The new charter school in Newberry has cleared another hurdle.
In an email reply to Mainstreet Thursday afternoon, Jackie Johnson, a spokesperson for Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS), confirmed the School Board of Alachua County’s (SBAC) appeal for the Newberry charter school conversion was denied during a Charter School Appeal Commission (CSAC) hearing.
According to a social media post by Newberry Mayor Tim Marden, the hearing took place on Monday in Tallahassee, with the school board having brought 10 appeals before the CSAC.
“The basis of the SBAC’s appeals were to consent the February Charter [School] Review Commission’s unanimous vote in favor of the Newberry charter conversion,” Marden posted.
Marden wrote that all 10 appeals were denied by the CSAC.
Johnson said the hearing lasted roughly four hours, with commission members hearing arguments from both parties and asking their own questions.
Ultimately, Johnson said the commission voted to recommend that the State Board of Education approve the conversion charter school application.
The state board will consider the CSAC’s suggestion at its next meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Fort Walton Beach, Johnson said. That meeting is slated for 9 a.m. at Northwest Florida State College (1170 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Bldg. 8).
The school board’s appeal process of the Newberry charter conversion goes back to its March 12 meeting, when it authorized its legal counsel and superintendent to file an appeal with the Florida Board of Education concerning the charter conversion.
This was a little less than a month after the CSRC approved an application submitted by Newberry Community School Inc. to convert Newberry Elementary School into a charter school to be called Newberry Community School.
Two weeks following the board’s March 12 meeting, attorneys from the Tallahassee-based firm Sniffen & Spellman, P.A. sent a letter on behalf of the school board to the State Board of Education on March 26, appealing the CSRC’s decision to approve NCS’ charter application.
In the eight-page letter, attorneys outlined three arguments for why the State Board of Education should overrule the CSRC’s decision, citing the failure of the conversion charter school vote, substantive reasons for denial of the conversion charter school application and jurisdictional issues, specifically arguing for the district’s right to appeal the CSRC’s choice.
While the SBAC’s appeal process has been ongoing, it has had to press on with the charter conversion due to mandatory timelines from the state. This includes approving the contract for Newberry Community School in June.
The contract is set to take effect July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2031, with the school opening in August 2026.
Meanwhile, plans for the charter school continue to move forward, with an official school Facebook created earlier this month, along with the hiring of a new consultant, Lacy Roberts.
“We are very excited for the future!” Roberts wrote in an Aug. 13 post on the NCS Facebook page.
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.