Newberry charter school votes fail for middle and high schools; State asked to intervene in dispute affecting elementary vote
BY AMBER THIBODAUX
NEWBERRY, Fla. – The Newberry conversion charter school ballots were counted today. The middle school vote failed because teachers decisively voted against the conversion and the parents voted against it but also failed to achieve the necessary majority participating in the vote; the high school vote failed because teachers favored the conversion but the parents voted against it and also failed to achieve the necessary majority. The elementary results are pending, due to a request by Yes Newberry to review two issues that arose during the count.
The ballots were counted in front of a live audience of around 60 people at the Mentholee Norfleet Municipal Building in Newberry. Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton was chosen as the independent arbitrator, and she read the results of each ballot aloud one-by-one, while holding up each for inspection and verification.
The results are as follows:
Newberry Elementary School: FAILED to convert, but this is currently under dispute (see below)
Parent Votes Eligible: 520
Total Yes Votes: 149
Total No Votes: 125
PARENT VOTE PASSES
Teacher Votes Eligible: 44
Teacher Yes Votes: 23 (by audible count)
Teacher No Votes: 17 (by audible count)
Teacher Abstentions: 4 (counted as no)
One ballot was deemed ineligible
Final Announced Teacher vote by Barton: 22 Yes, 21 No
FINAL TEACHER VOTE UNDER REVIEW
Oak View Middle School: FAILED to convert
Parent Votes Eligible: 824
Total Yes Votes: 134
Total No Votes: 244
PARENT VOTE FAILS
Teacher Votes Eligible: 51
Teacher Yes Votes: 9
Teacher No Votes: 40
Teacher Abstentions: 2 (counted as no)
TEACHER VOTE FAILS
Newberry High School: FAILED to convert
Parent Votes Eligible: 626
Total Yes Votes: 114
Total No Votes: 149
PARENT VOTE FAILS
Teacher Votes Eligible: 29
Teacher Yes Votes: 17
Teacher No Votes: 6
Teacher Abstentions: 6 (counted as no)
TEACHER VOTE PASSES
Principals from all three Newberry schools were in attendance for the vote count, along with School Board Member Kay Abbitt, District Public Information Officer Jackie Johnson, Deputy Superintendent Cathy Atria, Alachua County Education Association President Carmen Ward, and District 22 Representative Chuck Clemons.
Parent ballot submitted in teacher envelope
There was some confusion surrounding one Newberry Elementary School (NES) teacher ballot because the teacher put a “parent” ballot in a “teacher” envelope and submitted it to the teacher ballot box. That vote could be the deciding teacher vote for NES if it were counted, but Barton ruled that the ballot was invalid; Yes Newberry has asked her to review that decision.
No precedent on the rejected ballot
During the count, Barton seemed unclear on the law regarding the rejected ballot and admitted that there is currently no set precedent in this specific situation. “What we have is the rule, and the rule speaks on some things, and it doesn’t speak on some things,” Barton said. After discussion with her Chief Deputy Supervisor Carl Delesdernier, they concluded at the time that the ballot was ineligible. However, the ballot in question is now under review.
Dispute about whether the vote requires 50% or 50%+1
According to Florida Statute 1002.33(3)(b), a school needs at least 50 percent of both the parents and teachers to vote yes to pass. It states, in part: “An application submitted proposing to convert an existing public school to a charter school shall demonstrate the support of at least 50 percent of the teachers employed at the school and 50 percent of the parents voting whose children are enrolled at the school, provided that a majority of the parents eligible to vote participate in the ballot process, according to rules adopted by the State Board of Education.”
Even with the invalid ballot, the 22 “yes” votes represent 50% of the teachers, but Barton interpreted the rules as requiring 50%+1.
Clemons asks the State to intervene
Rep. Chuck Clemons sent a letter today to Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. and Secretary of State Cord Byrd, laying out the two controversies and asking for their “immediate intervention.” His letter states, “The plain language of the law states ‘at least 50 percent of the teachers employed at the school’ and does not require a majority… While I feel strongly that the statute, as it plainly reads, is not ambiguous and thus, the effort as it relates to Newberry Elementary cannot be characterized as anything other than successful. However, your opinions and the opinions of your Legal Counsel are critical in ensuring that this election is certified properly.”
Yes Newberry’s statement
In a social media post referencing the NES vote count, Yes Newberry wrote:
“First and foremost, we want to thank the parents, teachers and community leaders who have stepped up to help make this initiative happen, and even those who opposed the initiative. Today was a special day to watch the democratic process in action.
“At the elementary school, with 23 teacher ‘yes’ votes and 17 teacher ‘no’ votes and the final count after abstentions and one disputed ballot being still being 22-21 in favor of Yes, we are not prepared to concede the final outcome of the Elementary School.
“We are evaluating the appropriate options for ensuring the election was conducted with integrity, that all teacher intentions were properly accounted for and that parents and teachers can have confidence in the final results.
“We are grateful to Supervisor Barton and her deputy Mr. Delesdernier who spoke with our team at the conclusion of the day. We requested and she approved some additional time to offer our review and interpretation of the process used to determine the final teacher vote outcome, and their willingness to hold off on issuing any final official determination until we have mutually reviewed those questions.
“With regards to the middle and high schools, we respect the democratic process and understand that the teachers and parents have spoken and will respect the results.
“We look forward to working together to advocate for all students in our great community.”
ACPS Statement
In an email sent out at 4:30 p.m. today to parents, Johnson wrote:
“To the families and staff of Newberry Elementary School, Oak View Middle School, and Newberry High School and the families at Archer Elementary school:
“As you may know, the votes cast by eligible teachers and parents on the conversion of Newberry’s public schools to charter schools were counted this morning at a public meeting overseen by Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton.
“The results of the count are as follows:
“Newberry Elementary School: did not pass
“Oak View Middle School: did not pass
“Newberry High School: did not pass
“This means that Newberry Elementary School, Oak View Middle School, and Newberry High School are not eligible to become charters for the 2025-26 school year.
“We appreciate the participation of families, staff and other citizens in this process. Another thank you to the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections, Kim Barton, and her team for all of their help during the voting and counting.
“It is obvious our schools are very important to the citizens of Newberry. We will continue to focus on meeting the needs of our students in the coming year.”
History of the process
The announcement regarding the charter school proposal was made on February 19, and the requests were officially submitted soon after by Naim and Karyanna Erched at Newberry Elementary; Scott and Nicolle O’Steen at Oak View Middle; and Jason and Leslie McGehee at Newberry High.
Parents and teachers from both sides of the issue have spent the past eight weeks campaigning in preparation for today’s vote count. “Vote Yes” and “Say No” signs have dotted lawns and medians throughout Newberry, and social media has been flooded with posts and opinions from parents, teachers, students, and residents throughout the county. School board members have also gotten involved in the campaign against the initiative, most notably District 1 Board Member Tina Certain, whose district includes all three Newberry schools. In one Facebook post, however, Certain admitted “I couldn’t identify a teacher in either school if my life depended on it.”
Mailing list raises questions
A number of Newberry parents reported that they received a mailing from Save Our Schools that was addressed to the designated parent for the vote; reports were also received from parents who received the mailing but said their addresses would not have shown up in zip code lists or voter registration lists for Newberry. Searby told us, “We have concerns about how the address data was collected, and we intend to investigate whether unethical or illegal practices were used to acquire it.”
Yes Newberry website was blocked at the high school
A teacher at Newberry High School sent Alachua Chronicle a video showing that the Yes Newberry website was blocked “due to its contents” on the school network; the Save Our Schools site loaded without any problems.
Officers of the two nonprofits: Newberry/Archer parents vs. Gainesville union organizers
The nonprofit organization behind the Yes Newberry initiative is Education First for Newberry, led by Joel Searby, Carsen Stefanelli, and Chelsea Leming, who are all residents of Archer or Newberry and parents of children in the schools in question.
A separate nonprofit sprang up to oppose Yes Newberry, registered as Save Our Schools Newberry Inc. on the Florida Division of Corporations website. The site lists the registered agents as Glen “Tyler” Foerst, Melissa Hawthorne, and Jenn Powell, and the principal address as 235 S. Main Street #206, which is also the listed address of the Alachua County Labor Coalition (ACLC). Powell, a full-time organizer for Communications Workers of America who ran for the Gainesville City Commission in 2017, is listed as Co-Chair on the Executive Board of the ACLC, and Hawthorne, an Alachua County Education Association member, is listed as a sitting delegate on the Executive Board. Foerst is also a labor organizer in Gainesville.
The parents of Newberry students have spoken. Matter seems to be closed.
I’d actually say the parents decided not to speak based on the numbers. Seems everyone bitches but nobody bothers to cast local votes.
Its safe to assume the parents in Alachua/High Springs and Hawthorne have ‘gone to school’ on both the concerns of the undecided parents and the SBAC’s behavior and tactics during the election.
Thank goodness this failed!!!! The last thing we need for the local government to have less power. I want my kingdom and those to whom I rule over to be as large as possible. To think the fact that some of these folks think they should have a say in their children’s education is just sickening. Those parents need to stay out of the way and allow us in government to raise their children.
That must be why schools provide 7am-5pm daycare, provide daily meals throughout the entire year, feel compelled to teach sex ed to toddlers, promote total over-vaccination, and now starting year-round schooling. Government wants your child’s mind & loyalty and teacher’s unions want your tax money… they work great in tandem
Spoken like a true “ far right extremist”. Let’s get those Charter schools in Newberry so we can teach one value to all our children. We don’t want them to think for themselves and if they don’t look a certain way or act a certain way, they don’t belong in our Charter schools. Find your own buildings and start your school. Quit trying to hijack SBAC buildings so you don’t have to do that legwork. The premise for Charter schools is whitewashed lie and most educated individuals see it for what it is.
Our public schools teach sex ed to toddlers? They aren’t even in public schools when they are toddlers.
You are lying to stoke fear and that’s just sad.
It’s like a sporting event – good effort but only one team can win. Get over it and come together to make the schools the safest and best learning environments for the children.
It’s the same thing the County Commission should do with respect to the Single Member Districts – get over it.
Well said, “you voted for it”. Lead by example, honor the vote and don’t continue down the politely road that has been traveled the past 4 years. Continue to improve what is in place.
At least 50 percent… She’s really pretending she doesn’t know what that means? Hint: it means ’50 percent or more.’ At least she didn’t fall down and hurt herself again.
Cue the shouts of “stolen election” from the far right nutters who can’t accept a legitimate loss.
Guess they’ll get their cue from the far left lunatics with regard to Single Member Districts.
See how that works?
That loss was accepted despite one of the most dishonest and unethical campaigns I’ve ever witnessed. Now, a group is trying to convince the County Commission to put it on the ballot with time for an honest education effort. What are you afraid of? Let’s let the voters decide.
If it was accepted then why did the County start exploring ways to get it back on the ballot almost immediately? Why did they allow your so-called “group” to influence them at a recent meeting, (without any agenda or public notification), to implore them to get it back on the ballot for this election cycle?
You’re right, let the voters decide who they want to represent them from their district. Not the central progressive liberal district of Gainesville.
What exactly are you afraid of? Losing your power? Losing someone to suck up to? Explain your fears.
It’s doublespeak. What Truth Be Told truly means is that they presented a false aura of acceptance while actually denying the validity of the vote as they immediately got to work in an attempt to overturn the results.
I’m no Republican but the Dems are just so intentionally dishonest at so many levels
Were the instructions difficult to understand or did the teacher not know how to follow instructions?
It was set up to be used if needed, like how a magician might keep a different card in various pockets so that he can pull out the right one depending on the situation.
If the vote wasn’t close it would have just been counted so as not to draw attention, but since it was close it could be plausibly dismissed as “ineligible”.
The tactics of left-wing electioneering are extremely advanced.
It’s never one thing, but dozens of small things that add up to swing close elections to the desired outcome: the mis-enveloped vote, the “accidental” blocking of opponents website, the fake grass-roots organization actually run and financed by the union, the illegal but untraceable mailing lists, the subtle loophole of counting “no vote” as a “no” vote, the perennially confused and incompetent director of elections (the perfect foil to distract and provide plausible deniability for all the weird things that seem to happen during elections, things that always seem to go in the liberal’s favor).
They don’t skimp on the aftercare either. Note the flood of commenters you have never seen in this comment section before and never will again. What’s the message? “It’s time to move on”, “it’s over, accept it”, “shame on you for not accepting the results”. If it didn’t go their way, comments would be exactly opposite.
We’ll never know the true will of the parents since most couldn’t be bothered to vote.
If this was flipped and it was one deciding vote to make the charter NOT pass, the No nut jobs would be screaming just as loud. They want to diminish the questions being raised because they seemingly have gotten their way but as it looks, 50% of NES teachers and families WANT a change. You can’t deny that but you can try.
I can’t wait for an investigation to come out about how the No side obtained addresses for families registered in the CAAT program that live in Gainesville. There is no legal way to obtain their information from the supposed “voter records”. Y’all are shady and it is obvious to everyone.
I was very middle of the road on this and didn’t choose a side until the very end because I wanted to see how this all played out. It was obviously that EFN played a fair game and tried to the best of their abilities to provide correct information. SOS just played dirty and didn’t want to hear facts.
Even now, you’ve got Brandy OLDman saying “stop dividing our town. Let’s come back together” but in a different group she is back to stirring the pot. Sit down lady. You are obviously uneducated and only know how to play lapdog. All of you and you idiot friends need to shut up.
Keep my name out of your mouth. I’ve spoken clearly on how this has divided Newberry and there’s been no pot stirring as you so eloquently put it. But sound off I guess.
Barton should have NEVER been chosen to count ballots! She sure doesn’t know the rules for Charter School’s She is probably in Tina Certain’s pocket!😢
It’s FL BOE that put the rule in that a majority of teachers are needed, seems like her interpretation was correct on BOEs rules.
Question is why did FL BOE put majority in the rules for teachers when statute states at least 50%. Commissioner Diaz will address when he responds.
Once again, union coffers are more important than students.
I assumed the teachers would be in the no camp which they ended up being – cumulative vote of 49 yes 68 no votes – they have a vested interest in staying in the system they are in, I get it.
The margin was pretty decisive for the parent vote also though cumulatively.
“the devil you know” theory comes into play. It’s safer to deal with something already familiar to you instead of the unknown.
50% of 44 is 22. The legislation says “at least 50%”. That means 50% is enough. This is quite clear. Elementary school passes.
Yep seems like a dis-connect between FL BOE rules they implemented/interpreted and the statute language itself. Guess we’ll see.
But is there even a reasonable path for Newberry to take only one of the three schools charter? I am guessing that’s a non-starter, even if it is determined that the elementary school votes passed the change.
Elementary school seems to be the place to focus if the group is serious about getting a handle on discipline problems in their schools.
These goofy conservative initiatives can’t even win an election in … [checks notes]… ruby red Newberry. Also, when can we expect the teacher who completed a “parent ballot’ to be charged with voter fraud? I thought voting fraudulently was a big concern around here.
What is your main concern with having citizen initiatives? Why is going to a charter school considered conservative to you?
If a lot of people from Archer voted, they are some of the stupidest people in the state.
Sour grapes! Rather than reconsidering that such a big change maybe shouldn’t be sprung on people, noting that not all parents will be registered voters, or saying “trust us” as a new political organization with zero track record run by a political operative….
BUT NOooooooOOOO, it is claims of election rigging and use of that charge to ask the heavy handed, big government of Tallahassee to bail out the “local control” advocates AND then to gin up outrage to take another run at it and re-do the campaign….all the while screaming about the injustice of re-doing single member districts.
It is all too predictable. Hopefully, no one storms the school board building….I mean takes a tour.
Of course some will lay claim to some of your insinuations.
Therein lies part of the problem. The far-left people will always be far-left, and the far-right people will always be far-right, neither will ever shift towards the middle. It’s those 60 – 75% of moderates who need to take a stand and make this country better.
A minority of idiots shouldn’t be dictating policy for the rest of the majority.
The elites like when class warfare is going on b/c it distracts both sides to the current ‘looting of the treasury phase’ of the empire going on in dc. I’ll give my comments a rest now for a while (unless city government decides to double down on the woke identitarian politics with their latest takes). Best to all.
Seems odd to count abstentions as a no vote. All it means was those folks were good either way. Would they add all the parents that didn’t vote (abstained) to the no column had the proposal passed? I 1der…..
This is because the statute says the vote “shall demonstrate the support of at least 50 percent of the teachers employed at the school.” So half the teachers must vote in favor of the conversion, regardless of how many actually vote.
The parent section says “50 percent of the parents voting,” as long as a majority of the parents vote.
So the rules are different for teachers and parents.
they were probably too scared to vote, fearing there may be repercussions if they voted yes and it passed. seems like they should have had the places to turn in ballots off-campus.
Most people already had their votes in the provided envelopes and all they had to do was drop their vote in the ballot box. It was rare that someone filled out the ballot at the school, but if they did, voting areas were private. The environment for voting was positive and adults acted like adults. We received a lot of thank you’s for doing everything we did during this process and making it so easy despite feeling overwhelmed or stressed.
Please stop assuming the schools did something wrong. We worked weekends and late nights facilitating this. There was no need to fear voting. Families could vote by mail or in person. The only person that was able to open those ballots were Kim Barton and her team when votes were counted. We do not know why majority of families did not vote, and we cannot assume why either.
Teachers knew their vote would be a No if they did not vote. That is most likely why those few chose not to vote(for those wondering about teacher votes).
The parent turn out was low, however over 800 ballots were sent out to families at OVMS(we worked late to make sure everything was sent out on time). Whether the vote was a Yes or No, I wish more families participated in this process. A lot of negativity came from this that shouldn’t have. Adults should be able to respect other adults point of view without ruining relationships or creating turbulent work environments. I was able to vote as a parent, but not as a staff since I am not a teacher. I exercised my vote without putting others down about theirs. I can understand both sides, but I refuse to allow myself to sit so high that I argue, and degrade others about their decision.
For those of you on the outside unable to look in, remember it’s ok to keep certain comments to yourself.
A voice of reason. Thank you!
Ms. W, the most interesting thing to me was the fact that 40% of the teachers actively cast a vote of no confidence in the SBAC’s management of their school.
And I totally understand that view of things. I have concerns also and I wholeheartedly believe SBAC needs huge improvement. I want honesty from both sides. Being at the school and seeing misinformation from every angle is tough. I can’t speak for the teachers as to why they voted the way they did, but I can honestly say they are some of the best teachers I’ve come across since I started working in Alachua County Public Schools.
Everyone will have a different point where they think the SBAC has had their chance to improve the schools and has failed.
It seems the SBAC could see several initiatives where a principal puts together a solid team of teachers and then approaches the parents about ‘going charter’ with the neighborhood school.
Newberrians: OK so schools lost. Take a day to be butt hurt, then get over it and start acting on the next Big Issue:
Springs County.
Vote yourselves into a poverty county of conservatism. Vote YES on the Red Utopia of Springs County. Show those Gainesville libs who’s boss. Own ’em real good.
You deserve it.
Is this the Yes side’s planon how they will run the schools? Give specific instructions and then try to change them when they don’t grt their way. Per their hand delivered letters to the schools- Teacher vote would be counted as 50%+1 to win. All improperly submitted ballots would be considered invalid and would not be counted.
Turning in a parent ballot in the teacher envelope is an improperly submitted ballot. It was an anonymous vote and how do we know this teacher was also not a parent who recieved both ballots. Each ballot was also clearly marked with the words Teacher or Parent. Don’t educators expect their students’ to read and follow directions? Should we not expect that of educators themselves?
With the improper ballot invalidated it does not reduce the number of teachers eligible to vote from 44 to 43. Hence, following the Yes guidelines the ballot count for teachers is 22 Yes, 21 no, and one invalid. Does not meet the Yes sides own written vote information.
Try again in the next calendar year. Use this as a teaching moment. We set rules and those rules were followed. According to OUR OWN rules we did not win. Take this lesson to learn and prepare for the next attempt. Instead of now trying to change the rules or say someone else interpreted it incorrectly.
Thank you for this!
If there was a parent ballot in a blue teacher envelope, where was the corresponding teacher ballot in a gold parent envelope? It seems like the improper ballot was cast by a teacher who also has a student in the schools, which gave them access to both ballots, unless the ballot and envelope were obtained in some other way.
At first glance, it does seem obvious that the teacher clearly intended to vote yes, but it seems like there is room for something more nefarious, considering the number of unreturned ballots.
Don’t know how the ballot mix-up happened or if this is relevant but, to directly answer your question:
from “6A-6.0787 Ballot Process for Teacher and Parent Voting for Charter School Conversion Status.”
“(c) A teacher who is also the parent of a student enrolled in the school shall be allowed to submit both a teacher ballot and the parent ballot submitted for the household.”
I’m not sure why 50% would be a win since it’s not a majority. A majority is 50%+1. It’s pretty simple actually. When there are two options to choose from the majority wins. If there were three or more, the one with the most votes, whether it 50% or not would win, but in this case there’s only two. It’s called “first to the post.” I honestly don’t know of any election in this country that is won with just 50% of the vote, that’s The dictionary definition of a a tie, again, unless there are more than two parties involved. Only in Florida, hehe.
Really don’t understand argument about 50% being a “Yes” when the Admin rules clearly states:
from “6A-6.0787 Ballot Process for Teacher and Parent Voting for Charter School Conversion Status.”
(d) If a majority of teachers employed at the school and a majority of voting parents support the charter proposal, the conversion charter application must be submitted during the same calendar year the vote is held.
(e) If a majority of parents and/or teachers do not support the charter proposal, the application may not be submitted to the sponsor.
(d) A majority of parents eligible to vote must participate in the ballot process pursuant to Section 1002.33(3)(b), F.S.;
therefore, for purposes of this rule, a majority is more than half.
ALSO:
The only times I saw where 50% means anything:
from FS 1002.33(28)
” An application submitted proposing to convert an existing public school to a charter school shall demonstrate the support of at least 50 percent of the teachers employed at the school and 50 percent of the parents voting whose children are enrolled at the school, provided that a majority of the parents eligible to vote participate in the ballot process, according to rules adopted by the State Board of Education. ”
This whole issue is reminiscent of the sophistic argument over the make-up of resident/non-resident members of the GRU Authority.
Yes, you’re correct. Oversight on my part. Still though, these rules make no sense at all. A simple majority should win.
So what happened to Chuckie’s power move? Did his lame duck appeal to the Tallahassee thugs get the home rule overturned? Can’t wait to find out.
Nothing but a blovating waste of space and hot air. 8 years in Tally and nothing of substance. It will all be overturned and this too is an excercise in futility