“This is not the solution”: School board members react to Newberry’s proposal to convert three schools to public charters

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the February 20 Alachua County School Board meeting, several board members voiced their opinions about Newberry’s proposal to convert three district schools to public charter schools, and the board unanimously approved the 2024-25 school year calendar and a ballot referendum to renew the One Mill property tax.

Board member announcements

During the agenda item for board member announcements, Member Sarah Rockwell said, “There’s a proposal to turn the three schools in Newberry into charter schools: Newberry Elementary, Oak View Middle School, and Newberry High School. And I have seen a lot of promises being made by the proponents of this about what their charter schools might offer, but I want to share some of the potential impacts.”

Rockwell said charter schools aren’t required to provide transportation and that the school buses that transport students to Newberry schools belong to the school district. She said the magnet programs “will not necessarily continue in a charter school.” She said charter schools that are run by a municipality are not required to take students that live outside the city limits, and “although charter schools are required to serve students with disabilities, they are able to make reasonable declines of students, based on the services they are able to provide.” She said the district would have to provide a zoned school for the students who are currently zoned for those three schools and who either choose not to attend or are declined for any reason. 

Rockwell said charter school employees are not part of the Florida Retirement System (see below for a counter to that assertion) and are not entitled to the benefits that are negotiated between the teachers’ union and the district. She added, “While charter schools are required to take the same tests as public schools, they can choose any curriculum they want; it does not have to be approved by the State of  Florida. And in addition to that, they do not have to abide by all of the components of the Parental Rights in Education Act that our school district has to abide by. So if you are a parent who is concerned about your child having rigorous, appropriate curriculum and about having parental oversight of the curriculum they’re using and the books that are available to them, you will not have that if these become charter schools.”

Rockwell concluded, “We currently have three schools looking to cede from this district, and I just want to point out that that’s not stability. That’s a failure of this district. And we need to do better, but this is not the solution.”

Member Tina Certain said she would hold her comments until the end of the meeting, but “I would just like to make one correction… Charter schools can participate in Florida Retirement System (FRS) if a school participates and pays the fee for the employees… and the employees contribute the required contribution.” She said a couple of local charters participate in FRS.

Member Kay Abbitt, who founded a charter school, said, “Charters do use different curriculum, but whatever curriculum they’re choosing must be working, because if you go back and look at charter schools who contribute to the district school grade, most of those charters are As or Bs. [You can find school grades for the 2022-23 school year here.] There are things that are different about charters, but they’re held to the same standards. They have to have certified teachers… they can be part of Florida Retirement if they choose. There’s a lot of flexibility with charters, and some of that could be because they’re not bound by union rules, and so they’re able to do different things with their teachers… I’m just correcting some misconceptions about charters because there’s a lot that goes on in this district where people just make assumptions about things that aren’t true. And so that’s for Newberry to figure out, but there is a place for charters in our school system.”

ACEA comment on the proposal

During public comment, Alachua County Education Association President Carmen Ward said she needed to respond “about the charter school announcement that happened this weekend. I do think that there were some negative words put out there about unions.” She said the union believes that “our traditional public schools are phenomenal and are the best places for all the students in Alachua County, and charter schools may show excellent gains, but they hand-pick their students.” She said the collective bargaining agreement “protects the rights of the employees of the school system, and we are very proud of that… I definitely think that we need to conserve our resources for all the students in our county.”

Member comment

During member comment at the end of the meeting, Rockwell made a motion to “have the charter school office create an FAQ and a side-by-side display of what the similarities and differences are between a traditional district-run public school and a charter school.” She was told by staff that motions should not be made during member comment, and Chair Diyonne McGraw said, “We’ve heard Dr. Rockwell’s request.”

An FAQ for employees has already been posted on the school district’s website.

“I think we need to right now start accumulating documentation to support the negative impact that this will have on the school community” – Member Tina Certain

Certain said, “If the [Newberry] vote comes back favorably and whatever, we, the district, can–if we deny, we have to prepare a document with reasons why we would deny… the charter, and I think we need to right now start accumulating documentation to support the negative impact that this will have on the school community… I don’t know where my colleagues stand on this, with our support of what’s happening there, but to take three public assets and put them under the control of a few people and not serve all of the 2,000 students or so that are currently zoned to that school… I think, is not right.”

“I think that what happened this week with Newberry is a wake-up call, and it’s telling the district that we need to be maybe doing some things differently.” – Member Kay Abbitt

Abbitt said, “I think that what happened this week with Newberry is a wake-up call, and it’s telling the district that we need to be maybe doing some things differently. My hope is, with these two year-round schools, that we’re going to approach them in a different manner and be innovative and not just make a calendar change. Because I think the rest of the district needs some reassurance that we’re going to make some changes that are positive for the education of all students in our district.”

A few minutes later, Certain added, “I do have serious concerns with taking three district schools and saying they’re going to be charter, where people can decide who’s going to be in there and who’s not.” She said the City of Newberry is welcome to start a new charter school, “but this right here, like I said, doesn’t sit well with the community of students–current students, future students, past students–because those three schools were built out there in that rural area to serve the student body, not to just serve Newberry proper, and school districts… operate on a district concept, not on a municipality concept, which is what they’re desiring.”

Abbitt responded, “You’re right, there are differences, but I think sometimes it’s those differences that allow [charter schools] to be so successful.” She pointed out that because the schools won’t be under the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the teachers’ union, the elementary school could have a full day of school on Wednesdays.

Four-year renewal of the One Mill property tax

In other business, the board voted unanimously to put a four-year renewal of the One Mill property tax on the November 2024 ballot. 

Member Tina Certain said she didn’t want to “derail” the resolution over ballot language, but she felt “the bulk of the [One Mill] is supporting a lot of programming for advanced students, and our lower-performing schools and students–it’s an inequity.”

“Your One Mill pays for our amazing media specialists who choose books for our students, who help them pick books at their interest level, who listen to parents who might want their children to have a more narrowed selection.” – Member Sarah Rockwell

Member Sarah Rockwell said, “Earlier in the school year, a lot of school districts in Florida were making news because they had closed media centers and shelves that were taped off, had drapes on them; that was because they do not have media specialists in every school… We didn’t have that in Alachua County. We had fully-stocked media centers, filled classroom libraries, children with access to books. And that’s because your One Mill pays for our amazing media specialists who choose books for our students, who help them pick books at their interest level, who listen to parents who might want their children to have a more narrowed selection.” She also referred to the artwork on display in the board room and reminded parents that if their children participate in visual arts, Career and Technical Education, or performing arts, that is all supported by the One Mill funds. 

2024-25 school calendar

The board also unanimously adopted the proposed calendar for the 2024-25 school year. 

Community input session for Rawlings and Metcalfe

During member comment at the end of the meeting, Certain requested “a community meeting input session for the parents of the students and families that are impacted by the year-round school models at Rawlings and Metcalfe… That doesn’t sit well with me to make a major change like that there.” She said meetings had been held after the change to the magnet program at Williams Elementary was announced, “and I am going to insist that we extend the same courtesy to families that are impacted by this change.”

Upcoming meetings

McGraw announced that the next school board workshop is at 1 p.m. on February 28. She also  announced that input will not be taken via phone calls at the March 5 school board meeting because staff members will be out of town.