The Alachua County School Board at an April 29 workshop dispelled rumors that principals have been dismissing teachers to make room for personal hires. The allegations come as changes to school boundaries and school closures are expected to shift teacher assignments across the district.
Last month, the board voted 3-2 to close three elementary schools, citing declining enrollment, state legislation that critics say benefits charter schools over public schools, and a growing school voucher program that is redirecting state dollars to private and charter schools, leaving the district with less funding than in previous years.
Stephen Foster Elementary will close at the end of this school year. Newberry Elementary School was approved last year to reopen as Newberry Community School, a charter, beginning this fall. Williams and Alachua elementary schools will close at the end of the 2027-2028 school year.
Deborah Terry, assistant superintendent of human resources, said some teachers received non-renewal letters for one of two reasons: poor performance or expired certification. Some teachers, she added, will be reassigned due to enrollment changes.
Non-renewal letters must include a stated reason for dismissal and, in cases of poor performance, supporting documentation. Teachers who believe they were unfairly evaluated also have the right under their contract to request a second administrator review their case. There were 38 non-renewal notices given to teachers throughout the district this school year for low performance. Some of those notices were given to teachers who had multiple consecutive non-renewals.
Teachers who are not certified in their subject area have one year to prepare for and pass the required exams, according to state law. Some of those teachers whose annual contracts were not renewed, Terry said, did not meet the certification requirements before the district’s April 20 non-renewal notice deadline even though state law gives teachers until June 30 to obtain certification. The district has acknowledged the discrepancy and interim Superintendent Kamela Patton said they are working to resolve the issue.
State teacher certification rules require teachers with expiring temporary certificates not to teach for one year before applying for a new temporary certificate. Teachers have five years to become certified.
There are currently 43 teachers with certification issues in the district.
In her explanation of the non-renewal process, board member Sarah Rockwell responded to teacher allegations of favoritism, with some staff worried that principals are prioritizing hires from the two schools set to close, Newberry and Irby elementary schools.
“I just want to make it very clear that we have a collective bargaining agreement, and that is not happening, because in order to non renew someone, they have to have a certification issue or they have to have poor performance, as documented by observations, student test scores and or progressive discipline,” she said.
“There’s nobody, non renewing someone to make room for a friend. That’s not happening,” she continued.
Still, some teachers said they received non-renewal notices without written explanation or supporting documentation. At least one elementary school teacher said the notice they received last month lacked explanation or evidence for their termination. Superintendent Kamela Patton said the district is working to correct the practice too.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Alachua County School District denies rumors behind teacher non‑renewals
Reporting by Chelsea Long, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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