Three of the five seats on the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) are up for election in August, and six candidates have qualified for each of the non-partisan races.
Current school board member Sarah Rockwell will compete against Gregory Pelham Sr. for the District 3 seat.
Jancie Vinson ran unopposed for District 5 and secured her seat on the school board. This was Vinson’s third time running for school board after unsuccessful campaigns in 2010 and 2014.
DISTRICT 3
Candidate: Sarah Rockwell
Age: 44
Occupation: School board member, previously educator
Previous experience in elected office: I have been the school board member for Alachua County, District 3 for the past 3½ years.
Public service other than elected office: Prior: Babywearing International secretary, Indivisible Gainesville Board of Directors, First United Methodist Church preschool board chair, Terwilliger Elementary volunteer. Current: Alachua County Economic Development Advisory Committee, Alachua County Value Adjustment Board and Florida School Boards Association Board of Directors.
Campaign website: Dr. Sarah Rockwell for Alachua County School Board District 3 | Re-Elect Dr. Sarah Rockwell
What prompted you to run for re-election?
I want to continue building on the accomplishments I have contributed to during my first term on the school board. These include narrowing the literacy gap by 5 points, increasing the reading proficiency of Black students by 14 points, increasing the number of A and B schools from 24 to 30, decreasing the number of failing schools from seven to four, developing a uniform Multitiered System of Supports for the district and hiring additional reading and math specialists to support our teachers.
What do you hope to accomplish as part of the school board?
I will continue to prioritize academic achievement by improving reading and math performance, eliminating the literacy gap and ensuring no school is rated failing. We have implemented the Science of Reading in pre-K through second grade and invested in both reading and math coaches to support teachers and strengthen instruction. This year, Alachua County narrowed the literacy gap by the largest margin since before COVID. pandemic. By staying the course with proven, evidence-based strategies, we can eliminate the literacy gap and make Alachua County the premier school district in Florida.
I will also continue to champion fiscal responsibility. As our general fund budget becomes tighter every year, we must ensure every dollar is invested wisely in the people and programs that make the greatest difference for our students. I have a proven record of making thoughtful decisions that strengthen classrooms, support educators and improve student outcomes.
What are your views on the recent rezoning efforts throughout the district, particularly the school closures?
Protecting public education in today’s climate requires the courage to make difficult decisions. After more than 40 years without comprehensive rezoning, our district could no longer ignore declining enrollment, aging facilities, a strained budget and the growing risk of charter school co-location.
I worked to ensure our rezoning plan was as fair as possible, successfully advocating to keep Duval, Irby and Rawlings open, and the city of Alachua united. I also supported two school consolidations that preserve neighborhood schools while creating opportunities to reinvest in aging facilities. And I voted to close a school I love and have deep personal ties to because it had the fewest zoned students in the district.
I knew these decisions would be controversial and might cost me political support. I made them anyway because leadership means doing what is right for our students and our schools, not what is politically easy.
Do you believe the school district should acquire Citizens Field?
Acquiring Citizens Field is the most fiscally responsible, logistically viable, and equitable option. I understand the appeal of having a stadium at each high school. Unfortunately, this option would be more costly and logistically challenging given the space concerns at Gainesville High School and the stormwater mitigation needs at Buchholz. The district owns other properties that could potentially house a stadium, but building the necessary infrastructure would likely cost more than acquiring Citizens Field. The majority of these properties are also less accessible than Citizens Field, which is on an RTS route.
Eighteen months ago, when our staff began negotiating with the city of Gainesville at the board’s direction, we made an implicit promise to our community that we were committed to investing in Citizens Field. This school board has a history of not keeping promises, especially to East Gainesville. We should keep our promise on Citizens Field.
What is your view on vouchers and school choice? How do you think it will affect the school district moving forward?
Florida’s voucher system is egregiously flawed. After hundreds of millions of voucher dollars went unaccounted for, the auditor general advised the state to assign voucher students common student identifier numbers and separate public school and voucher funding. These were easy fixes. The state did neither, and your taxpayer dollars continue to go missing.
Despite the promise that vouchers would allow lower income families to afford private school, the reality is there is no mechanism to prevent private schools from charging thousands of dollars above the voucher value. Most families remain priced out while private schools get rich on your taxpayer dollars.
Our public schools serve every student and offer incredible programs while meeting strict accountability standards. For the majority of families, they remain the number one choice. Maintaining high-quality public schools is becoming increasingly difficult as public money is diverted to private schools with minimal oversight or accountability.
Candidate: Gregory E. Pelham Sr.
Age: 70
Occupation: Retired
Previous experience in elected office: N/A
Public service other than elected office: Alachua County Juvenile Coalition, Alachua County Health Promotion and Wellness (HPW) Coalition, community advocacy and pastor.
Campaign webpage: N/A
What prompted you to run for election?
I believe that the SBAC needs to be more responsive to the concerns of students, parents, and concerns of the community in order to better serve the needs of those it is elected to serve. All students do not have the same concerns. The SBAC, in my opinion, cannot meet the special, and sometimes life-threatening, issues that they come to school with every day. So, we have to move from a cookie-cutter-type intervention and/or prevention to meet those special needs.
What do you hope to accomplish as part of the school board?
I would like to bring resources to the schools to meet the needs that our children come to school with every day. Every kid is not going to go to a four-year institution. We have resources in our county that can provide, and will provide, for our students, our parents and our community so that everyone will have an opportunity to be a productive citizen and move toward success. I would also like to encourage the board to look at more ways we can get more vocational education back in our schools.
What are your views on the recent rezoning efforts throughout the district, particularly the school closures?
I believe the rezoning and school closings are very important issues. I think the board moved a little bit too fast and making that decision on rezoning and close enough schools without really taking a close look at the growth of various communities within the district today and maybe less kids in classrooms on one side of town and tomorrow that same area they have an influx in certain parts of our community there are major elevations of citizens moving into them, and that’s going to change the makeup of each community as it relates to students enrolled in our schools. I don’t think enough time was taken to look at that and see where any particular community may be as far as the number of students in the next three to five years.
Do you believe the school district should acquire Citizens Field?
I know from experience that the School Board of Alachua County really needs their own facility for sports since we have three high schools that are currently using the dangerous Citizens Field stadium. I think if we take another look at it, look at what the school board already owns and perhaps look at the possibility of building their own facility. I wouldn’t agree with spending the money needed to upgrade or demolish Citizens Field and then build another one unless it’s absolutely secure that we own the property.
What is your view on vouchers and school choice? How do you think it will affect the school district moving forward?
It’s very hard to answer this question because, again, we don’t know what the future looks like when vouchers are given. Then that means financial assistance at certain levels of government or taking it away from the school board. We need to take a better look at what’s happening in our schools and what do we need to do to upgrade our facilities and our curriculum so that we don’t have to worry about the state issuing vouchers to allow our children to go to charter schools. We can do better to protect our schools, our students, and our communities.
DISTRICT 5
Vinson directed voters to her campaign website for information. Her website is https://jancievinson.com/#priorities.
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.