Glory Reitz
Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) will begin mailing ballots to parents this week for a vote on whether to convert three Newberry schools into charter schools. After some parents complained that voting during school hours would be difficult to attend, voting hours have been extended for three days during the voting period.
Eligible parents of students at Newberry Elementary School, Oak View Middle School and Newberry High School will receive ballots, one per household.
Ballots can be completed and submitted by mail or in person, with further instructions available at sbac.edu/charterconversion. If a parent chooses to vote by mail-in ballot, the ballot must be postmarked no later than April 12 and received at the school by April 16.
Each school will have ballot boxes from Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton, and two staff members at each school will supervise the voting process.
An independent arbitrator, selected jointly by the citizens who requested a vote and the school district, will count the ballots. The count will be a public meeting at 8:30 a.m. on April 17 at the Mentholee Norfleet Municipal Building in Newberry.
The voting window will be open from Friday, April 5 through Friday, April 12, excluding the weekend.
Voting hours vary slightly at different schools, depending on what the school’s regular hours are.
After parents forming the nonprofit Education First for Newberry called for a vote in February, citizens of Newberry and Archer have hotly debated the merit of converting the three schools into three charters bound into one local system, separate from the school district.
A large amount of citizen input on the topic has led to some changes, including a switch in EFN’s plan, from allowing the city commission to govern the schools in the first few years, to forming a separate governing board.
ACPS has also responded to citizen feedback with extended voting hours at the schools to allow parents more time to show up after they get off work.
On April 8, 10 and 12, voting hours will extend beyond the end of the school day, until 7 p.m.
Voting times and locations are as follows:
- Newberry Elementary School
– Portable 99-053 (west wide of campus, behind the cafeteria)
– April 5, 9 and 11: 7:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
– April 8, 10 and 12: 7:15 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Oak View Middle School
– Portable 3 (south of front parking lot)
– April 5, 9 and 11: 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
– April 8, 10 and 12: 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Newberry High School
– Ticket booth at football field
– April 5, 9 and 11: 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
– April 8, 10 and 12: 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.