School board postpones decision on school choice policy, hears report about operational audit findings

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their November 6 meeting, the School Board of Alachua County recognized the Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year, heard an update on contract negotiations with the teachers’ union, expressed concern about several bathroom issues at Gainesville High School, postponed the second reading of their school choice policy, and received information about the Florida Auditor General’s Operational Audit Report.

Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year

Director of Evaluation, Analytics & Accountability David Shelnutt introduced the Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year. 

Katherine Munn of Wiles Elementary is Principal of the Year. Shelnutt said she began her career in Dade County and moved to Alachua County in 1991. She taught at Duval, Waldo, and Newberry elementary schools and served as a BRT and CRT before becoming an Assistant Principal at Fort Clarke Middle School. She has served as Principal at Littlewood Elementary, Oakview Middle, and Wiles Elementary schools. She was Teacher of the Year in 1999. Munn said she was “very humbled” to be recognized by her fellow Principals.

Eugenia Campbell of Oak View Middle School is Assistant Principal of the Year. Shelnutt said she began her journey at Oak View as a dean and then became an Assistant Principal. Campbell said she was “honored and deeply humbled” by the honor.

ACEA update

During the ACEA update, teachers’ union president Carmen Ward celebrated the passing of the One Mill tax and said, “The ACEA’s Political Action Committee helped that happen… There was an amazing team of community members, and it was a grassroots effort.”

Ward said a federal mediator is going to meet with the district team and a small subcommittee team on November 15 to try to end the current impasse in contract negotiations. She also thanked the board for deciding to include Irby Elementary teachers in the Memorandum of Understanding that provides bonuses for Alachua Elementary teachers. 

Saying farewell to McGraw

A number of people from the community showed up to thank outgoing Chair Diyonne McGraw and Superintendent Shane Andrew for their service to the district. McGraw said this was her last meeting; a special meeting for next week was scheduled later in the evening, but this was her last regular business meeting.

McGraw said, “It has been an honor to serve this community, our students, our teachers, and all the families in Alachua County. When I first joined the board, I did so with a commitment to ensuring that every single child in our district mattered… We have faced challenges, celebrated successes, and worked tirelessly to improve the opportunities available to our students. It’s always been about the students for me, and not the politics… As I step away from this role, I encourage all of you to continue pushing, leading with compassion, commitment to listen to one another, being respectful, valuing people, and focus on what is best for children… While my term has ended, my dedication to this district and to the staff and to our children will not end.” 

GHS bathrooms

During citizen comment, a teacher at Gainesville High School told the board about a restroom issue at the school. She said several restrooms that were previously for staff use had been converted to single-occupancy restrooms for students, and they now lock from the inside. She said the school administrators told teachers that the decision was made at the district level. She said, “It’s definitely a major safety concern because of drug use, and additionally, a sexual assault occurred on our campus during school hours. So having a restroom that locks from the inside is kind of dangerous.” She said teachers also have to go farther to go to the bathroom, and they don’t have time between classes to get there and back. 

The School Board’s restroom policy states that students may not enter any restroom designated for the opposite sex and adds, “The District also offers unisex restrooms at its schools.” Most district schools were not originally constructed with single-occupancy restrooms for student use, so the district has had to modify existing restrooms.

School choice policy

The board was scheduled to vote on the second reading of their School choice policy, but several board members proposed changes, so that was tabled and will be heard again in a future meeting after staff updates the policy.

Auditor General’s Operational Audit Report

After a discussion about a draft contract for Dr. Kamela Patton (covered in a separate article), who was selected to serve as Superintendent while the board conducts a national search for a permanent Superintendent, the board heard a report about the Florida Auditor General’s Operational Audit Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024. We covered the preliminary audit report here, and the Superintendent has now concurred with all of the findings. Chief of Finance Gabrielle Jaremczuk told the board that the district is required to provide evidence that corrective action plans have been initiated by November 30, and those plans must be completed by April 14, 2025. 

Member Tina Certain asked about the five findings that were also noted in previous reports and asked why the corrective action plans were not previously completed for those findings. She asked, “So what is our plan of action to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?”

Jaremczuk responded, “That’s what we’re in the process of… We are writing the detailed action plans that will be submitted to the state.”

Certain also asked about the finding that the district did not properly investigate several allegations of misconduct by employees: “I’m wondering – have we done something on that – now that is something serious that I think we should have already addressed. Can you give the board any update on what’s in place right now to make sure that we are in compliance with that?”

Deputy Superintendent Cathy Atria said, “That obviously is a concern. We need to make sure that our Human Resources department is following procedures in place related to investigations. The finding was related to situations where investigations were completed by outside agencies, typically law enforcement agencies or the Department of Children and Families, and when those findings demonstrated – not sure of the correct word – culpability, perhaps, on the part of the employee, then in the past, Human Resources did not conduct their own investigation because the outside agency’s investigation indicated that there was an issue that needed to be addressed, and generally… the way that was addressed would be through recommendation for termination. Moving forward, since this finding has come across, what Human Resources is now doing is, regardless of a finding from an outside agency, we are continuing to conduct and come to a conclusion with our own internal investigation.”

Certain and Member Sarah Rockwell both asked to see the action plans after they are submitted to the state. 

Member comment – GHS bathrooms and ClearSight testing

During member comment, Member Kay Abbitt said, “I think that we need to do something about the bathroom situation at GHS. We get emails on that, it’s been before the board before, and I think the teachers on that wing need a bathroom that they can go to that is an employee bathroom. And I agree that students being able to go into a bathroom and lock the door is setting us up for something to happen that we don’t really want to happen.”

Member Leanetta McNealy added that she had seen pictures of mold in bathrooms at GHS and would be going to the school to see the bathrooms for herself. 

Rockwell and Certain expressed concern with issues around ClearSight testing.

Saying farewell to Andrew

In closing at his last regular meeting, Andrew said, “A life of leadership and faith is similar to being a farmer. Farmers do not find immediate glory and honor in their field of work. Typically, farming includes a lot of sweat, tears, worn-out hands, and a sore back… At the right time of the season, the farmer gets to enjoy the fruits of his harvest. I know that the harvest season is coming. I encourage all of our fellow educators to not run away from the hard work. Keep your sleeves rolled up and keep your hands in the mess. 

“I thank God for all of the work that we’ve done together. And I’m speaking to everyone over the past 34-plus years and for every student and person and community member that I’ve come in contact with in this field of service… There’s thousands of people that just have become a piece of fabric within my soul. I also thank God for my wife… I will continue to pray for our Alachua County Public School students, and particularly, I’ll be praying for them to receive an abundance of grace and mercy in the days to come. And then my own prayer, of course, is that I have a farmer’s heart and the ability to understand what season I am in and to keep my faith and trust in God and my Lord and Savior, because the real harvest is still yet to come.”