The Alachua County School Board discussed changing board policy for magnet programs at its special meeting Wednesday.
The policies aimed to establish consistency for student selection between all programs, including those recommended by the District Magnet Review Committee. It also addresses the increasing competition in school choice by making magnet applications open earlier, so the district can compete with charter and private school applications open around the same time frame.
After four separate discussions of the policies, it is unclear whether the board will move forward to approve it.
Under the new policy, magnet program applications would be published on the district magnet website by November for the following school year. Other school choice options would be published by the end of January.
There would be a random lottery for magnet programs, and priority would be given to eligible Alachua County residents. Students applying for the programs must meet eligibility criteria.
The policy also outlines attendance issues and failure to adhere to program requirements as circumstances to revoke magnet acceptance.
The proposed amendments were presented for the first time Sept. 17. A public hearing was held on Oct. 15.
Changes to the document were made following feedback from the first reading, including clarifications on how seats in magnet programs would be filled.
The policy was presented again for a second reading on Nov. 6. The board discussed and provided additional input, making amendments to clarify the lottery process requirements and reasons for magnet program revocation during enrollment.
During the Nov. 13 meeting, the policy unanimously failed to pass. District 2 board member Diyonne McGraw suggested the policy be tabled until a separate meeting after her tenure on Dec. 2.
The proposed changes to the school choice policy were met with significant concerns from teachers, particularly those involved in fine arts programs. By moving application windows to an earlier time frame, shadowing days would also be earlier, which could disrupt instructional time, impact important school performances and affect a school’s semester exam days.
Shadowing is an ACPS practice where a younger student observes older students during their school day. In the case of magnet programs, the practice is used to help interested and upcoming students understand the dynamics of a specific program or learn about different opportunities available within the given school.
Amy Beres, band director at Howard Bishop Middle School, spoke in public comment and expressed her concerns about the shadowing days.
“How are we supposed to display the very best of what our programs have to offer if most of those kids aren’t even on campus when the younger ones are shadowing, because they’re out shadowing themselves?” she said. “We owe it to our community to give the best impression of the great work we do here.”
Lori Pirzer, band director at Oakview Middle School, spoke in public comment and mirrored Beres’ concerns. She said band programs are an “integral part of showcasing what schools have to offer.”
“The charters and magnets that we’re losing our kids to do not have the arts programs that we have,” she said. “This has been a real curve ball to our programs to try and figure out how we’re going to make this work.”
David Dixson, band director at Westwood Middle School, said he worried about how many schools were shadowing on the same days.
“We take a lot of pride in what we present to our public, to our parents,” he said. “There was a lot of people who were left out of the loop.”
District 3 board member Sarah Rockwell said she acknowledged the lack of communication and input from teachers and other key stakeholders in the policy development process. She said pushing the policy approval into December would cause the contract to lose its validity, especially if it stated applications would’ve been open this month.
“This is too rushed,” she said. “We have got to stop this pattern of pushing through ideas no matter how good they are.”
District 5 board member Kay Abbitt agreed with Rockwell, and said she didn’t know what would change in such a short time frame if the board tabled it to Dec. 2. She said she’d rather keep the current application windows and discuss any future changes with the new acting superintendent.
If the policy is not adopted by Dec. 17, the process to change any policy would restart from step one.
Acting superintendent contract approval
The ACSB also unanimously voted to approve the acting superintendent contract after appointing Kamela Patton as the acting superintendent at a special meeting Nov. 4. Patton served as superintendent of Collier County Public Schools from 2011 to 2023.
Patton’s appointment will begin remotely on Nov. 18 and in-person on Nov. 21, board member Diyonne McGraw said. Outgoing superintendent Shane Andrew departs on Nov. 15.
According to the document, Patton’s contract will end June 30, 2025.
Her base monthly salary would be $19,500, in addition to a $2,000 monthly living allowance, a $600 monthly automobile allowance and a $175 monthly technology stipend.
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.
