During a regular meeting on Tuesday night, the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) acted on several agenda items, including approving salary schedules and collective bargaining agreements for teachers and education support professionals (ESPs), as well as a contract with JBrown Brown Professional Group Inc. (JBPro) for a consolidation plan.  

Salary schedules and bargaining contracts  

With the board approving the salary schedules and bargaining agreements, teachers and ESPs will receive a 3% raise. The district will retroactively apply the increase back to the start of the employees’ 2025-26 contract.  

Negotiations between Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) and the Alachua County Education Association (ACEA), the union that represents instructional and ESPs, such as bus drivers, custodians, food service workers, paraprofessionals, office staff, etc., first began on Sept. 4, with both parties laying out ground rules and setting tentative dates for future meetings. 

Over the course of the next five weeks, members of the district and ACEA negotiation teams worked to reach tentative agreements on salary and language.  

Employees met on Oct. 29 to ratify the contract, which ultimately led to the 3% raise that was presented to the SBAC on Tuesday. 

While speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, Deborah Terry, assistant superintendent for human resources and the district’s chief negotiator, called the vote “a major landslide”, noting that 2,085 employees voted in favor of the 3% increase while 26 opposed. 

Terry thanked board members for granting her the authority to negotiate on their behalf and for taking into consideration the needs of all ACPS employees.  

She also extended her appreciation to ACEA members and those on the union and district’s negotiation teams for their dedication and collaboration.  

“Once again, we are pleased to stand together as a unified body, demonstrating that when we collaborate, we can achieve meaningful outcomes,” Terry said.  

Later in the meeting, ACEA President Carmen Ward expressed her gratitude to all of those involved in ratifying the agreement.  

“I would like to think of this as a beginning of a really respectful partnership with the district and the employees,” she said.  

Board members also extended their appreciation to district staff and ACEA members for their work in getting raises for employees. 

“… This is the smoothest bargaining [season] I have experienced since joining the board, and I am just so thankful to both our bargaining team and ACEA’s bargaining team and to [Interim Superintendent] Dr. [Kamela] Patton and our finance team for making this possible,” Board Chair Sarah Rockwell said. 

The district recently noted in a press release that if the SBAC approved the pay increase for employees, the goal would be to “have the raises and retroactive pay in the employees’ first paycheck in November.”  

Contract with JBPro for consolidation  

Also, during Tuesday’s meeting, the board voted to approve a contract with Gainesville-based JBPro for consolidation.  

While addressing board members, Kim Neal, the district’s director of full-time enrollment (FTE) and state reporting, said ACPS is “launching a districtwide consolidation and rezoning effort to address shifts in enrollment, new residential growth, new legislation and facility use. 

“This plan will ensure our schools are efficiently utilized, equitably zoned and aligned with educational priorities and community needs,” she said. 

The project, which is expected to cost $175,000, will kick off this month and be completed in three phases: 

• Phase 1 (November-December 2025): Establish guiding principles through community meetings, student discussions and staff input. This also includes launching a project website and posting QR codes at all school locations to promote engagement and access to information. 

• Phase 2 (January-February 2026): Develop up to three consolidation scenarios and host additional rounds of community meetings, student discussions and staff input sessions. The project website will also be updated with interactive maps and an address look-up tool to give families the chance to review and comment on proposed attendance zones. 

• Phase 3 (February-March 2026): Finalize and present the suggested consolidation to the school board for approval using feedback from the first two phases.  

Each of the board members shared their thoughts about the project, with the feelings being mixed. 

Board Member Leanetta McNealy said she didn’t have “enough information” about the plan and that it needs to be discussed in a workshop. 

“Are we talking about rezoning here?” she said. “If we’re talking about rezoning, how many instructional personnel will be involved? How many parents will be involved? I heard you say three phases, but that doesn’t tell me very much of where we’re going with this.” 

McNealy also expressed reservations about the $175,000 cost, noting that she couldn’t get on board when the district has its own experts who work within the zoning department. 

Board Member Thomas Vu said the consolidation of the district’s facilities is something that “needed to happen a long time ago.”  

He was also in favor of hiring an experienced consulting firm. 

“Right now, GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping, being able to create new zones for schools, being able to project new grades…that’s just something that they [JBPro] can do that we no longer have the ability to do in-house in this district,” Vu said.  

Vu also said the district is using the half-cent sales tax to pay for the project, noting it isn’t coming out of the general fund. 

Board Member Tina Certain was also in agreement with moving forward with the plan. 

“It’s really, really imperative that we do become more efficient,” she said. “Operational efficiency is really key in order for us to continue to be able to have funding, to be able to offer a very robust educational experience for our students, as well as being able to have funding to be able to pay staff.” 

Board Member Janine Plavac expressed concern over the timeframe of the project. 

“I think it’s really, really tight,” she said. “This wants to be ready by next school year, and we have to have parent involvement, we have to have community involvement. We really are making the decision, but the community is really driving it – and the community needs to drive it. So, I think right now, I’m not going to vote for this because I think we need more reflection on it.” 

Rockwell leaned toward Vu and Certain, saying the consolidation “has to happen.” 

She mentioned students as the biggest reason that the plan is necessary. 

“None of us wants to think about what happens when we have multiple under-enrolled schools, and we have declining student enrollment,” Rockwell said. “Because obviously, if there is declining student enrollment and multiple under-enrolled schools, we’re led to one conclusion: that schools are going to close. And none of us wants the school that our kids went to, that we taught at, that we attended, to be the one that gets closed.” 

The board ultimately voted 3-2 to approve the contract with JBPro, with McNealy and Plavac dissenting.  

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.