In a special rezoning meeting on Thursday, Superintendent Shane Andrew recommended the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) not go forward with the current proposed maps, and the board agreed with him in a 4-1 vote.  

Alachua County Public Schools staff has been working on comprehensive rezoning for nine months, but community members have consistently attended meetings to air concerns about whether the proposed maps accomplish what they were meant to do. Many also expressed more personal concerns about their own children being moved to a different school. 

Andrew’s recommendation on Thursday was that the school board allow the district’s existing zoning to “remain as currently structured while we continue to develop options for consideration by the public, the school board and ACPS employees to be implemented for the 2025-2026 school year.” 

Andrew said students are still recovering from educational disruptions in the past several years and are still stabilizing. He said the district needs to take the time to measure student attendance, resiliency and academic performance, and that already improvements have been made as three schools recently exited the SI category. 

“Students in these schools are reaching a crucial point of stabilization that may be compromised by changes in their attendance zones at this time,” Andrew said. 

Andrew also referenced new transportation routes that take effect this semester, telling the board the district should evaluate the changes’ effectiveness before changing the zones. He said the district is also looking into other ways to even out under-enrolled and over-enrolled schools, and that Personal Education Program (PEP) scholarships will likely affect enrollment as well. 

Board Member Tina Certain was the only member to vote against the motion, saying she thought the district should go forward with the current maps. She said the board members clearly directed staff when they took office that rezoning was one of their three priorities, and she was disappointed that Andrew and his staff had not reached a finishing point by now. 

As Alachua County’s first all-female school board, Certain said people had high expectations for what it would get done. She said Thursday’s action had the same tenor as previous boards that refused to complete a comprehensive rezoning, letting the topic fall “like a potato on the ground.”  

“What I fear is gonna happen,” Certain said, “is we are punting this, and it will never get done.” 

Board Member Sarah Rockwell agreed with Certain on several points, though she voted in favor of Andrew’s recommendation to push the timeline back. She told community members that though the board “holds the purse strings,” it cannot force work to get done, so it cannot be blamed for a delayed rezoning process. 

Rockwell complained that staff has not yet been able to analyze data to find out how the new maps would affect transportation and finance. She named several improvements in the process she wants to see, going forward, including multiple map options at a time, more consultants and better software. 

Rockwell and other board members also recognized district staff for their efforts, working overtime and giving up vacation time to work on the rezoning. 

“They need more time to get this right, but we can’t afford to just pause,” Rockwell said. 

Though she agreed the delay needed to happen, Rockwell was adamant that rezoning be complete in time for the 2025-26 school year. 

As they have consistently done at rezoning meetings throughout the process, parents and community members attended to bring concerns and urge the board not to approve the maps yet. On Thursday, many spoke from prepared notes with an air of relief after hearing the superintendent’s recommendation. 

“These maps are not ready to adopt,” said Dianne Goede, who has a child at Chiles Elementary School. “The community has expressed their concern and the board members have stated their concerns as well. So I wholeheartedly agree that these maps are not ready. They need more work to ensure that they are done to the best of our ability.” 

Another community member, Ted Dobracki, added that though the maps are not yet ready, they have made some improvements. He said he looked at the standard deviation in school population based on the proposed maps’ estimates, which decreased from 20% to 15% for the elementary schools. 

Board Member Kay Abbitt said parental and community involvement in the process is important. 

“Parents are a child’s biggest advocate,” Abbitt said. “And that’s their job, is to advocate for them. And having a good education is the most solid foundation you can give a child. So I understand that, and I think it’s very important.” 

Though Certain brought up concerns about economic diversity in schools not being addressed without rezoning, Abbitt said the rezoning alone cannot fix diversity problems. 

Chair Diyonne McGraw agreed, saying the school board cannot fight property value by drawing different lines. She said the problem she has consistently noticed in schools is behavior, and that the board and district need to fix their own behavior, thinking outside the box instead of pointing fingers. 

“You know why things are getting better?” McGraw said. “Because now you do have a leader that’s bringing everybody to the table. Everybody’s not working in silence. People are feeling now some stability that, ‘my opinion matters.’” 

Board Member Leanetta McNealy said the superintendent and the board have made a lot of progress, and though she sees the problems of over- and under-enrollment, and a lack of economic diversity in schools, she supported the decision to take more time on the maps. 

“No one is throwing this rezoning out with the bathwater,” McNealy said. “We’re just filling up the tub again. And we are going to be busy, and we are going to work hard, and we are going to be positive about the work in front of us.