The Alachua County School Board discontinued Rawlings Elementary’s year-round school year and approved summer school opportunities in a meeting Tuesday night.
The meeting was also the first for new board member Janine Plavac, who was appointed to the District 5 seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis, filling a four-month vacancy.
Rawlings Elementary
The ACSB discontinued Marjorie K. Rawlings Elementary’s year-round school year in a 3-2 vote, with Janine Plavac and Leanetta McNealy in dissent.
Rawlings was among only five schools in Florida participating in the Year-Round School Pilot Program, under a state law passed during the 2023 legislative session. The school year started in July to reduce learning loss over the summer.
The northeast Gainesville elementary school received a “D” grade for both the 2022-2023 and the 2023-2024 school years. Less than 4% of all Florida schools received a “D” grade in the 2023-2024 school year.
Rawlings’ grades place it in a “Tier 2” status, labeling it a target of additional support and improvement. It has been in a turnaround plan since August.
During the meeting, survey data about Rawlings from both parents and teachers was presented to the board.
Parents surveyed in April 2024 mostly supported the year-round change, with 70% planning to keep their children enrolled. Supporters cited academic improvements as positives, while those choosing to leave pointed to scheduling difficulties and worries about academics.
By Spring 2025, 71% of staff reported satisfaction with the year-round model, but only 34% of parents expressed satisfaction.
About 60% of staff said they would recommend the year-round schedule, compared with 37% of parents.
Enrollment at Rawlings showed a significant decline since the schedule change, with a nearly 20% drop in full-time students between the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years.
Attendance rates at Rawlings improved slightly, rising from just over 86% in 2024 to nearly 89% in 2025, but it’s still below district averages.
Academic data showed challenges remain. A large percentage of K-5 students scored at the lowest performance level in reading and math assessments, with projections suggesting many students may struggle to reach proficiency by 2025.
Science proficiency was notably low at 57%, well below the district’s overall 70%.
The board deliberated the decision for over an hour.
District 5 board member Janine Plavac said the program “set these kids up for failure” due to the high percentage of first-year teachers at the school.
“First year teaching is the worst thing for you in the world,” she said. “You don't know what is up or what is down, and then you've got kids you're trying to engage, and you're trying your hardest, but you're book learning together.”
Nearly 46% of Rawlings Elementary teachers were “inexperienced,” or had taught for less than four years during the 2022-2023 school year. The number of inexperienced teachers was nearly 13% higher than the statewide average, according to the FLDOE.
Kelly Shiohira, a Gainesville resident, spoke in support of keeping Rawlings year-round.
“I'm frankly really shocked that following the presentation that we just had, we had a motion to discontinue this,” she said. “It is good that you're taking community input and acting on it, but you're misinterpreting what you're hearing.”
District 4 board member Leanetta McNealy said she disagreed, noting one year wasn’t enough time to measure success.
“I'm not happy with this decision to seem as if this full year has not been successful,” she said. “It was necessary at the time that we would change the process, change the model, and that's what this staff has tried to do.”
P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville was also approved as a year-round school.
While Board Chair Sarah Rockwell said she agreed with Plavac regarding the inexperienced teachers, she also said P.K. Yonge’s pilot program doesn’t start until next year because the school took a year “just to plan it out.”
“I think that really should have been the requirement from the state of Florida,” she said. “What I'm seeing is we're scrambling to try to fit a mold from the state of Florida that is not having a huge benefit, but is taking a huge amount of staff work.”
Summer school opportunities
The ACSB also approved its 2025 Extended School Year programs, focusing on combating summer learning loss.
The ESY programs include Voluntary Prekindergarten, elementary literacy camps, STEAM exploration programs, English for Speakers of Other Languages support, middle and high school credit recovery options and extended special education services.
Transportation services will be provided for eligible students, and all enrolled participants receive breakfast and lunch during the summer session.
Beyond academics, the district is offering enrichment opportunities including Camp Crystal, a residential summer camp for students in grades second through ninth, and the Extended Day Enrichment Program, which features themed activities designed to foster social-emotional growth and creativity.
Career and technical education options such as Driver Education and the Career & Technical Education Land Lab will also be offered.
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.
