The Newberry Community School Board (NCSB) approved a one-time technology plan to open the new charter school – Newberry Community School (NCS) – in August and heard updates on food service and enrollment numbers at a meeting on Monday.  

Technology plan  

During Monday’s meeting, the board received an IT infrastructure presentation from Eric May, chief executive officer (CEO) of Emerald Data Partners, a computer consulting company based in High Springs. 

In November 2025, May said the board approved a consulting agreement with Emerald Data to walk NCS Principal Lacy Roberts and the board “through the complexity” of what technology assets Newberry Elementary School, which is converting to NCS, currently has, what assets will transfer, and the state of that transfer. 

According to May’s presentation, NCS will receive a considerable set of technology assets from Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) to support the school opening and year one operations.  

Based on May’s presentation, assets that will be transferred from ACPS to NCS include 468 Windows-based student computers, 273 iPads, 118 classroom support items, 21 cameras and 49 desk phones.  

It was recommended that a few of these devices, including phones, be given back to the district for more economical alternatives. For the computers, May said 400 would be used by students while the other 68 would go into storage. 

While several assets are being transferred to NCS, there are some that will require the school to purchase the required licensing. This includes licenses to Google and Microsoft 365.  

The board was presented with a total one-time cost of $64,670 that would be paid in July.  

“This is a full package that is basically your licenses, some of the labor,” May said. “It’s buying security hardware, buying physical phone systems.”  

In addition to the one-time cost, the board was also presented with a monthly $5,594 fee that would start on Aug. 1.  

“This is dealing with a lot of those things that don’t transfer over, such as IT services, what we call a security bundle, [and] it’s dealing with a lot of your cybersecurity protections and user awareness training that we have to do,” he said.  

Roberts told the board that $80,000 was set aside for IT infrastructure in the original startup budget, adding that the $64,670 falls under this.   

“Where we’re going to struggle is the monthly IT consult,” she said, noting that this is only budgeted for $22,000 a year.  

The monthly fees add up to $67,218 a year. This, on top of the $64,670, comes to a total of $131,888. 

Roberts noted that NCS has the funds to cover the first year of IT support, but she added that they will have to look at options for the second year. 

“Like any year two budget, we will know a lot more by the end of the first year on what we’re spending on a lot of things,” Roberts said. 

The board unanimously approved the one-time, not to exceed, school opening technology plan of $64,670.  

In a separate motion, the board also unanimously approved recurring costs for assorted telephone/internet, technology services and cybersecurity, not to exceed $5,594 a month.  

Food service, enrollment update  

Also, at Monday’s meeting, the board heard updates about food service and school enrollment numbers. 

Speaking on the first item, Roberts recommended that NCS partner with ACPS for its food service. Reading from a letter that the district provided to NCS for the meeting, she said ACPS – “subject to the execution of a mutually approved written contract or agreement – agrees to provide breakfast and lunch meal service to Newberry Community School for the 2026-27 school year,” with the charter school operating as a site under ACPS’s School Food Authority (SFA). 

Roberts noted that cost-effectiveness “certainly” plays a factor in going with the district for food service.  

“If we did a third-party vendor, even though we would get some reimbursements, we were still losing a significant chunk of money,” she said. “Going with the district, it doesn’t cost us anything. We get nothing back. It’s a flat [fee].”  

Roberts said ACPS is currently working on a contract. She added that she would bring the contract to the board as soon as it is received.  

With the district expected to handle food service, Vice Chair Leslie McGehee asked if NCS would have the same lunch ladies and lunch process.  

Roberts said she would not oversee the lunch ladies, adding that ACPS would determine these employees.  

“What they [the district] did say to me was that they were going to work to try to have the same employees of who wanted to stay in Newberry,” she said. “But those employees would not work for me. They work for the district.” 

Board Chair Derek Danne thanked Roberts for reaching out to the district. He said he was excited that ACPS was “willing to continue to be good partners.” 

“I know this hasn’t been always the most fun process between the two parties…but having us being able to work towards providing some food for all the children…I think that’s a benefit to them, and it will be a benefit to us,” he said. “So, I’m excited about that.” 

Roberts also provided the board with the latest school enrollment numbers. She reminded the board that there is a two-step process for enrollment. Parents enroll their child in the school and then must accept their child’s seat.  

Roberts said they were sitting at 434 confirmed students, including 75 kindergartners, 97 first graders, 110 second graders, 87 third graders and 65 fourth graders. She added that they have roughly 86 seats left to fill to be considered full and starting a waiting list.  

NCS will be considered full, and a waiting list will start when the school reaches 520 students, Roberts said. 

NCS will host a kindergarten kickoff event on Wednesday, May 6. There will be two separate times for parents to attend the event – 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The event is being held at the Municipal Building, 25420 West Newberry Road.  

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.