The city of Newberry is still working on an application to the Florida Charter School Review Commission, while simultaneously working to create a memorandum of understanding with a new charter school governing board that is deep in the process of establishing 501(c)(3) status. 

The work continues as the Newberry community remains split over whether the city of Newberry should be involved in the process of converting Newberry Elementary School (NES) into a charter. 

Votes to convert Newberry High School and Oak View Middle School failed in April, although the NES vote was less cut-and-dried, as parents voted 149 to 125 in favor of conversion. But opponents say the 22-21 vote out of 44 eligible teachers in favor of the conversion does not comply with State Board of Education rules that require a “majority” of teachers to vote in favor, though state statute only requires a minimum of 50%. 

In May, the Department of Education’s Senior Chancellor Adam Miller sent an email confirming that 50% in favor was enough to submit an application, and in August the Board of Education updated its rule to match the statute. 

The Newberry City Commission approved four members of the six-member board in June, NES teachers chose one, and Education First for Newberry (EFN), the nonprofit that ran the conversion campaign, selected the board’s non-voting chairperson. 

Though it is still listed as active with the Florida Department of State, Florida law requires nonprofits to have at least three members on their board of directors, and two of EFN’s three were removed in an amended annual report filed in June. 

Former board member Joel Searby was arrested on June 20 for multiple counts of inappropriate contact with a minor, and EFN filed the updated annual report to remove him by June 21. Alachua County Sheriff’s Office added another 12 counts of child pornography possession to Searby’s charges last week. 

Carsen Stefanelli, who was president of EFN at the time, also chose to remove himself from the board in June, according to Caroline Anderson, owner and consultant at The Osmanthus Group. 

Anderson herself, who has been an independent contractor since May 2023, said she was contracted by EFN from approximately February through May of 2024, and now she has stepped into the contracted project manager role that Searby was meant to have filled. 

Now, Anderson said EFN is almost entirely dissolved, its only remaining step being a shutdown of its IRS filing, which has been requested. 

EFN no longer exists, but it was always intended to step back and make way for a new nonprofit to run the charter school. In the meantime, the city of Newberry has stepped in to fill the gap between EFN’s end and the next one’s beginning, extending a $120,000 loan to the yet-to-be-formed charter school nonprofit for legal fees. 

When the city commission approved that loan, to be paid back over the next three to five years, city manager Mike New said he expected the city to loan at least another $100,000 before the charter school becomes self-sufficient. 

Though there is no nonprofit yet, the “Newberry Community School Board,” as assistant city manager and chief financial officer Dallas Lee called it, filed its articles of incorporation last night and expects to be associated with a nonprofit soon, according to Anderson. 

Board members are not available to comment on the process, Anderson said, because “technically they do not exist.” 

As of today, the city of Newberry has spent $33,310.50 on the legal counsel, charter school finance professionals and contracted project manager, according to Lee. 

The legal counsel is for the charter school board, helping it establish its 501(c)(3) status. The finance professionals are preparing the charter school budget as part of the application to the state, which Anderson said will be submitted on Nov. 12.