In a nearly four-hour meeting Tuesday, the Alachua County School Board discussed the modified elementary and high school rezoning maps.
The board requested the maps be redrawn in a workshop meeting Feb. 26.
Elementary school maps
The original maps propose the closure of up to five elementary schools: Alachua, Rawlings, Foster and Williams Elementary Schools, and Duval Early Learning Academy, a pre-K through kindergarten school.
The board opted for Map D during the Feb. 26 workshop, which would allow Rawlings Elementary School and Duval Early Learning Academy to remain open.
The board generally supported all other closures and proposed the additional closure of Irby Elementary School. Irby and Alachua elementary students would attend a proposed Mebane kindergarten through eighth grade school.
The board didn’t request additional boundary changes to the map on Tuesday, but board members asked for additional information regarding zoning exemptions and upcoming housing developments ahead of the March 12 meeting, in which it will vote on the maps.
The board requested the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math magnet currently at Foster Elementary School be moved to Metcalf Elementary School following the school’s closure.
Board members also requested information on zoning exemptions — which allow students to attend schools outside of their designated boundary — for schools made overcrowded by the plan. Under the updated plan, Chiles, Idylwild, Oak View K-8 and Wiles are overcapacity.
Zoning exemptions are decided by district staff. To reduce capacity at overfilled schools, staff may reduce the number of zoning-exempt students attending these schools when they’re zoned for others.
The board also requested information on upcoming housing developments near overcrowded schools. The board might zone these students for Tewilliger Elementary School, which would be operating at 76% capacity under Map D.
Even with the requests, some board members don’t plan to vote in favor of elementary school changes.
“I'm not going to vote for the elementary school plan the way it is right now,” said board member Janine Plavac. “We need to keep these schools and look at other things.”
Plavac was not alone in her stance. Board member Leanetta McNealy also said she wouldn’t vote on the elementary school maps.
Despite this, the three other board members continued their discussion of the maps and emphasized the importance of making such decisions.
The decisions stem from updates made to Schools of Hope legislation in 2025. Under the law, charter schools can operate in schools with “excess space.”
For schools operating under 75% of capacity or with 400 open seats, charter schools can apply to co-locate or form within this space. This would mean two schools operating within the same shared space, at the district’s expense. The charter school would operate at no cost, but the school board is expected to fund it, without having any say in its operation.
For board member Sarah Rockwell, the change would be alarming for students.
“The logistical impact and what it would do to students, socially, educationally, emotionally, to have their campus shared like that,” Rockwell said. “It is just not something that we can allow to happen in good faith. It would be absolutely terrible for our kids.”
Middle school maps
The board did not discuss the middle school maps. It agreed on Map C at the Feb. 26 workshop without any modifications.
Map C focuses primarily on rightsizing, adjusting zoning boundaries to maximize occupancy at schools.
High school maps
At the Feb. 26 workshop, the board requested changes to the zoning of certain neighborhoods. The revised map would have Buchholz High School operating at 101% capacity.
Similar to the elementary school level, the board requested no changes to the drawn maps. Instead, members asked for information on zoning exemptions and planned housing developments.
Public comment
More than 15 people attended Tuesday’s meeting to express opposition to the school board’s rezoning initiatives.
Among them was Alachua County Commission Chair Ken Cornell, who asked the district to pause the decision-making process.
“We are deeply invested in literacy in this community,” Cornell said. “We are deeply invested in economic development in the eastern part of our county. I think both of those items, literacy and economic development, need to be embedded into this process.”
The board thanked Cornell for attending and acknowledged a March 9 meeting, in which the district will present its rezoning plans to both the Gainesville City Commission and the Alachua County Commission.
Board members also pointed toward small turnout for a Feb. 6 elected officials meeting, in which the district sought to explain the maps to local officials throughout Alachua County.
“I would prefer if some of our local officials actually attended our meeting and gave their thoughts to us directly,” Board Chair Thomas Vu said.
The board will vote on the proposed maps at a special meeting March 12.
Contact Grace Larson at glarson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @graceellarson.
Grace Larson is a first-year journalism student, currently serving as K-12 education reporter. She has previously served as city/county commission reporter for The Alligator's metro desk. In her free time, she enjoys staying active and hanging out with her family.
