberry Community School, on Wednesday.
In April 2024, teachers and parents at Newberry Elementary voted on whether to make the public-to-charter school conversion. The conversion required a majority of both teachers and parents to vote in favor for the change to pass. The majority of parents voted in favor of the switch, with 149 in favor and 125 in dissent. But teachers were split, with 22 out of 44 voting in favor.
State law originally prevented the conversion from going forward because a majority of voters on both sides had to vote in favor. Five months after the failed vote on April 17, 2024, the Florida Department of Education changed its requirements, with the language changing to just half of the votes required for an application to pass.
The Alachua County School Board appealed the decision, saying the board and the Newberry charter conversion group agreed on needing majority support to pass.
Furthermore, the letter called it a “De Facto Municipal Charter School Application,” meaning the school board believed the city of Newberry was more involved in the conversion than permitted by law.
Shawn Arnold, Newberry Community School’s attorney, said Alachua County’s appeal had no merit. The Charter School Review Committee has already approved the conversion, Arnold said, and appeals are only permitted for applications that the committee denied.
The school board was late to file its appeal, Arnold added. Alachua County received notification from the Department of Education on March 10, and it filed an appeal more than a month later, on April 30.
The state education department cannot accept any appeals after 30 days, according to state law.
Alachua County’s appeal was likely to be denied, Arnold said.
“There are more than 20 applications that have been submitted to the CSRC, one has been approved, and that is Newberry’s,” Arnold said. “That underscores the rigor of the CSRC’s review of charter applications, and also shows the strength of this particular application.”
State leaders at the Florida Board of Education unanimously voted to dismiss the Alachua County School Board’s appeal and approve the charter schools application simultaneously.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @logandmcbride.
Logan McBride is a journalism junior and the Fall 2025 K-12 education 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.
