During its Tuesday meeting, the Alachua County School Board discussed policies regarding the elementary and secondary student codes of conduct, reading material and the Student Progression Plan, which would mandate students to receive a minimum of half credit on assignments.
Anntwanique Edwards, chief of equity, inclusion and community engagement, proposed an amendment adding a new “restrooms and changing facilities” section to the student code of conduct.
The section defines gendered spaces as areas for students and their “respective sex-at-birth.” It also states those who willingly enter a restroom or changing facility of the opposite sex and refuse to depart will receive a referral, aligning with legislation passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023.
Students who receive referrals do not necessarily receive disciplinary action, as referrals are coded by a school’s dean and considered an offense before there is a punitive record, Edwards said.
Amy Trask, a 30-year-old Gainesville resident, said the amendment was a “copy and paste from the Florida law.
“Parents are going to have to sort through and interpret this,” she said at the meeting. “Without clearly defining the definitions of a referral, it can be interpreted in a variety of different ways.”
District Three Board Member Sarah Rockwell raised concerns about the violation of rules regarding gendered bathrooms going straight to referrals without a discipline matrix, a multi-tiered guide to determine the level of consequence for the number of student offenses.
“I feel like one of the reasons we don’t have consistent implementation of the student code of conduct across schools is because we don’t have this,” she said. “The first time is just a warning, the second time is a call home and the third time is a referral.”
Rockwell also raised concerns regarding how administrators are responsible for deciding what disciplinary action is provided and if the referral is added to a student’s record.
“That may not be consistent from school-to-school depending on what the principal’s views on certain populations are,” she said. “That really concerns me.”
Edwards said principals have undergone training to provide necessary consequences for individual student circumstances, which is monitored by the Alachua County Student Services Department within county schools.
This was the second public hearing for the proposed amendment, with the next meeting set for July 16. If passed, it would be enacted in the Fall 2024-2025 school year.
The board also discussed a proposed amendment to the Student Progression Plan to mandate students across elementary, middle and high school levels to receive a minimum grade of 50% on all assignments.
Jacquatte Rolle, chief of teaching and learning, presented the provision, which she said “better enables students to recover from an assignment.”
The amendment followed a collection of teacher opinions across Alachua County who are familiar with the proposed grading system, Rolle said.
“I believe some of that data, you would have to collect it, but I truly believe it does exist,” she said. “It’s not that this practice does not exist. It does. It’s just not county-wide.”
Marcel Davis, a 32-year-old Gainesville resident and middle school civics teacher, said the change could decrease student motivation to improve if negative grades are no longer as impactful.
“I don’t see how this grading policy tackles apathy,” he said. “In fact, I think it exacerbates apathy. What’s the encouragement for students to even try anything?”
District Five Board Member Kay Abbitt said traditional grading scales are more representative of student knowledge.
“It's given me a better picture about how much or how little they know,” she said.
The board also passed motions to keep two contested children’s books on shelves in public school libraries.
As recommended by the district library advisory council, “Julian is a Mermaid” by Jessica Love will stay on shelves at the kindergarten through third grade level, and “Storm and Fury” by Jennifer Armentrout will remain available at the 9th through 12th grade level.
LifeSouth Community Blood Center, the sole supplier of blood to Gainesville hospitals and the surrounding community, also presented in honor of its 50th anniversary.
LifeSouth District Community Development Coordinator Laura Bialick said school blood drives represent about 15% of all donations received in the county annually and presented an award to the Alachua County School District honoring the 2023-2024 school year, during which blood donations saved nearly 2,000 lives.
The next Alachua County School Board meeting will take place July 16.
Contact Sara-James Ranta at sranta@alligator.org. Follow her on X @sarajamesranta.
Sara-James Ranta is a third-year journalism major, minoring in sociology of social justice and policy. Previously, she served as a general assignment reporter for The Alligator's university desk.
