Families with students in Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) should watch for personalized letters being mailed home with important information about new school attendance boundaries that will take effect for the upcoming school year. 

According to an ACPS press release, the letters are being mailed to the primary home addresses of all ACPS students living in Alachua County, including those whose zoned schools will remain unchanged for the 2026-27 school year, which begins on Aug. 10.  

The letter will be printed in English and Spanish and will include a list of the schools to which the student’s home address will be zoned for the upcoming school year, according to the release. There will also be information on magnet programs, zoning exceptions, exceptional student education (ESE), and other related topics. 

Families who have not received a letter by Friday, May 15, can contact ACPS for help by emailing rezoningquestions@alachuaschools.net or calling 352-955-7040.  

Parents or guardians can also look up their child’s 2026-27 school zones by viewing the zone maps and using the address lookup system posted at alachuaschools.net/ourschoolsfutureready. 

The new school boundaries for all elementary, middle and high schools are part of a right-sizing plan approved by the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) in March to balance out enrollment across ACPS and reduce overcrowding and under-enrollment at schools.   

Right-sizing was an important part of the district’s “Our Schools – Future Ready” planning initiative, which launched in November 2025 to address key issues such as enrollment and school capacity, transportation and educational programs.  

In addition to school boundary changes, the approved right-sizing plan by the SBAC included the closing of three elementary schools – Alachua, Foster and Williams – and the expansion of two current middle schools – Lincoln and Oak View into K-8, or Pre-K-8, schools over the course of the next two years. 

Under the approved plan, Foster will close at the end of this school year, with Alachua and Williams projected to close by the end of the 2027-28 school year. It was originally proposed that Irby Elementary School in Alachua would close at the same time as Alachua Elementary and Williams, with Mebane Middle School expanding into a Pre-K-8 to accommodate the students from both Alachua and Irby. 

The SBAC requested that ACPS staff bring back options for restructuring Irby.  

After a community meeting and multiple board discussions, the SBAC voted 3-2 on May 5 to keep Irby as a Pre-K-2 school for all students in the Alachua area, with all students moving to Mebane for third through eighth grades.  

According to ACPS’s website, “these changes will take effect once construction of a new elementary building and renovations to existing facilities on the Mebane campus are complete.” Completion of this work is currently projected for fall 2028. This is also when Alachua Elementary will close. 

Until construction and renovations are completed at Mebane, Irby will continue to serve Pre-K-2 students, with Alachua serving grades three through five, according to ACPS’s website. Students in grades six through eight will continue to attend Mebane. 

According to the release, roughly 3,200 students will be affected by the new school boundaries. This makes up approximately 13% of ACPS’s projected student enrollment for the upcoming school year.  

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.