School district finalizes details of voting process for Newberry charter conversion

Press release from Alachua County Public Schools

ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – After discussions with Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton, Alachua County Public Schools has finalized the details of the upcoming vote on the conversion of Newberry Elementary, Oak View Middle, and Newberry High School to charter schools.

Under state law, the district is required to hold a vote within 60 days of receiving a formal request to convert the schools to charters, which happened February 20. State rules specify who is eligible to vote, including classroom teachers and one member of the primary household for children attending the three schools. The rules also spell out the procedures the district must follow in holding the vote.

The vote for parents and teachers is scheduled for the six school days from April 5 ^th through April 12 ^th , dates which were shared with parents and teachers in a message sent out Tuesday, March 5 ^th , along with other information about the voting process.

The Supervisor of Elections will be providing two locked ballot boxes for each school. One box will be for teacher ballots, the other for parent ballots. The Elections Office will also provide two staff members at each school to supervise the boxes and the voting process for all voting days.

Outside of voting periods, the boxes will be locked in a secure location on each campus.

A date has already been set and shared for the required public meeting at which the votes will be unsealed and counted by an independent arbitrator. That meeting will be held April 17 at 8:30 a.m. in the Mentholee Norfleet Municipal Building at 25440 West Newberry Road in Newberry. Votes will be unsealed and counted by an independent arbitrator. In keeping with state rules, the district and the citizens requesting the conversion vote will jointly decide on the arbitrator.

“We appreciate Supervisor Barton and her team for their willingness to play such a critical role in this very important process,” said Superintendent Shane Andrew. “Their involvement will ensure that this is a smooth and fair vote.”

Information about voting security and the participation of the Office of the Supervisor of Elections in the process is being shared with parents and teachers today and will be posted on the district’s website at https://www.sbac.edu/charterconversion . Additional information about the voting process, such as who is eligible to vote, how they will receive their ballots, how they can return their ballots, and more was shared with parents and teachers in the messages distributed on March 5 and posted on the charter conversion website. That site also includes the complete state rules on the ballot process.

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