School board moves forward with rezoning in spite of members’ desire to take more time

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tonight the Alachua County School board voted to move forward with a November 14 hearing for the rezoning maps but indicated that they may move the second reading from December 5 to January.

The rezoning discussion began almost 2.5 hours into the meeting, and after Member Sarah Rockwell made a motion to advertise the maps for a November 14 hearing, Member Leanetta McNealy immediately proposed a “pause” in the process. Rockwell agreed but said she wasn’t sure what McNealy meant by “pause”; she recommended delaying the process until next year.

Chair Tina Certain said the board needed to do something because they’re not doing a good job of transporting children who live more than two miles from their zoned school, which is required by law.

Member Diyonne McGraw said the focus should be on “closing the gap” and whether “kids are safe coming to school.” She said they weren’t ready to vote on rezoning maps.

Rockwell pointed out that the latest data showed that the maps had not even accomplished the goal of making overcrowded schools less crowded. She said she was not in favor of pushing the rezoning to the 2025-26 school year and said the district should continue working on it. “The proposal shown to us right now does not accomplish any of the goals that we set out… I’m flabbergasted,” she said.

Member Kay Abbitt said she was “without words” and then asked when they needed to make a decision on rezoning for the 2024-25 school year. She was told that January 15 is the deadline, based on the original date of the notice; that is simply the legal deadline based on rule-making, not the operational deadline to get ready for the next school year. Abbitt said they needed to finish what they started, even though it’s “not perfect,” because they can still make changes between now and January 15.

McNealy pledged that she would not vote to go forward with the rezoning in January “if it’s not right.”

The motion to advertise the maps for a November 14 hearing failed 2-3, with Certain and Rockwell voting in favor of the motion.

Abbitt made a motion to advertise the maps for a later hearing date, then asked the attorneys what that date should be, given the January 15 deadline. The attorneys told her the board could still have the hearing on November 14 and delay the second reading at that time, so the motion ended up being the same as the first motion. Abbitt’s intent is for the second reading to be in January instead of on December 5, but that will be decided on November 14.

The motion passed unanimously.