- The School Board of Alachua County will review community input from phase one of the Future Ready initiative at a workshop on Jan. 12.
- Phase one included community engagement sessions in December 2025 to identify common themes and priorities for Alachua County Public Schools.
- Short- and long-term recommendations and draft school boundary plans will be shared with the public in February.
- The initiative is funded by a half-cent sales tax and managed by JBrown Professional Group with a $175,000 contract approved in November 2025.
The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) will receive a summary of community input gathered during the first phase of the Alachua County Public Schools’ (ACPS) “Our Schools – Future Ready” initiative at a workshop on Monday.
The Jan. 12 workshop will begin at 5 p.m. at the ACPS District Office Board Room (620 E. University Ave., Gainesville). Community members are welcome to attend the meeting in person or watch it live on the ACPS YouTube page.
According to an ACPS email, the summary will include common themes and priorities identified during phase one of the initiative. This phase included gathering input through community engagement sessions held in December 2025.
No recommendations or plans will be presented at the workshop, the email said, as the first phase was focused just on listening.
“Short – and long-term recommendations based on the community input and other data will be shared with the public in February,” the email said, adding that this will also include three draft school boundary plans.
There will be additional opportunities for community members to provide feedback in February, with eight input sessions planned from Feb. 2-18 (see below). All sessions begin at 5:30 p.m.
- Monday, Feb. 2: Mebane Middle School (16401 NW County Road 241, Alachua)
- Wednesday, Feb. 4: Hawthorne Middle High School (21403 SE 69th Ave., Hawthorne)
- Thursday, Feb. 5: High Springs Community School (19559 Main St., High Springs)
- Monday, Feb. 9: Oak View Middle School (1203 SW 250th St., Newberry)
- Tuesday, Feb. 10: Eastside High School (1201 SE 43rd St., Gainesville)
- Wednesday, Feb. 11: Kanapaha Middle School (5005 SW 75th St., Gainesville)
- Wednesday, Feb. 18: Westwood Middle School (3215 NW 15th Ave., Gainesville)
ACPS launched the “Our Schools – Future Ready” initiative in November 2025 to address key issues like enrollment and capacity, facilities and educational programming.
“For the first time, Alachua County Public Schools is aligning school programs, student attendance boundaries and school facilities into one, unified, districtwide strategy,” interim Superintendent Kamela Patton said in a November 2025 ACPS press release. “Through this plan, the district will right-size its facilities, freeing up resources to enhance educational programs, improve facilities and increase teacher/employee pay.”
ACPS is collaborating with Gainesville-based engineering and planning firm JBrown Professional Group Inc. (JBPro) to implement the plan’s three phases. The SBAC approved the contract with the firm for $175,000 in November 2025.
The plan is being funded by the half-cent sales tax, which Alachua County voters approved in 2018, and is expected to be finalized and approved by mid-March.
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.