The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) approved a new contract for Superintendent Shane Andrew in a 3-2 vote on Tuesday night, but Andrew still needs to accept the proposed contract before it can take effect. 

Voting on a motion by Board Member Kay Abbitt, the board voted unanimously to set a $180,500 salary for Andrew, with provisions for several raises if he reaches goals set by the board.  

The contract originally placed on the meeting’s agenda provided for a $190,000 salary, but it came down during the amendment process. Andrew had proposed a salary of $225,000.  

If Andrew receives “effective” or “highly effective” from the majority of the board, he will receive a $5,000 raise. If, within this school year, the school grade of Lake Forest, Rawlings, Shell or Metcalfe Elementary Schools are raised to a “C” or higher, Andrew will receive a $2,500 pay raise per school improved. 

The board walked through the contract, proposing multiple amendments, several of which were voted down. The motions that passed placed a $3,000 yearly cap on Andrew’s travel allowance, set a placeholder for standards to evaluate the superintendent, and changed the contract to last two years instead of three. 

Board Member Tina Certain also originally made a motion to make the superintendent’s salary $181,125, mirroring the 3.5% raise given to employees across the board at the district. After hearing Abbitt’s proposal, Certain withdrew that motion to support her colleague. 

Other motions, which failed, would have made the contract effective Feb. 7, instead of retroactive to July 1, 2023, a forfeiturere of all accrued sick leave if Andrew quits without 90 days notice and the removal of his second retirement account. 

Abbitt said this is not the time for the district to be looking for a new superintendent and that quality candidates would not apply, especially in a district that has gone through seven superintendents in 10 years. She called for board members to put aside personal differences and work together to create a better district to work for. 

“There are many things this district needs to do better,” Abbitt said. “There were problems, issues, struggles in the district before Mr. Andrew became superintendent, and everything will not be fixed overnight, but we need to proceed with a sense of urgency and an attitude that change… must occur.” 

Board Member Leanetta McNealy and Chair Diyonne McGraw, both of whom also voted for the new contract, agreed that the board needs to become unified again in order to move forward. 

McNealy insisted members need to be mindful in how they present themselves, naming positive things alongside their criticisms. She said board members can bring up issues privately with Andrew, instead of bringing them up publicly in every meeting. 

“At some point in time, the citizens need to understand some of the good things that have happened in this district,” McNealy said. “All we give out are the failing schools not performing, the strategic plan that’s not completed, rezoning that did not get completed or finished. There’s so many other things that we should be doing.” 

McNealy said she went along with the initial vote for a national search, but that Andrew has proved his capability. 

McGraw also said the board needs to be marketing the good things happening in the district and applauded the superintendent for his work. 

“Mr. Andrew, you’ve done great things,” McGraw said. “And I want to tell you that tonight, because when I lay my head down tonight, I can sleep because I know what I have done to help move this district forward here in Alachua County.” 

Board Member Sarah Rockwell voted against the contract, citing not only her campaign promise to conduct a national superintendent search, but also taking issue with Andrew’s work. Rockwell said Andrew has let multiple important staff positions sit vacant, made major decisions late and with little transparency. 

Rockwell said the contract should not have been “rushed,” when Andrew still had five months left on his original contract. 

“I could decide to vote yes on this in the name of unity,” Rockwell said. “But cooperation in unity would have meant having a workshop to discuss this in detail, not rushing to pass a new contract when there’s an existing contract…. So even though I recognize that Mr. Andrew is going to be our superintendent, I cannot in good conscience vote in favor of this contract.” 

Certain noted that she originally reached out to Andrew to become interim superintendent and met with him frequently during her time as school board chairwoman. 

“I can and will work with him,” Certain said. “It’s my responsibility as a board member to work with the superintendent, to build a positive relationship. But his responsibility as the superintendent is to work with the board that he has, and that does not mean just a few of the members.” 

Certain said the year-round school at Metcalfe and Rawlings Elementary Schools has eliminated school choice in that area, and that Andrew announced that and the move of a new International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYP) school to Williams Elementary without gaining input from the board or community. 

Multiple citizens also attended the meeting to speak, both for and against Andrew’s contract, and many against the IB PYP program at Williams. Those who spoke against the program mostly identified themselves as magnet program parents, complaining that the new program would hurt their students’ education, and asking why the decision to place the program at Williams instead of Prairieview was made in less than a week.