School district to hold public meeting with consultant to discuss rezoning maps
Public notice
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Alachua County Public School District, along with JBPro, will hold a public meeting at 9 a.m. on Monday, February 23. This is not a School Board meeting.
Date & Time: Monday, February 23, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.
Location: Board Room, Alachua County Public Schools District Office, 620 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL
Purpose: To receive public input on the ACPS Our Schools Future Ready comprehensive school strategy plan, including the proposed school attendance zone maps.
This meeting is being called pursuant to and in accordance with Section 1001.372(1) and 120.525, F.S.
- A. Meeting Agenda
- 1. Welcome (Neal)
- 2. Presentation of Boundary Maps (JBPro)
- 3. Public Comment Statement (Board Attorney)
- 4. Public Comment (Agenda Items Only)
- 5. Committee Discussion
- B. Adjourn
The District’s Comprehensive School Strategy Plan and draft boundary maps can be found at https://jbpro-engagement.com/acps-our-schools-plan
There are several ways to offer public comment for this meeting:
1) submit input through email at issues@gm.sbac.edu by noon the day of the board meeting; 2) Complete an online Speaker Request Form that will be available at alachuaschools.net/publiccomment for 24 hours before the meeting begins; or 3) Complete a paper version of the Speaker Request Form, which will be available in the Boardroom 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the meeting.
All forms, online and paper, must be completed and submitted before the meeting begins.
So the meeting is scheduled for 9 am on a Monday….why? Because many parents won’t be able to attend due to work schedule. I guess they really didn’t want to hear from all of us after all. 6 pm makes more sense.
I’ve heard that the purpose of this meeting is to select one map per level (elementary, middle, high) for the school board to consider. The maps selected in this Monday morning meeting (which most parents can’t attend) will likely be rammed through.
to be future ready, they will need to do something about their high school footprint and lack of access in the SW portion of the county. Do they really think SW residents won’t find another solution?
They continuously use consultants that are not from our area, do not know anything about cur community. How much are we paying to have complete strangers dictating our community and children. This board has made up their mind, they are just going through the motions. We parents have no say and no rights with this board. They do not repect thewill of the people. Low income families will suffer major setbacks. Closing schools? Bet you They sell the properties for more (un) affordable housing investment companies. No call in comments, early weekday “public” meetings. These are gestapo tactics, to stop the masses from coming together to stop this nonsense.
Use a local company that has real ties to this community, who knows they just might know more about this than some outside company that could give two shakes.
Your facts are wrong. Jay Brown of JBPro has been around in the area for a long time. He’s the company principal.
These will be hard but necessary choices and problems to be addressed. There is plenty of blame to go around including with us parents. Community meetings have been ongoing where input is taken.
why is it just “low income?” Entire areas are screwed over by this district when it comes to zoning and rezoning, so miss me with that BS. Plenty of people in the SW Gainesville Metro Area aren’t considered “low income,” but they have been screwed over by the lack of a high school in the area. They got to spend two or more hours a day driving they kids to BHS because busing is so bad. Some have to use the bus because of work and it takes two plus hours a day.
Then there are the families they propose to rezone to GHS in the SW enclave. They will have even longer commutes. None of them are “low income.”
Btw, the schools they propose to close:
(1) Rawlings is basically next door to Metcalfe. My guess is they’ll provide courtesy busing to help Rawlings families out;
(2) Duval is moving to lake forest, so they’ll provide busing. Plus the city wants to turn it into the C.A. center to help youth;
(3) Williams is being folded into Lincoln. Yes, they’ll keep the 13-yr-olds away from the 5-yr-olds. Also, part of Williams was built on a poorly run county dump. Look up “trash school” if you don’t believe me. Big expose on it. Lots of weird health issues the so-called “experts” say are not caused by the school on a dump– but there are no other plausible explanations. Tear that ish down and remediate the land like they promised years ago.
We’ll see if they go through with the changes or continue kicking the can.
In case people have forgotten, the SBAC has kicked this can down the road for two decades—back when some of those complaining were still in school. Get over it! The District may find itself in a better place than it is right now. Some should be thankful: if schools on the East side close, their children won’t be bussed to the West side. Certain SBAC members should be happy too—their “people” will get that equitable educational opportunity they’ve been clamoring for.