Elected officials throughout Alachua County met at the Alachua County Public Schools District Office Board Room Friday to discuss the school district’s rezoning initiatives following the first week of community input meetings.
Representatives from Archer, Alachua, Hawthorne, Gainesville, Micanopy and the county attended Friday’s meeting. Each provided feedback for Alachua County Public Schools’ tentative plan.
The proposed plans mention the possible closure of five elementary schools — although the drafted maps only account for four closures at once — and the possible conversion of three middle schools into kindergarten through eighth grade schools.
The maps are the latest update in the district’s “Our Schools — Future Ready” program, which seeks to enhance public schools through rezoning and funding initiatives. The plan is designed to improve facilities, enhance academic programs and address enrollment gaps.
Kathie Ebaugh, the director of planning at JBPro, led Friday’s meeting. JBPro is an outside company hired by ACPS to handle the rezoning planning.
The rezoning attempts to “rightsize” schools, or ensure schools are operating at capacity, Ebaugh said.
Within the meeting, both JBPro and the school district emphasized the flexibility of these drafts.
“We anticipate lots of edits to all of those [maps] based on the input that we are receiving … to get to what we will feel is the best of all of the options based on the goals of the project,” said Kimberly Neal, director of state reporting and school choice for ACPS.
The plan is to create a new draft of maps following the end of the community input sessions Feb. 18. The school board will then meet to discuss the new maps and tweak them during a workshop before they are approved at a board meeting March 12.
City officials were among those providing input this week. Hawthorne Mayor Jacquelyn Randall said implementing new magnet programs could be the key to success.
“If we can start magnetizing more elementary schools, then maybe that can be a recovery method that will bring students back to these struggling elementary schools,” Randall said.
Randall encouraged the district to consider adding magnet programs to Hawthorne’s Shell Elementary School.
Alachua County Commissioner Marihelen Wheeler was among the leaders emphasizing the importance of keeping students within the county at Friday’s meeting.
“I feel like we need to be very careful in terms of redistricting now, that we don't push more out,” Wheeler said. “We want to make it so we grab those kids back.”
With the rise of private and charter schools, the school district has lost students, she said.
She hopes the rezoning initiative will show parents that public schools offer great opportunities for education.
Community members interested in providing feedback on the maps can fill out an online survey. The next community input meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 9 at Buchholz High School.
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.
