ACCPTA sent the following communication to JBPro (the consulting firm hired by the district to manage the rezoning process), Superintendent Patton, and our School Board members on 2/4/26:

I’m reaching out on behalf of Alachua County Council Parent Teacher Association (ACCPTA), a district-wide parent organization that advocates for all children in Alachua County public schools. We appreciate all of the hard work being done regarding school boundary changes. We know this is not an easy task, and we commend all of the time and effort that has been put into the process so far. 

PTA feels strongly about the value of family engagement within our schools. A strong family to school connection has a positive impact on school culture, administrator and teacher effectiveness, and ultimately student achievement. We also recognize the value that diversity brings to the school community. Every child benefits from participating in a learning environment that includes diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

Because we place high value on family involvement in decisions such as school boundary changes, we are working to encourage families to share their input and have a voice in the process. With that in mind, we have a few questions and requests for things that we feel would enhance opportunities to engage with the community:

1. We appreciate your sharing the Guiding Principles being used throughout the process. Would it be possible to share how those principles were used when creating the draft boundary maps? Establishing a clear connection between the principles and the changes being proposed to the schools will go a long way in increasing engagement. 
2. We’ve heard from members of the community that it’s not clear how the input shared during the initial round of community meetings was used to create the guiding principles. Would it be possible to share more about that process as well? For example, something like “80% of families indicated they would like to see this in the zoning process, and that data was used to create this guiding principle.” 
3. During a previous rezoning process, the district shared tables that showed each school’s current capacity, current enrollment, predicted future enrollment (and how that information was determined), diversity, and other data points used to develop the goals. This information was shared for the current status, as well as for every proposed new boundary map. This helped the community see how the goals would be accomplished through the rezoning. Is it possible to share that information during this process as well?

We greatly appreciate your taking the time to prepare this information and look forward to your response!

Would you or someone you know be a great addition to the Alachua County Council of PTA’s (ACCPTA) Board? We are seeking nominations of highly motivated and qualified individuals to run for the 2024-2025 elected positions of President, Vice President,
Secretary and Treasurer.

If you would like to submit a nomination for an elected position (self-nominations are
accepted). To be considered for an appointed position, contact us:
smkg8tor@yahoo.com.

With emphasis on the PTA Mission to make every child’s potential a reality, ACCPTA is
focused on providing information and advocacy of issues and needs that are important
to the education and well-being of children. ACCPTA practices this through the support
of local PTA/PTSAs and the broader Alachua County school community, including a
broad range of training, community information meetings, legislative involvement, and
much more. If you know someone who can make an important contribution to the work
of ACCPTA, please consider nominating them.

Nominations for elected positions will be accepted through April 19.

NOMINATIONS PROCESS
The ACCPTA Nominating Committee will review all nominations submitted and create a
slate/ballot that consists of a candidate for each position to be presented for election at
the General Meeting in May (date TBA). The slate will be published in advance. ACCPTA
bylaws allow for nominees to run “from the floor” (in other words, to run for an elected
position if not selected for the slate). To run from the floor, a candidate must submit
their name, email address, local unit, position of interest, and statement of
qualifications to: smkg8tor@yahoo.com (deadline TBD).

Thank you in advance for being a part of this important process.

ACCPTA Nominating Committee
Stephanie Kolb, Chair
Jeanna Mastrodicasa
Kelly Sleeper

At the onset of the pandemic, Congress gave USDA flexibility in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to issue a number of waivers so that schools and meal program operators could have the flexibility they need to continue to feed children. This allowed Alachua County Public Schools to offer free meals during the school year to all students at all schools. However, these flexibilities will expire on June 30, 2022. This means some schools within our District will no longer be able to provide free meals to all students during the 2022-23 school year.

Those schools include Buchholz High, Chiles Elementary, Ft. Clarke Middle, Gainesville High, Hidden Oak Elementary, High Springs Community, Kanapaha Middle, Meadowbrook Elementary, Newberry High, Oak View Middle, PAM@Loften High, Santa Fe High, Talbot Elementary, and Wiles Elementary. *(Students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals at these schools will still be able to get them, but their families will need to submit an application).

The bipartisan Support Kids Not Red Tape Act would extend the flexibilities for an additional two summers and the 2022-2023 school year to give schools and families time to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic while transitioning back to normal meal operations.

ACCPTA is asking that Florida Senators Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Rick Scott support and cosponsor this legislation, so our schools and families do not lose the lifeline upon which they have relied during increasingly hard economic times.

Your can contact your Senators here:

· https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

· https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/contact/contact