The School Board of Alachua County will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday to hear a second reading and cast a final vote on proposed rezoning maps. 

The proposed maps on which the board will vote Thursday still leave four elementary schools and one high school more than 100% capacity, though that is an improvement over the current five elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools over capacity.  

Seven elementary schools under the proposed rezoning would be under 80% capacity, compared to the current six. Four middle schools are currently under 80% capacity, and the projected enrollment based on new maps would reduce that to three schools. High schools would remain at two under-utilized schools, including Hawthorne Middle/High School, which is projected to swing from 32% enrollment up to 73%. 

Other dramatic shifts would include Lake Forest, from 47% to 68% enrollment, a 41% increase. Lincoln Middle School enrollment would increase a projected 27% (from 67% to 94%), while Kanapaha Middle School would decrease 26% (from 92% to 66%). 

Meadowbrook Elementary School’s enrollment would decrease from 116% to 76% and Newberry Elementary School would sink from 133% to 107%. 

Alachua County Public Schools began the process of comprehensive rezoning in April 2023, halting a “spot rezoning” to balance enrollment in elementary schools to address the issue on a wider basis. As district staff worked to create maps that could address the issue, community members spoke up at community input meetings and board meetings, ranging from complaints about individual children’s needs to concerns about persisting enrollment imbalance. 

Early in the process, the board named financial and administrative efficiency as top priorities for the comprehensive rezoning. In an attempt to provide a financial impact estimate for the board, staff stopped making changes to the proposed maps after October, but in November the board requested they resume work on the maps, based on community input. 

In mid-October, amidst board and community concerns over whether the new maps address over-enrollment and socioeconomic diversity, the SBAC pushed the final vote back from early December to January. Several members said they would be willing to slow or delay the process if the proposed zoning was still ineffective by the second reading. 

As the final vote approaches, social media has been abuzz with parents and community members trying to stay informed and understand the maps. Taylor Gilfillan, former ACPS director of data analytics, accountability and evaluation, created and shared a data visualization tool to help affected parents see how the enrollment at their schools would change. 

If the board approves the proposed maps on Thursday, the new zoning would take effect starting this fall for the 2024-25 school year. If the board votes the maps down, the current approval process for comprehensive rezoning would be over and the district would need to begin again, though it could still use the data and maps it has created as a jumping-off point.