School Board moves forward with recommended boundary maps with some changes
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At a February 26 workshop, the School Board of Alachua County expressed consensus around Draft D for elementary school, Draft C for middle school, and Draft D for high school, although they requested changes to the maps for the elementary and high schools.
Before the School Board took the dais, the Comprehensive School Planning Committee (CSPC) heard presentations about the boundary maps and the strategic plan, and they selected a single map for each level to recommend to the School Board.
Click here to see the latest maps.
Click here for the School Attendance Zone Review presentation
Elementary schools
The CSPC selected the Draft D map, which was created during the committee’s February 23 workshop. The following changes from the previous maps were made:
- Brookfield, 23 West Apartments, Hills of Santa Fe, Ellis Park, and the NW 90th Terrace/NW 27th Place area were added to Hidden Oak Elementary;
- Santa Fe Oaks Apartments and Crossing at Santa Fe Apartments were added to Meadowbrook Elementary;
- Turkey Creek, Staghorn, and Brook Pointe were added to the Mebane K-8 zone; Rock Creek and Wood Creek were added to Littlewood;
- Granite Park and Quail Hollow were added to Terwilliger;
- Haile Plantation, north of SW 44th Avenue and west of SW 91st Street, were added back to Chiles;
- The area along SW 16th Avenue from SW 23rd to SW 13th Street was added back to Idylwild;
- An area east of SW 13th Street (see the map below, which has an error in the description) was added to Williams/Lincoln K-8.
Draft D also leaves Rawlings Elementary open, with the Duval VPK students moved to Rawlings.
Chair Thomas Vu preferred Draft C, wanted to keep Duval open, and didn’t like splitting Alachua elementary students between Irby and Alachua for K-5.
Member Leanetta McNealy wanted to keep all the schools open and asked for a “Draft E.”
Member Sarah Rockwell said she wanted to acknowledge that this process is emotional, but she also said it needs to be done now because the Schools of Hope program allows charter schools to move into underenrolled schools, and she described that as a “nightmare.” She preferred Draft D and said, “We cannot in good conscience close Rawlings.” She also suggested moving the Foster magnet to Metcalfe and said she would prefer a single K-8 at Mebane to the other Alachua proposals.
Member Tina Certain liked Draft D and spoke about financial and efficiency reasons for proceeding with the rezoning.
Member Janine Plavac asked to keep Longleaf at Wiles and said she didn’t understand why Fletchers Mill and South Pointe students would have to drive past two other schools to get to Meadowbrook. She said the district has spent so much on rezoning that they needed to proceed, but she was concerned about how fast it’s being done. She wanted to keep Rawlings and Duval open and wanted to see more magnets, particularly on the east side.
Vu said he heard a consensus for Draft D, keeping Duval open, moving the Foster magnet to Metcalfe or Rawlings, and a single K-8 at Mebane for the whole community (which would close both Irby and Alachua Elementary Schools, although that likely would not happen until at least the fall of 2027). He agreed with Certain and Rockwell that it would be best to move Foster students to two schools instead of five schools, and there was no objection to asking staff for a map that would move Longleaf to Wiles and move Fletchers Mill and South Pointe to a closer school than Meadowbrook.
McNealy asked the consultant to make maps for her that would keep all the elementary schools open, but Rockwell pointed out that the request did not have three votes.
Middle schools
The CSPC selected the Draft C map for middle school. The following changes from previous maps were made:
- Blues Creek and Westchester were added to Ft. Clarke;
- Turkey Creek, Staghorn, and Brook Pointe were restored to Mebane;
- SW Gainesville between Archer Road, I-75, SW 23rd Street, and Williston Road was added to Westwood;
- Williamsburg Village, The Commons, and Idylwild were added to Westwood.
None of the board members requested any changes to Draft C for middle schools.
High schools
The CSPC selected the Draft D map for high school. The following changes from previous maps were made:
- Robin Lane, Emerald Woods, Summer Creek, Huntington, and Magnolia Place were added to Buchholz;
- The Hammock, Marmaduke Pond, and San Felasco Estates were added to GHS;
- The Windsor area was added to Hawthorne;
- The area north of Newberry Road between NW 170th Street and NW 143rd Street, including Parkwest Estates, Brookside, Kingston Place, Wyndsong, Caraway, Belmont, and Farnsworth, was added to Newberry.
There was consensus on the board for Draft D. Plavac asked whether it was possible to keep all of Haile Plantation at Buchholz, and Rockwell said she was fine with exploring that, but she also wanted a change for a low-income enclave that is in the Buchholz walk zone but is currently zoned to GHS. Rockwell said she had “a huge issue” with accommodating wealthier neighborhoods like Haile Plantation and Emerald Woods while busing students in the school’s walk zone across town; the answer was that there are only about 15 students in that enclave, and they can be moved back to Buchholz.
Superintendent Kamela Patton said the high school changes may be delayed for a year, and Certain said she preferred making those decisions now, but she supported taking some time to make the changes.
The rezoning plan is on the agenda for the March 3 School Board meeting, and the final vote is scheduled for March 12.
Homeschooling was a wonderful choice for our family! Our children are all grown now, and I’m so glad I had that extra time with them, all learning together, when they were still home.
Kudos to my husband for working extra to make it possible.
Ditto. Homeschooled our children with the help of Cornerstone Academy. Once a fifth grader at Hidden Oak shot a gun through their desk and the principle, Mrs. Richardson was admitted to the hospital after a parent teacher meeting in which the Mom went tribal on her with a beatdown on a 70 y.o. women we were done with the Alachua county school system. It is a sacrifice but well worth it to head off negative behaviors if you can afford it. As a matter of fact I would argue how you could NOT afford to based on the outcomes.
Please,it’s time for the state of Florida to take over this school district.The whole purpose of this expensive rezoning debacle was to consolidate UNDERENROLED SCHOOLS and prove to weary taxpayers that you can actually be fiscally sound stewards of our tax dollars. Failed again SBAC.
“If there is a country in the world where concord, according to common calculation, would be least expected, it is America. Made up as it is of people from different nations, accustomed to different forms and habits of government, speaking different languages, and more different in their modes of worship, it would appear that the union of such a people was impracticable; but by the simple operation of constructing government on the principles of society and the rights of man, every difficulty retires, and all the parts are brought into cordial unison. There the poor are not oppressed, the rich are not privileged. Industry is not mortified by the splendid extravagance of a court rioting at its expense. Their taxes are few, because their government is just: and as there is nothing to render them wretched, there is nothing to engender riots and tumults.”
― Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
Nice point but Paine also argued for smaller government with less taxes. (That goes for proper use of those taxes.)
“We still feel the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping at the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised to furnish new pretences for revenue and taxation.” ~ The conclusion could be made that it depends on which side of the government a person supports.
Did it wear the 😷 before the big lie?
Notice how even at this SBAC meeting, the Board itself is segregated?
Just an observation.
For those new to the area, this rezoning is a result of this and their predecessors kicking the can down the road for far too many years.
They also refused to request impact fees for schools and they haven’t built a high school in more than 50 years. They’d rather bus westside students to GHS than build to meet population changes.
If they want to remain competitive, they need to build a new high school
in the SW and raze GHS
If they go through with closing two primary schools on the eastside, all those students will have to be absorbed into the others. I believe many of the students that will need to be reintegrated are behind many of the other students and will need ‘special’ attention having an deleterious effect on the other students. I would be looking into private or charter schools to save my kids from the culture fray.
The liberal standard is not to give special attention but to make substandard achievement the norm so everyone get an A whether they do any work or not. They also like to eliminate honors levels because it shows off what a failure their policies are toward minority education.
Factually incorrect they are given attention. Our education system is in trouble because simplistic rhetoric and arguments perpetuate blaming the victims…students and teachers.
Title I schools are public schools that receive federal funding under the U.S. Department of Education’s Title I, Part A program to support students from low-income families and improve their academic achievement. These schools are identified based on the percentage of students from low-income households, with at least 40% of students qualifying for Title I funding.
Key Features of Title I Schools:
Purpose: To ensure all children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, meet state academic standards by providing additional resources and support.
Funding Use: Funds are used for hiring qualified staff, after-school programs, tutoring, professional development, parent involvement initiatives, and enhancing reading and math instruction.
Program Models:
Targeted Assistance: Focuses on specific high-need students.
Schoolwide Program: Aims to improve overall academic performance for all students in the school.
Eligible Students: Include those from low-income families, homeless children, migrant students, children with limited English proficiency, and students with disabilities.
“Our education system is in trouble because simplistic rhetoric and arguments perpetuate blaming the victims…students and teachers.”
I couldn’t agree more…the children and teachers should not be blamed. The self absorbed parents and the politicized school (and local govt) leadership are the problem. I’m not going to even start on how harmful the federal dept of education has been…
Bottom line is that the government has no business running our education systems.
It sounds nice on paper.
Once you work inside of the educational system it’s clear the intended desires do not always happen.
Despite being in an area with excellent academic facilities are fair number of students will graduate functionally illiterate.
The children who do the best come from families that make education exceptionally important within their lives regardless of income or school.
This is why home schooling, charter schools and private schools are so important.
It gives people a choice their children’s education outside of the geographic area they live in.
Furthermore, anyone going to this much trouble likely is involved with the education of their children.
The parents are true teachers in their own way.
Eligible students include, as you noted: low-income families, homeless, migrant students, (LEGAL), children with limited English proficiency, and those with disabilities. Given the aim, the target and those shooting, it’s time to put someone else in charge who’s a better shot.
Funding Use: Funds are used for hiring qualified staff, after-school programs, tutoring, professional development, parent involvement initiatives, and enhancing reading and math instruction. ~ You may have forgotten — This Board allowed the interim Superintendent to cut some of the aforementioned allocations and personnel associated.
The children and parents play a much larger role in their success than outside influences. When’s the last time you’ve seen an athlete late to a sporting event, but look at the attendance records and there’s many days kids are late to school or just can’t make it.