The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) voted Tuesday to pay a higher price for Hawthorne Middle/High School’s track renovations so the new track will have a rubber top.
The Board pulled the bids and acquisitions item from the consent agenda to discuss whether to accept the lower bid of $313,800 for a non-rubberized track or to pay $696,200 to have a rubber surface for Hawthorne athletes.
Suzanne Wynn, director of community planning, concurrency and major construction, told the Board that normally a school would be asked to pay back the rubberization portion of such a project. The past three such projects have been at Buchholz High School, Gainesville High School and Santa Fe High School, but all three had much lower price tags, no higher than $160,000.
Wynn said price-hikes after COVID-19 would leave Hawthorne responsible for $304,200, a cost the school cannot afford, though it has saved over $20,000 from its sales tax money for the project.
“When I heard that price, my head literally exploded,” John Green, Hawthorne principal, said. “That is quite a lot of money for our school to have to repay… any help would definitely be appreciated.”
SBAC Chair Tina Certain said she feels the district should take care of the cost, because it is unfair to push on a small school that does not even have a band or music class, and only recently got art classes back.
Board Member Leanetta McNealy said the district needed to find the money to make rubberization happen, because a bare asphalt track is too dangerous for both local and visiting athletes.
“We cannot afford to lose limbs and other things that could occur on asphalt,” McNealy said.
Board Member Kay Abbitt agreed Hawthorne could use help, but wanted to know where the money was coming from, since there were several teachers who came to the meeting to complain about their salaries and it seemed hypocritical to find money for a track when teachers were being held to low pay.
Certain clarified that the money would come from the 1.5 capital mill, which can only be used for capital projects such as this.
After over a month of Alachua eSchool operating at decreased staffing, a parent and teacher came before the School Board of Alachua County to express their concerns. The district cut the eSchool teaching staff in half seven days into the semester, according to Amber Thomas, an eSchool teacher.
Thomas said five of the teachers who were removed from eSchool officially resigned or retired, while only one took the option of moving into a physical classroom.
“During one of the biggest teacher shortages this district has had, we’ve lost five highly effective veteran teachers,” Thomas said. “And that’s just crazy to me.”
The eSchool has served over 5,000 part-time enrolled students, which comes with $500 of state funding for each student that completes school. Thomas said about 4,000 students were transferred this semester from Alachua eSchool to the statewide alternative Florida Virtual School. By transferring the students, the district forfeited its chance for that funding, Thomas said.
Thomas said the eSchool has had five different administrators in the last four years, and the entire staff has had to learn how to make the school run through the constant turnovers. She said the district needs to prioritize virtual education and work with the eSchool staff to move forward.
Mary Benedict, an eSchool parent, said the district should have acted sooner after the state did away with requirements for virtual credit to graduate. State law changed in May, but the district waited until the fall semester to eliminate part-time enrollment at the eSchool.
“I’m not saying changes shouldn’t be made, but they should be made thoughtfully, and in an informed fashion,” Benedict said.
Benedict said her son lost his longtime math teacher and his work went ungraded for about a month during the switch. She said the district should involve the affected people, including students, parents and teachers, when making such major changes.
Thomas suggested the eSchool as a workshop item in the near future.
The agenda for Tuesday included an approval of the School Board’s priorities, a temporary solution until the district has a comprehensive plan. Though the Board was supposed to vote on finalized versions of a list discussed in early September, with the addition of measurable metrics, Certain said Superintendent Shane Andrew had not provided the necessary metrics.
After some heated discussion, and upon Board Member Leanetta McNealy’s suggestion, the Board began plans for a separate meeting to clarify their goals again. The Board looked at Oct. 11 as a tentative date for the meeting.
The Board also voted on a proclamation of October 2023 as LGBT History Month. The motion passed 4-1, with Abbitt dissenting after telling the Board she takes no issue with the content of the proclamation, but believes proclamations in general are a waste of the SBAC’s time, which could be better spent on other actions. Abbitt said she plans to vote against all future proclamations as well.