The Alachua City Commission sent a letter to the School Board of Alachua County on Wednesday, requesting the board postpone Thursday’s final school district rezoning vote to allow more time for considering potential impacts on affected families.   

For months, the school board (SBAC) has held workshops on possible rezoning scenarios as it amends the district’s “Our Schools – Future Ready” planning initiative.  

Last week, SBAC members favored a new rezoning proposal that would shut down Alachua and Irby Elementary schools and combine them with Mebane Middle School, among other school closures across Alachua County.  

Schools in Alachua currently have 768 open seats. Alachua Elementary is at 60% capacity, with Irby at 69% and Mebane Middle School at 49%. 

The Alachua City Commission said in its letter dated March 11 and signed by Mayor Walter Welch that it appreciated the district’s effort in addressing complex school capacity issues, fiscal stewardship and long-term planning.  

However, given the magnitude of the lasting impacts school closure can have on families and communities, the commission said additional time would help ensure the SBAC’s decision reflects the most affected residents.  

Alachua’s letter follows the Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Board of County Commissioners’ (BOCC) request during a joint meeting on Monday that the SBAC delay its final vote. 

“The City believes it is essential that affected families and community members have adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity to review and respond to the most recent proposals before a final decision is made,” the letter said.  

Alachua City Commissioners directly opposed the vote during the regular meeting on Monday, where they unanimously waived meeting rules to draft and send the letter to the SBAC immediately. 

Commissioner Jacob Fletcher said the rezoning closures came out of left field. He said he didn’t have enough information to determine whether they’d be good or bad and encouraged people to attend the SBAC’s workshop with the city on Tuesday.  

“I think anytime you remove resources from a community, it’s kind of a bad option,” he said. 

Commissioner Dayna Williams said she attended the Gainesville and BOCC joint meeting, where SBAC members and staff were present. 

Williams said district officials couldn’t answer questions about how much money the closures would save, and that data used to create the plans omitted 7,600 homeschool and private school students. She said school officials confirmed the plan to close Alachua and Irby Elementary schools wouldn’t start until August 2028. 

Williams said she understood the district needs to save money, but that it could’ve been making decisions over the past 30 years to do so. Now, she said, Alachua is being punished because it has a unique setup of K-2 and 3-5 schools, when more measures should be taken to get students wanting to enroll in public school again. 

“Absolutely, let’s have a rezoning conversation. But let’s not have it include closing our schools in that conversation,” Williams said. “Let’s have a conversation about attracting the students back from private schools and charter schools and potentially homeschool.” 

Vice Mayor Shirley Green Brown, a former teacher at both Alachua and Irby Elementary schools, said she had to work to keep her blood pressure down while talking about possibly closing both schools. 

She said she’d heard the SBAC’s presentation on its plans three times and still wasn’t happy, already writing a three-page personal letter in opposition.  

“Not only do I have a passion for the children, I am passionate about them closing the schools,” Green Brown said. “We cannot, we cannot, sit still and allow them to do that.” 

All five Alachua City Commissioners will attend the SBAC’s meeting on Thursday to present their letter. 

Also, during Alachua’s Monday meeting, the commission authorized the demolition of the Cleather Hathcock Community Center.  

City Manager Rodolfo Valladares said inspections revealed Americans with Disability Act and Florida Building Code compliance failures, as well as moisture-related damage.  Valladares said addressing the concerns could cost $300,000 and recommended moving forward with design plans for a new center. 

In an update on livestreaming services for government meetings, Valladares said staff are negotiating with a vendor and will be distributing a survey aiming to gather information on how it will be able to best reach residents.