School board’s appeal of Newberry charter conversion postponed 

Jul 14, 2025 7:36 pm
Alachua County School District office and sign
Photo by Suzette Cook

The School Board of Alachua County’s (SBAC) appeal for the Newberry charter school conversion has been delayed, district officials confirmed Monday.  

The appeal was scheduled to be heard at Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting in Orlando; however, that is no longer the case. 

“Charter organizers have been granted 30 days to develop a response to the district’s appeal,”  said Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) spokesperson Jackie Johnson in an email reply to Mainstreet on Monday, adding it will then be heard by the Charter School Appeal Commission (CSAC) on a date yet to be determined.  

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Alachua County Public Schools PIO Jackie Johnson
Photo by Glory Reitz Jackie Johnson

In February, the Florida Charter School Review Commission (CSRC) approved an application submitted by Newberry Community School Inc. to convert Newberry Elementary School into a charter school that would be called Newberry Community School.  

During its March 12 regular meeting – two weeks after the CSRC’s vote – the school board authorized its legal counsel and superintendent to file an appeal with the Florida Board of Education concerning the charter conversion.  

Two weeks following the board’s meeting, attorneys from the Tallahassee-based firm Sniffen & Spellman, P.A. sent a letter on behalf of the school board to the State Board of Education on March 26, appealing the CSRC’s decision to approve NCS’ charter application. 

In the eight-page letter, attorneys outlined three arguments for why the State Board of Education should overrule the CSRC’s decision, citing the failure of the conversion charter school vote, substantive reasons for denial of the conversion charter school application and jurisdictional issues, specifically arguing for the district’s right to appeal the CSRC’s choice. 

While the board’s appeal process is still ongoing, it has had to press on with the charter conversion due to mandatory timelines from the state. This includes the recent approval of the Newberry charter contract. 

The contract is set to take effect July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2031, with the school opening in August 2026. 

Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News.   

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  • Nick Anschultz

    Before joining Mainstreet Daily News to cover K-12 and higher education, Nick spent three and a half years at the Levy Citizen, where he served as the newspaper’s Editor/Reporter. In that role, Nick covered everything from government and education to sports and local events. He discovered his passion for journalism while attending the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2021. When he is not typing words on his keyboard, you can usually find Anschultz watching sports – especially his Florida Gators – fishing, or spending time with friends and family.

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GNV Ken

DAYS OF OUR LIVES. (Old soap opera.)

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Bill Whitten

Simply a delaying tactic by the charter group. The state is already forcing ACPS to do all of the conversion expense, so the delay is just to give time to complete it , rendering the legal issues moot. A rigged process from day one.

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