“They can certainly be divisive”: School Board of Alachua County pauses proclamations for a year

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At an October 15 workshop, the School Board of Alachua County decided to stop doing proclamations for a year.

Recent proclamations

Superintendent Kamela Patton told the Board that over the past two years, the Board has done proclamations for Gun Violence Awareness Month in May, Black History Month in February, Hispanic History Month in September, and LGBTQ+ Month in October, and she said the PTA has asked about a proclamation. She said the Board should decide whether to do proclamations, whether they should be signed or unsigned, who would read them, whether to place them on the agenda, and whether to decide about the whole year’s proclamations at the November organizational meeting or make decisions as they come up.

Plavac: “I think that’s not part of what we do at the Board, as far as the success of every student.”

Member Janine Plavac said she didn’t think the Board should do proclamations at all: “I think that’s not part of what we do at the Board, as far as the success of every student. It’s — who chooses what, when, who we’re recognizing, so I’m not for that at all.”

Certain: “One that I am very, very strongly for is the recognition of Black History Month, or African American History Month, especially in light of what’s happening with the standards.”

Vice Chair Tina Certain agreed that it is a “dicey area.” She thought the Board could continue to “recognize some things… [that] may tangentially apply to educational improvement. One that I am very, very strongly for is the recognition of Black History Month, or African American History Month, especially in light of what’s happening with the standards. The second that I really, really want to lean in on is the Gun Violence Awareness one and secure storage of weapons… So those are two that I feel really, really strong about, and I think that they could be unsigned, and I think they could be read… by staff or a Board Member.”

Vu: “Just keep the status quo on it.”

Member Thomas Vu favored keeping the ones that were previously recognized: “Just keep the status quo on it.” He said proclamations should be unsigned and read by staff “because, ultimately, it’s from the school district, not necessarily from the Board.” He said he wouldn’t put them on the agenda because “they’re more or less an announcement. They’re not something that’s part of Board business.”

McNealy: “We don’t need to do proclamations. But if we do [them],… then you’re going to open yourself to other proclamations.”

Member Leanetta McNealy said she could go “either way… We don’t need to do proclamations. But if we do [them],… then you’re going to open yourself to other proclamations. I would not want us to say, ‘Well, we’ve only done these four.’ That’s not right.”

Rockwell: “I would personally add PTA and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.”

Chair Sarah Rockwell said she mostly agreed with Vu, but “I would personally add PTA and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.” She said that if they decided to keep doing proclamations, she would prefer to decide on the list during their November reorganization meeting, “so people can’t just add them kind of willy-nilly throughout the year.”

Plavac: “I understand about gun violence, but there’s lots of different kinds of violence. Look what happened yesterday at Santa Fe High School.”

Plavac said they need “some kind of criteria, because I’m Italian-American, and you say ‘Asian and Pacific Islanders.’ If you look at national proclamations, there is one for Italian-Americans, there is from Hispanics, and etc. So if we’re going to add to it, should we not have a criteria, as it relates to our students?… I think it could just get very dicey… I understand about gun violence, but there’s lots of different kinds of violence. Look what happened yesterday at Santa Fe High School.”

Board Attorney Delaney: “Most school districts are moving away from doing proclamations because of the conversation that the Board’s just had; they can certainly be divisive.”

Rockwell asked Board Attorney David Delaney whether other districts have policies about proclamations that the Board could use as a model. Delaney said he had hoped to bring them some policies to choose from, but he did not find one. He added, “I’ve taken a deep dive about school district proclamations from around the state, and the result from that was that most school districts are moving away from doing proclamations because of the conversation that the Board’s just had; they can certainly be divisive. They are ceremonial. They don’t have any legally binding effect.” 

Delaney said he found that some cities have policies for proclamations, but they’re “not really education-focused. And then you open it up to the whole universe that, frankly, is a little bit of the situation that Miami-Dade is in… Over the course of a year, they have hundreds of proclamations… Lots of school districts have said that’s not where they want to expend their energy.” He offered to look at policies outside Florida.

Certain: “I say that we just move on, and we just, for the next year — we not do that.”

Certain responded, “Well, given that we’ve got so much other stuff that’s on our plate, I say that we just move on, and we just, for the next year — we not do that. Let’s focus our energy on things that are of more importance and have more impact on student outcomes.”

Rockwell said she was fine with that, “if we couldn’t find a policy in the state.”

Vu said he echoed that idea, too, and he wants to see what Delaney comes back with, “but if there really isn’t something that feels practical [as a policy for deciding which proclamations to do], I’m okay with not doing them anymore at all, as well, just to be focusing on the Board business. But I’d like to find out more.”

Rockwell said that during Gun Violence Awareness Month, the district will send out safe storage notifications through their communication channels, even without a proclamation. 

Delaney said a decision to stop doing proclamations would not prevent the Superintendent from recognizing things like Music in Our Schools Month, “the things that are clearly focused on the education of students.” Rockwell said she assumed it also wouldn’t preclude a Board Member from saying, “It’s February, it’s African American History Month” during the Board Member Announcements period, and Delaney agreed.