The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) decided on preliminary boundary maps for the district’s elementary, middle and high schools and discussed additional changes ahead of an expected final vote on March 12.
The Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) district published its first set of draft boundary maps on Feb. 2 as part of phase two of its comprehensive planning initiative titled “Our Schools – Future Ready.” The initiative launched in November 2025 to address key issues such as enrollment and school capacity, transportation and educational programs.
Updated draft school boundary maps were published on the district’s website on Wednesday and include a revised Option C for elementary, middle and high schools, as well as a new Option D for elementary and high school.
School officials said that the revisions made to the proposed boundary maps were based on feedback received during the second set of community input sessions in February.
The first portion of the workshop lasted a little over four hours as the Comprehensive Planning Committee, made of staff members from ACPS, reviewed and discussed the updated draft boundary scenarios. They then recommended one map scenario, or option, to the SBAC to review and discuss during its portion of the workshop.
The elementary scenarios drew the most discussion out of the three school levels, and a majority of the board members ended up favoring Option D, which was also the scenario recommended by the committee.
According to the presentation, Option D would result in the closing of Stephen Foster, Alachua, and Joseph Williams Elementary Schools along with Duval Early Learning Center. Rawlings Elementary School would stay open and add the VPK from Duval Early Learning.
Also in Option D, Mebane and Oak View middle schools would become K-8s.
The agreement on Option D came with several added modifications from the board, including figuring out a way to keep Duval Early Learning open and making it more cost effective.
“I know there have been floated ideas like a PD [professional development] center [and] turning Duval into that,” Board Chair Thomas Vu said. “And I don’t see why we couldn’t have the PD center also at Duval as well. That just makes the site more efficient resource-wise.”
Duval was among the several East Gainesville schools proposed for closure that were brought up during the public comment portion of the workshop. These schools were also the subject of concern at an East Gainesville town hall meeting on Feb. 16.
Brad Rogers, one of the 20 community members who spoke, shared the personal impact Duval has had on his daughter.
“My daughter is mostly nonverbal,” he said. “Before this school, we were guessing what she needed…Today, because of the teachers at Duval Early Learning Academy, she can tell us. She can express herself in ways we once feared might never come.”
Jonathan McMahon is a parent of children who attend Stephen Foster. He said his family lives in a house next to the school, adding they’ve lived there for roughly four years.
McMahon said he and his family are “devastated” over the news that Stephen Foster could potentially close.
“Nobody that I speak to wants this [the closure of Stephen Foster] to happen,” McMahon said.
During a presentation at the beginning of the workshop, Kim Neal, ACPS’s director of full-time enrollment (FTE), touched on the potential savings by closing the schools. She noted all five schools being proposed for closure have “high, high needs for facility condition improvements.”
By closing instead of repairing the five schools, Neal said the SBAC would save $98.29 million in capital funding. The funds could then go to other needs within the district.
Neal also touched on the benefits of the proposed K-8 schools, including siblings at the same school and on the same schedule.
The SBAC reached a consensus on Option C for the middle school draft boundary scenarios. In this option, the neighborhoods of Loose Creek and Westchester would be added to Fort Clark Middle School, with 57 students affected, according to the zoning presentation.
Additionally, Turkey Creek/Staghorn/Brook Pointe are also added to Mebane, according to the presentation, with 56 students affected under the K-8 scenario at Mebane.
In Option C, southwest Gainesville is also added to Westwood Middle School (between Archer, I-75, SW 23rd St. and Williston Road) from Kanapaha Middle School, with 184 students affected, according to the presentation.
Finally, Option C has Idylwild Elementary School added to Westwood from Lincoln Middle School, with eight students affected, according to the presentation.
For the high school scenarios, most of the board agreed on Option D, which would keep the Haile Plantation community together and see all the students in this area attend Buchholz High School rather than splitting some up at Gainesville High School.
Project staff will revise the draft boundary scenarios based on the board’s feedback and present the updated options for review at the next SBAC meeting on Tuesday, March 3. That meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
The school board is expected to consider and vote on a final comprehensive plan on Thursday, March 12.
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.