The Alachua County School Board dismissed rumors of a school closure and addressed Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies at a meeting Tuesday.
At the start of the meeting, Hawthorne residents took to the podium to express concerns over a rumor the district’s rezoning initiative will lead to the closure of Hawthorne Middle/High School.
The rezoning initiative, called “Our Schools — Future Ready,” considers community input to help devise three rezoning plans, one of which will be selected by the board in mid-March. Community input meetings will begin Feb. 4 at 5:30 p.m. at Hawthorne Middle/High School.
The rumor stems from the school’s low attendance rates, which many worry will cause students to be rezoned to a nearby school. Located about 20 minutes from Gainesville, the rural school serves nearly 500 students as of the 2024-25 school year.
Seven residents spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, rallying for better funding and transportation for their school, which they argue is vital to their community.
Matthew Surrency, a resident of Hawthorne and its former mayor from 2011-2021, was among those who voiced concerns. He urged the school district to provide the school with the same funding other schools in the district receive.
“We need to make sure that y'all know that we're concerned, and we need your help with saving the school,” Surrency said. “But not just keeping it open — making it better.”
Alachua County Public Schools spends about $10,800 on each student, according to fiscal data from the 2022-23 school year. There were 458 students during the same year, according to the Florida Department of Education’s yearly enrollment reports, meaning about $4.9 million was spent on students at Hawthorne Middle/High School.
Total funding appropriated for individual schools is based on various factors, including enrollment and academic need.
City officials, including Hawthorne Mayor Jacquelyn Randall and City Manager Robert Thompson, spoke during public comment.
They provided insight into the city’s recent growth, such as a new Santa Fe College deal and the construction of over 700 homes, and encouraged the school board to consider the city’s distinct circumstances.
“I want to charge you all to not govern rural schools like you govern inner-city schools,” Randall said. “We are not the same.”
Many Hawthorne residents attributed the school’s low attendance to the lack of available academic programs. Inner-city schools, like Gainesville High School, offer an array of magnet programs. The school had 1,873 students during the 2022-23 school year, meaning roughly $20 million was spent on students at Gainesville High School.
Parents alleged Hawthorne Middle/High School lacks such curriculum — which may have encouraged students to transfer to inner-city schools.
All five board members dismissed the rumor of the school’s closure, with many suggesting they’ll advocate for it to remain open.
“I will fight and fight and fight again for this community to be whole,” said Vice Chair Leanetta McNealy, “and when I say whole, I mean all of us coming together, all of us agreeing on the possibilities, all of us taking a look at the guiding principles.”
The board also addressed public concerns surrounding current policies toward ICE at Tuesday’s meeting. ACPS granted ICE officers the authority to remove and interview students without a warrant in a memo issued in February 2025.
Since then, parents have rallied to change the policy.
Amy Schwarzer, a 47-year-old Gainesville resident, is among those who have been trying to change the school’s current policy toward ICE.
“Our silence is not going to keep our children safe,” she said. “And honestly, if it's a difference between keeping you all safe from the state coming after you and the children safe, I choose the children.”
Board member Sarah Rockwell expressed concerns over a lack of identification for ICE officers to enter schools.
“If we were to allow anyone not wearing an ICE vest past a sally port entry without appropriate identification, we would be in serious, serious trouble,” she said.
The board has received “conflicting messages” from the state, Rockwell said, despite state laws requiring all individuals entering schools to provide identification.
Despite the clashing messages, the school board’s legal team will meet this week to create a new procedure that will require ICE officials to provide identification at Alachua County schools.
Contact Grace Larson at glarson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @graceellarson.
Grace is a first year journalism student, serving as city/county commission reporter for the Fall 2025 semester. While she has not previously been on staff, her early journalism experience can be attributed to Devil's Advocate, her high school newspaper. When she is not writing, Grace enjoys staying active by running, weight lifting, hiking and doing yoga. Her other pastimes include thrifting and working on random art projects.
