- Alachua County Public Schools released nine draft boundary maps for elementary, middle, and high schools as part of a planning initiative launched in November 2025.
- Community input sessions on the draft maps are scheduled from Feb. 4 to Feb. 18, with a final plan to be voted on by the School Board on March 12.
Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) has unveiled nine draft school boundary maps that were created through extensive community feedback and other school-related data.
A total of nine draft boundary maps have been created – three each for elementary, middle and high schools – and can be found here (alachuaschools.net/ourschoolsfutureready).
Community members can enter their home address to see the proposed zoned school for each map and compare proposed boundaries to existing boundaries, according to an ACPS release.
The draft school boundary maps were developed as part of ACPS’s “Our Schools – Future Ready” comprehensive planning initiative.
According to the release, the initiative, launched in November 2025, “is designed to position local schools for future success through short-and long-term strategies related to educational programs, facilities, transportation, and right-sizing the district.”
“The overall goal is to ensure district resources are focused on providing high-quality educational programs for all students,” the release said.
Since the launch of the comprehensive planning initiative, ACPS has been collaborating with Gainesville-based engineering and planning firm JBrown Professional Group Inc., or JBPro, to gather feedback from families, students, staff and community members about their priorities.
ACPS and JBPro are continuing this engagement, with eight community input sessions scheduled from Wednesday, Feb. 4, through Feb. 18 at locations throughout Alachua County.
The schedule of those meetings includes:
- 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 4 at Hawthorne Middle/High School (21403 SE 69th Ave., Hawthorne)
- 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 5, at High Springs Community School (19559 Main St., High Springs)
- 5:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 9, at Buchholz High School (5510 NW 27th Ave., Gainesville)
- 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Oak View Middle School (1203 SW 250th St., Newberry)
- 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 11, at Eastside High School (1201 SE 43rd St., Gainesville)
- 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 12, at Kanapaha Middle School (5005 SW 75th St., Gainesville)
- 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 17, at Mebane Middle School (16401 NW 140th St., Alachua)
- 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 18, at Westwood Middle School (3215 NW 15th Ave., Gainesville)
According to the release, every session “will include a presentation on the proposed strategies, including the draft boundary maps.” Those in attendance will be able to offer immediate feedback using their phones during the presentation. This will be followed by an opportunity to ask questions and share additional input.
A final comprehensive plan is scheduled to be presented to the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) for consideration and a vote on Thursday, March 12.
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The school district is considering a plan that would close Duval Early Learning.
Duval Early Learning is essential to our community because it:
*Is centrally located, making it accessible for families with transportation challenges
*Provides a small, supportive environment that helps young children feel safe and successful during their first school experience
*Prepares students to enter kindergarten ready to learn in Alachua County Public Schools
*Offers specialized staff and resources designed specifically for our youngest learners
*Works to close the achievement gap early, when it matters most
The data also clearly shows Duval Early Learning is working:
*Rated “Excellent” by the state for Summer programs and the 2024–2025 school year
*Alachua County students who complete VPK show stronger performance on 3rd grade FAST assessments
*Students are showing positive academic growth this year
*Enrollment has grown from 89 to 120 students and continues to increase
*The proposed plan of moving students to a farther location would reduce access for families with the highest needs. Increased travel distance would likely lower enrollment and prevent many children from receiving the high-quality early education they need to succeed.
Per the information published last spring, DELA was enrolled at ~25% capacity. It may be doing excellent work, but our district has limited funds and an inability to raise funds via the same mechanisms that entities like the board of county commissioners or or city commission can. The overhead of operating a facility at that low enrollment level vs consolidating those same services at another location is the limiting factor here. With funding being limited for the SBAC, all they are left with is tradeoffs – even among services and programs that are all loved and functioning well. If our local government does not make these changes thoughtfully with a scalpel, the FLDOE will come in and do it with a hatchet once the finances are sufficiently a mess.
Forget putting in an address. Just show me the nine maps. All of them. Adults can handle seeing what the school burrocrats came up with. Just show us the nine maps. Is that too hard Kirby Smith? Apparently.
If you read past the first paragraph, in the second paragraph of the story, there is a link that goes to the nine maps. https://www.alachuaschools.net/o/acps/page/ourschoolsfutureready