NEW DATES: School Board reviews guiding principles for school planning initiative, sets dates for public input
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
Updated on January 20 with a new date for the community input session at Mebane Middle School.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In a January 12 workshop, the School Board of Alachua County heard the guiding principles that came out of JBPro’s community engagement effort and set dates for future opportunities for public input.
Kathie Ebaugh from JBPro presented 12 guiding principles that came out of the consultant’s Phase 1 community engagement effort (click here for the full presentation) and then explained that Phase 2 includes analyzing the current school zone boundaries, drafting up to three new student attendance boundary scenarios, and engaging the community on those draft boundaries.
Ebaugh emphasized that the draft maps will not be final, and community input “will inform refinements before any recommendations are developed.”
Phase 3 will include up to two final boundary scenarios for board consideration and will lead to a final report and presentation to the School Board, with a vote at a Special Meeting on March 12; this phase will also develop short-term implementable actions and longer-term strategies related to facilities, programs, and operations. Ebaugh said the work “will help inform future updates to the Capital Improvement Plan and support long-range planning decisions across the district.”
Draft maps will be released to the community on February 2
The three draft maps were originally scheduled to be released to the community on February 2 at the Mebane Middle School community meeting, but that meeting has been rescheduled to February 17, and the first meeting is now in Hawthorne on February 4. Eight community meetings will be held (the schedule is at the end of this article), and then JBPro will use that feedback to produce finalized maps that will be considered at the March 12 School Board meeting.
Whether or not the maps are specifically on the agenda of any School Board meeting, the public can discuss them in the General Public Comment period of any meeting. JBPro said they hope to have the final report and the proposed maps ready on February 27, in preparation for the March 3 School Board meeting, but there is currently no plan to place the maps on the agenda before March 12.
Certain: Neighborhood schools don’t lead to high-quality teaching and learning
Member Tina Certain said she does not support neighborhood schools, and she tied that to the guiding principle, “Ensure that all students have access to high-quality instruction and a diverse mix of academic opportunities.” She said, “When we create high-poverty schools, nobody wants to work in those schools, because it’s hard work.” She said that when a previous board moved to neighborhood zoning, “they set up a situation where… it’s hard to recruit people to work in those conditions, and… we don’t have high-quality teaching and learning going on.”
Certain continued, “Children need to learn in an environment that — the world is mixed. We’re different, and we all have to come together and work, and I think that starts with education. And so neighborhood zoning is not good… But if we make changes to this, we’ve got to have transportation fixed.
Rockwell: “In addition to concentrating poverty, we also have concentrated older facilities.”
Member Sarah Rockwell said her top-ranked guiding principles are high-quality learning opportunities, financial stewardship, and long-range planning: “I think the latter two go very much together. In addition to concentrating poverty, we also have concentrated older facilities. Because of the growth patterns in Alachua County, our newer schools tend to be further west and in wealthier areas of the county overall.” She acknowledged that the district has renovated or rebuilt Metcalfe Elementary, Howard Bishop Middle, and Idylwild Elementary, “but there are still a lot of schools that need a lot of work.”
Several members expressed a desire to have another discussion on the guiding principles at their January 20 meeting, after they get access to the raw data from the community engagement sessions. The raw data should be posted soon on the district’s Future Ready website; JB Pro said it could be posted as soon as Tuesday (Jan. 13), but it was not posted as of the writing of this article.
Community meeting format
Ebaugh explained that although the exact format of the community meetings is not set, they plan to have multiple stations where people can sit one-on-one with a facilitator, ask questions, and explain their priorities. She said there will also be “floaters,” people who are available for specific conversations, separate from the stations.
Upcoming School Board meetings
Upcoming School Board meetings are on January 20 and February 3, followed by a 6 p.m. workshop on February 17, and then regular meetings on March 3 and March 12. The workshop on February 17 will allow the public to provide input on the maps directly to the School Board, and the Board will be able to discuss the maps.
Community Meeting Schedule
- Wednesday, February 4, 5:30 pm: Hawthorne Middle High School
- Thursday, February 5, 5:30 pm: High Springs Community School
- Monday, February 9, 5:30 pm: Buchholz High School
- Tuesday, February 10, 5:30 pm: Oak View Middle School School
- Wednesday, February 11, 5:30 pm: Eastside High School
- Thursday, February 12, 5:30 pm; Kanapaha Middle School
- Thursday, February 17, 5:30 pm: Mebane Middle School
- Wednesday, February 18, 5:30 pm: Westwood Middle School
Kudos to the Board and its members for under taking this long overdue planning process. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t get highjacked in someway. Be strong!
Here’s a freaking idea… if you can’t recruit teachers to a high poverty school, then you aren’t paying them enough.
I’m so sick of the notion that you want to bus in middle class kids to attract teachers. If the schools were close together, fine, mix up the students. But they are not, so you are asking families to sacrifice their time and money because y’all can’t figure out a way to give teachers a large enough premium to teach at Metcalf instead of Chiles.
This district will kill itself from within
They can’t pay them a premium unless the union lets them…
So union doesn’t do basic economics either?
Lol, no. That is not their mission.
Now I see why people think teacher’s unions are useless drains
A successful district, where all schools are quality, is good for the union’s clients (the teachers).
Vacancies have an immediate effect on their clients who teach in Title 1 schools. They have an indirect effect on their other clients too, in that an overall successful district means better working conditions and funds for all.
Busing in westside children to attract teachers to fill those vacancies puts the burden on the familes. It costs time and money to commute. It also limits their ability to volunteer or participate in school activities.
For example, let’s assume School A is 5 min away while School B is 25 min away. In terms of time, it should be a no brainer that it’s easier to volunteer at School A. To volunteer at School B’s event, they have to carve out an additional 50 min. All else equal, an average family will be more involved if zoned for School A
If the inconvenience of the zoning is too much, families seek alternatives. If they leave ACPS, they take valuable funds with them. That clearly has an adverse impact on the Union’s clients
I guess the union can hope that enough families will grin and bear it. After all, they had to in the ’70s. Yet, with the proliferation of alternatives and a state gov pushing and funding those alternatives, a union that understood economics would support higher premiums
The Union doesn’t control their salaries.
Then nothing is stopping them from paying a larger premium to teach at a high poverty school. Noted.
The ACEA contract states that the Executive Board of the ACEA must approve any incentive plan before it is implemented. (Section 7. Incentive Plan)
For the naysayer, the Union negotiates salaries with the District.
Did you forget the negotiations in 2024 when they were unable to come to a compromise? It ended up being a 1% take it or leave it in 2025.
The union negotiates a salary schedule that pays every teacher with the same amount of experience the same amount of money, with a (very few) bonuses for earning advanced degrees, etc.
The union also writes into the contract that any incentives have to be approved by the union. So the district can’t simply offer more money to teachers to work in specific schools without going through the bargaining process.
Salaries, incentives/stipends are two different animals. As noted earlier, (and you finally clarified for those who are clueless), salaries are not controlled nor decided by the Union.
…. and how would the union reply to say a $10,000 stipend to teach in a high poverty school?
Don’t know. They’ve dangled carrots in front of administrators. Some of those discovered some things just aren’t worth the money.
Maybe they should offer a salary commensurate with what the SBAC is paying the fiscally incompetent interim superintendent.
A Certain board member must be reading the comments this morning. Every common sense comment has an inexplicable 👎🏻 attached to it.
Come to think of it, there’s been quite a number of comments critical of the Superintendent’s incompetence that received many 👎🏻s in past articles.
Every time the school board meets I wonder if white boys are allowed.
Look at the photo dummy.
At what cost was JB Pro hired?
$175,000 for the four month process
A child is a child regardless of the income level of the area. If Certain is suggesting that children in these poverty areas are more disrespectful or violent which keep teachers from working in those area’s, then she is unconsciously recognizing those area’s have cultural issues. You can be from a low income family and still be respectful and willing to learn without shipping those cultural problems to other districts. Culture starts with what a child learns at home.
Tina Certain said she does not support neighborhood schools, and tied this stance to the guiding principle: “Ensure that all students have access to high-quality instruction and a diverse mix of academic opportunities.” What makes working at those particular schools “hard work”? The kids and parents cause that. She should focus her efforts there instead of continuing to blame people of other races.
What’s her evidence that neighborhood schools fail to provide high-quality educational opportunities? Is she actually displaying her own deeply rooted racism? If all students have access to the same curriculum, what’s the variable? Of course the students and faculty are different. It takes a person dedicated to teaching to go into education; it takes a TRULY dedicated person to go into a facility whose students and parents have no respect, offer little to no support and continually fault everyone but the child. The conclusion could be made that it also takes a dedicated student as well. Unfortunately, that’s not something Ms. Certain says is lacking in many of the schools she’s referencing. Maybe someone should teach the kids that 100% of them will get a high school diploma if they graduate but only a fraction will get a sports scholarship for playing on the basketball or football team. Some may claim the facilities are different but if you’re familiar with the “new” Terwilliger, you can see what busing some students has done to that multi-million dollar campus.
The SBAC should educate themselves and the community they claim to represent about the real issues and not blame it on teachers and facilities.
Educating people who live in poverty comes with interconnected challenges that go well beyond what happens in the classroom. These barriers tend to reinforce one another, making educational inequality persistent across generations.
1. Economic Barriers
• Basic needs insecurity: Hunger, unstable housing, lack of healthcare, and unsafe neighborhoods interfere with concentration, attendance, and learning.
• Hidden school costs: Transportation, uniforms, supplies, technology, and extracurricular fees can be prohibitive.
• Child labor and caregiving: Children may need to work or care for siblings, reducing study time and increasing absenteeism.
2. School Quality and Resources
• Underfunded schools: Schools in low-income areas often have fewer teachers, outdated materials, larger class sizes, and deteriorating facilities.
• Teacher turnover: High burnout and low pay lead to instability, disrupting student learning.
• Limited access to enrichment: Fewer advanced courses, arts programs, libraries, and counseling services.
3. Health and Development Factors
• Poor physical health: Untreated vision, hearing, dental, and chronic conditions affect learning.
• Mental health stressors: Trauma, violence exposure, and chronic stress impair memory, behavior, and emotional regulation.
• Environmental hazards: Lead exposure, pollution, and substandard housing harm cognitive development.
4. Family and Social Constraints
• Parents’ limited time and education: Long work hours or low educational attainment reduce ability to help with homework or navigate school systems.
• Language barriers: Immigrant or refugee families may struggle with communication and advocacy.
• Low social capital: Fewer networks to access tutoring, mentoring, or academic opportunities.
5. Structural and Policy Challenges
• Inequitable funding models: Reliance on local property taxes often entrenches inequality.
• Disciplinary disparities: Poor and marginalized students are more likely to face suspensions or expulsions, pushing them out of school.
• Digital divide: Limited access to reliable internet and devices restricts learning, especially post-pandemic.
6. Expectations and Bias
• Lower expectations: Stereotypes can lead educators to underestimate students’ potential.
• Curriculum irrelevance: Instruction that ignores students’ lived experiences reduces engagement and motivation.
• Tracking and segregation: Early academic tracking can permanently limit opportunities.
7. Intergenerational Effects
• Cycle of poverty: Lower educational attainment reduces future earnings, perpetuating poverty across generations.
• Reduced civic participation: Educational gaps weaken political voice and social mobility.
What Helps Address These Challenges
• Early childhood education and nutrition programs
• Equitable school funding and community schools
• Wraparound services (healthcare, counseling, meals)
• High-quality teachers with support and retention incentives
• Family engagement and culturally responsive teaching
• Universal broadband and access to technology
In short: educating the poor isn’t just an education problem—it’s a social, economic, and policy challenge. Effective solutions require addressing poverty itself alongside school reform.
45% of black children v 15% of white children experience living in poverty. Page 41
https://www.bebr.ufl.edu/sites/default/files/Research%20Reports/ri1_baseline_report.pdf
We all need to educate ourselves.
You sound like a Certain SBAC member.
You can strike all of #2. While Simon was Superintendent, they robbed Peter to pay Paul.
Just a followup. Don’t forget, there are at least two SBAC members who believe more in equity than they do in equality. They don’t believe some students in the community are as capable of learning as others. Consequently, they believe those students need not only special accommodations to reach educational standards, but also special allowances and less restrictive discipline policies. One of them will likely run for County Commission where their ideology can create even more tension within the communities.
Since we just had the MLK holiday, I don’t ever remember Dr. King asking for special rights and privileges for any Black person, just an equal chance for success. Certain board members should take a closer look.
Nice AI output
Why is the list of goals so poorly written? The page is crowded and difficult to read – mistyped. Computers number output and allow for explanation beneath that entry. If the school board can’t use computers, we are lost.
The alleged goals are poorly written because:
1. The Board has to produce a certain number of these documents to receive state and federal funding because…
2. SBAC schools are losing students to charter and private schools faster than they can create pretexts to keep near-vacant and/or failing schools open and…
3. The bureaucrats captaining this sinking ship are, in some cases, functionally illiterate (not to mention technologically illiterate).
Someone just makes up a vaguely plausible name for the latest “Action Plan” or “Impact Assessment” or “Guiding Principles.”
“[A]lthough the exact format of the community meetings is not set, they plan to have multiple stations where people can sit one-on-one with a facilitator…[T]here will also be ‘floaters,’ people who are available for specific conversations.”
I wonder what the minimum qualifications for “floaters” are.