Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Janine Plavac on Friday to fill the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) District 5 seat vacated by Kay Abbitt in December.
Plavac currently serves as the director of the Health Sciences Institute at St. Francis Catholic Academy in Gainesville. She previously served as chair of the Gainesville High School Advisory Council and was on the Alachua County Superintendent Search Committee. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Miami.
Abbitt resigned from her seat on Dec. 17, 2024, so she could serve as the interim director for the Boulware Springs Charter School, a school she founded with her daughter in 2013, after the previous director unexpectedly died.
Plavac, a Republican, will serve in the seat through 2026, when Abbitt’s term will end.
Abbitt was elected to the District 5 seat in August 2022, and joined the first-ever all-female school board in Alachua County.
This marks the second time in recent years that DeSantis has appointed someone to fill a vacated SBAC seat. In August 2021, he appointed Mildred Russell to fill the District 2 seat for Diyonne McGraw after it was discovered that McGraw lived outside her district. McGraw later re-won her seat but then lost a reelection bid last year.
DeSantis appoints Janine Plavac to School Board of Alachua County I’m sure she can’t do anything worse then the current Board members. Support the teachers provide them a fair living wage with a cost of living increase. Alachua County does have the 2nd highest property taxes in the state of Florida. Please support are Alachua County teachers.
DeSantis is an evil person. If many people had their way he would be locked up in prison for LIFE. Him along with Trump, Vance, and Scott. And good riddance.
It is disappointing to learn that Governor DeSantis is again appointing someone to the Alachua County School Board. What happened to local governing?