The Florida State Board of Education unanimously approved a rule change that “at least fifty (50) percent” of teachers and parent voters are required to vote in favor of converting a public school to a charter.
The rule previously required a “majority,” which led to a clash earlier this year between Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) and a nonprofit called Education First for Newberry (EFN) when EFN’s campaign to convert three Newberry schools into charter schools came to a vote.
Votes by teachers and parents to convert Newberry High School, Oak View Middle School and Newberry Elementary School were declared failures in April, but EFN maintained that both parents and teachers at the elementary school had approved the conversion.
Though the parent portion of the elementary school vote passed 149-125, a rejected ballot left the teacher vote 22-21 in favor of converting, out of 44 teachers.
The conflict arose around the wording of state statute, which requires a 50% vote, and board of education rules, which required “a majority.” ACPS and the nonprofit SOS Newberry, which opposes the conversion, maintained that 22 out of 44 teachers is half, not a majority, and does not fulfill the board of education requirement.
State Rep. Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry sent a letter to Florida’s secretary of state and education commissioner, asking them to intervene in the conversion vote, and in May Florida Department of Education Senior Chancellor Adam Miller wrote an email to Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe, reiterating the statute language.
“If a conversion charter school application is submitted to either the Alachua County School Board or the Charter School Review Commission, and the application can successfully demonstrate that at least half of the teachers voted for conversion, then the applicant has met that threshold requirement. The applicant must also demonstrate that a sufficient percentage of parents voted in favor of conversion,” Miller wrote.
ACPS maintained that it would wait for the state to reach out with an official decision, while EFN moved forward with a partnership with the city of Newberry, approving board members for a charter school governing board on track to open NES as a charter in fall 2025.
“I am glad to hear that the State has brought the rules governing charter conversations into compliance with the Statute,” said Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe. “Newberry’s application is moving forward. This is simply one more validation that the parents’ voices in Newberry will be heard, and the will of the teachers and parents, who both voted in favor of the conversion, will prevail.”
ACPS spokesperson Jackie Johnson said in a statement that the rule cannot be applied retroactively.
“The votes were tallied exactly as the state and the people behind the conversion effort said they should be, and the vote failed,” Johnson wrote. “Changing the rules four months later doesn’t change that fact. Any revision of the rules now would apply to a future vote, but not to one conducted back in April.”
Tyler Foerst with SOS Newberry said the ruling doesn’t change anything.
“We are deeply disappointed that Jordan Marlowe and Chuck Clemons would use their power and influence to change the rules of the election so they can claim they won one school. It’s undemocratic and, in my opinion, it’s un-American,” Foerst said.
“The fact that they changed the rule does not change the fact that they lost the vote and the school board’s position has not changed,” he said. “It’s sad that Jordan would waste $200,000 in taxpayer money, in addition to the resources he used during the campaign, to try to push this through. He still hasn’t come clean about that nor how long he worked with a pedophile to plan his hostile takeover. In short, this rule change changes nothing.”
The board of education also approved a rule change to match a new state law, HB 1285, which limits the number of objections a resident of the county can submit if they are not a parent or guardian of a student. These non-parent residents may only submit one objection per month.
The state statute does not limit homeschool parents.
“We’re proud of the amendment to this rule. It continues to protect students from having access to inappropriate materials, it makes sure that we have a transparent process for parents and residents to object to materials, and really continues to protect the objection process from activists who have, in the past, tried to hijack that process.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated with quotes from Jordan Marlowe and Tyler Foerst.
Was anybody from Newberry called for comment on this? The city seems to be going ahead with charter work (a waste of taxpayer money and city officials’ time on what is a horrible idea that was voted down). It seems obvious to me, like Ms. Johnson from SBAC said, you can’t change the rules after the game is over.
I don’t think many people realize that Newberry can bypass the school board and apply directly to the Charter School Review Commission for approval. The school board really has no say.
You have to wonder about the thought process behind writing & passing a law where a less than majority vote wins. It’s just “weird”.
This is ludicrous. First, you’re trying to change a bad rule after the fact. Where was Chuck Clemons before the vote? It shouldn’t be retro active. And since when does half decide for all? Added, in Newberry, it’s a somewhat unique situation because it ELIMINATES a local public school, and will occupy a public building, paid for by all tax payers. Then, about the vote. A number of teachers left to go to other public schools. Was there any sort of commitment to Newberry to remain at Newberry before the vote? Did out-going 4th and 5th grade parents (who would no longer be affected) get to vote? Were in -coming K or pre-K parents or even those with babies in the voting mix? What about the people who own homes and businesses? This can affect their property values. Why do they not have a say? If “the state” wants to change the rules, let’s change them, but only after answering many more questions and having a new, more representative vote.