School Board passes budget, sets board goals, discusses air conditioning in middle school gyms

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At two September 15 meetings, the School Board of Alachua County passed its budget, discussed adding air conditioning to the remaining middle school gyms, and set key performance indicators for the board’s goals.

Budget

At a 5 p.m. special budget meeting, the board set the property tax rate at 6.3270 mills, which is 0.0760 mills above last year’s rate and 5.38% higher than the rolled-back rate of 6.1323. The rolled-back rate is the rate that would generate the same revenue as last year, excluding new construction.

While the board is required to report any increase above the rolled-back rate on TRIM notices, the millage rate is set by the Florida legislature as the Required Local Effort, and state funding depends on the district’s collection of that amount.

Click here to review the budget presentation.

The board unanimously passed the property tax rate of 6.3270 mills and the final Fiscal Year 2027 All Funds budget of $623,028,853.95 (about $18.9 million higher than the FY2026 budget) and General Fund budget of $348,479,940.15 (about $1.4 million lower than the FY2026 budget). Chief Financial Officer Michael Reneke said one reason the budget increased was that the state allowed the district to roll forward unspent funds from the previous fiscal year.

Tentative agreements on employee contracts

During general public comment at the 6 p.m. regular meeting, ACEA President Crystal Tessman said the union has reached tentative agreements on contract language for instructional staff and education support professionals, and the ratification vote will be on September 23.

Endorsement of Janine Plavac by former opponent

Also during general public comment, former School Board candidate Gabriel Lopez endorsed Janine Plavac for the District 1 School Board seat, saying, “It’s refreshing to see that at least one person on this board can actually demonstrate authentic leadership courage when it’s clearly an unpopular position. As my campaign progressed over the summer, I was surprised when, of all people, you, my opponent, was the only board member to actually begin questioning the illegal wording [in] these baseless non-renewals [of teachers]… Because of you, it appears some productive conversation around this has finally happened… Janine, your experience and unapologetic leadership has been genuinely refreshing and inspiring. And unfortunately, just like some of the other Democrats in this town, I was quick to judge you without even giving you a chance. I’m sorry I doubted you, but I’m proud to say that I’m humbled by your proven, nonpartisan, and fearless leadership that this town so desperately needs right now.”

Air conditioning in middle school gyms

During the discussion of the consent agenda, Chair Thomas Vu asked about plans for adding air conditioning to the middle school gyms that don’t currently have it, and Executive Director of Facilities Planning, Construction, and Maintenance Suzanne Wynn said the work plan for the four remaining schools has been approved and three of the four proposals for design have been received. She said her staff is in the process of reviewing those, and once that is done, the purchase orders will be placed on a School Board agenda. She said the fourth school, Mebane, needs work on the auditorium, so her staff is creating the scope for the combined project now. 

Policy amendments

The board unanimously passed a policy on second reading to establish that the Board “will provide universal, free school breakfast meals in each school in which 80 percent or more of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.”

The board also unanimously approved a list of policy amendments on first reading, mostly to align the policies with new state statutes and remove outdated language. A staff-recommended amendment clarified various aspects of the district’s school choice policies, and AI or smart glasses were added to the definition of wireless communication devices, in alignment with the changes that were made to the Code of Student Conduct this year. Policies on disciplinary placement, the maintenance of student records when the records contain any safety issues, school safety and security, and safety requirements for some gates and access points were also amended on first reading. Click here to view the amendments. 

The next policy amendment updated the school attendance zone policy to require an annual review of the zone boundaries by December 1 of each year; the amendment would also return the two-mile walk zone around Buchholz High School to Buchholz’s zone. The specific lines have not yet been drawn, and the vote authorized staff to bring back the official lines and then schedule a public hearing and a second reading. The vote to proceed with the change was unanimous.

Key performance indicators for board goals

The board spent the next hour discussing key performance indicators for their board goals (click here to see the board goals and the desired percentage improvements). 

The board goals are the following:

• Increasing student achievement;
• Reducing the achievement gaps between white and black students and between students with and without disabilities;
• Increasing early learning achievement;
• Enhancing employee retention;
• Furthering the financial stability of the district;
• Developing standard operating procedures.

The key performance indicators for the board goals passed unanimously.

Florida Educator Health Trust

After a short break, the board unanimously approved a participation agreement with the Florida Educator Health Trust (FLEHT) that will permit FLEHT to analyze the district’s healthcare data, but it does not commit the district to joining FLEHT or changing the current healthcare plan. The goal is to determine whether opportunities exist for cost savings, efficiencies, and long-term stability for both the district and its employees. After FLEHT has completed its analysis, the district will evaluate their offer.

In the meantime, the Bailey Group will still handle open enrollment this fall. 

Resignations of personnel

During an employment item that Member Janine Plavac pulled from the consent agenda, Plavac noted that 68 resignations of instructional personnel were listed in the backup document and asked whether exit interviews had been conducted to know why they had resigned; she added that 53 non-instructional personnel had resigned.

Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Debbie Terry said her staff would analyze the reasons given on the resignation forms; Vu said the reasons on the form “aren’t great,” and he added that although there is a blank box employees can use, there is no standardization of those responses, so they are difficult to quantify.