Newberry Elementary School, Oak View Middle School and Newberry High School have all rejected the charter school conversion proposal. However, Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe is challenging the Newberry Elementary results because of a discrepancy in the voting rules.
What were the results?
During the voting period from April 5 through April 12, teachers and parents voted either “yes,” in support of the charter school conversion, or “no,” against the charter school conversion. Full-time teachers at each school received one vote, and “one member of a student’s primary household” each received one vote, according to Mainstreet Daily News.
Any teachers who failed to vote counted as “no” votes against the charter school conversion. Additionally, at least 50% of the student households had to to participate in the vote or else the initiative would automatically fail, according to Mainstreet Daily News.
Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton was the independent arbitrator who counted the votes, according to WCJB.
The results of the individual school votes are as follows, according to WCJB:
Newberry Elementary School
The charter school proposal failed.
Parents approved the proposal, 149-125. There were 274 total ballots with 5 rejected.
Teachers rejected the proposal. There were 22 “yes” votes and 21 total “no” votes including the 4 teachers who did not vote. There were 39 total ballots, with 1 rejected.
“Newberry Mayor Jordan Marlowe is challenging the stated results of the Newberry Elementary School charter proposal after Barton announced the vote had failed despite 50 percent of teachers voting ‘yes,'” according to WCJB.
“The school district officials say a majority of teachers at the elementary school, 23 out of 44, needed to vote ‘yes’ for the charter school proposal to be approved, however, only 22 ‘yes’ votes were counted,” according to WCJB. The officials referenced a State Board of Education rule stating “that a ‘majority’ of the teachers must approve the measure.”
Read more about the discrepancies here.
Oak View Middle School
The charter school proposal failed.
Parents rejected the proposal, 134-244. There were 378 total ballots with 8 rejected.
Teachers rejected the proposal. There were 9 “yes” votes and 40 “no” votes including the 2 teachers who did not vote. There were 47 total ballots.
Newberry High School
The charter school proposal failed.
Parents rejected the proposal, 114-149. There were 263 total ballots with 3 rejected
Teachers approved the proposal. There were 17 “yes” votes and 12 “no” votes including the 6 teachers who did not vote. There were 23 total ballots.
Proposal details
Education First for Newberry, a nonprofit organization, originally announced it would “call for the [charter school conversion] vote and sent formal requests to the schools on Feb. 20,” according to Mainstreet Daily News.
This organization raised concerns about resources, policies and overcrowding in schools, which led to the charter school conversion proposal, according to WCJB. In turn, the district officials and parents opposing the conversion mentioned funding, student admissions and teacher pay and benefits as their concerns.
Alachua County Public Schools shared a final conversion plan in early March, explaining that Newberry Elementary School, Oak View Middle School and Newberry High School would hold a vote determining whether the schools would convert from public to charter, according to Mainstreet Daily News.
Learn more here.
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