The School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) tabled the approval of an academic calendar for Metcalfe and Rawlings Elementary Schools in its regular meeting on Tuesday. Board members asked staff to gather more input from parents and teachers before bringing the calendar back.
Metcalfe and Rawlings were both selected in February for a state pilot program to test a year-round schooling model. The model is set to take effect in the 2024-25 school year, which starts this summer.
The year-round academic calendar was on the board’s agenda for approval, but after a motion from Board Member Sarah Rockwell was seconded by Board Member Tina Certain, Board Member Leanetta McNealy asked for the item to be held until there was more time for feedback and discussion.
McNealy and other board members said they have received concerns from citizens about the calendar, mentioning specifically the four-day weeks planned for July 16 through Aug. 1. Through a friendly amendment to the motion, McNealy added the item to the already-crowded agenda for the board’s workshop on April 10, before coming back to vote at the next regular meeting on April 16.
Rockwell said four-day weeks at the beginning of the school year could confuse students’ routines and impact their attendance. She noted that the four-day weeks also coincide with several holidays that could further skew students’ routines.
Board Member Tina Certain said she did not think it wise to make a major change like the new calendar without getting community input. She asked how the district could ensure that parents of incoming kindergarten students could also be involved in the process.
Board Member Kay Abbitt, who has been a vocal advocate for year-round school, agreed also and further suggested that parents from outside Metcalfe and Rawlings zoning could apply for some slots at those schools if they were interested. Similarly, she asked for an option for families that do not want to participate in the year-round model.
“When we have things that are working well, we should leave them alone,” Abbitt said. “We have a lot of things that aren’t working well, and to take on multiple projects that are new… I think we should be devoting all our time and energy to making sure this year-round school model works. But if we don’t do it right, we’re stuck with a model that could not be successful, and it’s gonna turn people off.”
Certain also noted a concern that if parents don’t want to work with the year-round schedule, they must apply for zoning exemptions, and the district does not currently provide transportation for zoning exemptions.
Deputy Superintendent Cathy Atria said the district did reach out to faculty and staff at the schools for feedback on the calendar and received 32 responses, only four of whom indicated they did not like the four-day week plan.
Superintendent Shane Andrew noted that the district will also be working with the Alachua County Education Association to get teacher input.
Audit Report
The board also approved a fiscal audit report for the 2022-23 fiscal year, conducted by Purvis Gray.
The auditors only left two comments that they considered material. The first was about $13 million of federal grant expenditures that auditors found were excluded from the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) because of employee turnover and changes in program recording during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the audit report, SEFA errors can affect the accuracy of information reported to the district’s grantors, and the auditor’s program determination. The auditors recommended that management review the SEFA for accuracy and completion, and to reconcile grant expenditures to the general ledger.
Keith Birkett, chief of finance, said the issue has been corrected, and it was only considered material because of the amount of money and the number of errors. He said it did not have any impact on financial statements.
The auditors’ second comment was that financial statements and trial balance provided for the audit required material adjustments, including to investments and capital assets.
The audit report states that, without the adjustments, the district’s financial statements “would have been materially misstated.” The auditors recommended that ACPS formally document a financial close and reporting process in case of turnover, as they said the errors could be blamed on recent turnover.
Birkett said nine journal entries were made for corrections, but no material impact on the financial statement. He said the district started a procedures manual last year and plans to continue working on it.
The auditors also noted that the district’s expenditures exceeded its budgeted amounts as of June 2023. General Administration expenditures were $40,415 over budget, School Administration expenditures in the Other Federal Programs Fund exceeded the budget by $61,410, and Instructional Media Services expenditures in the Federal Education Stabilization Fund were over by $42,814.
While the district did not actually overspend based on its revenue, the auditors recommended that the district monitor its activities closely, including the adjustments routinely approved by the board, “to ensure that expenditures are limited to budgeted amounts as required by state law, SBE rules, and Board policies.”