A new year has begun, new calendars are open, and New Year’s resolutions provide an optimistic outlook for a fresh year. But the new year also carries many projects and situations set in motion in 2024, and the field of education in Gainesville is no different. 

As you step into this new year, here are five major education stories to watch as they develop, from leadership searches to a custody battle over an elementary school. 

1. ACPS’s national search for a superintendent 

Eight months after approving an updated contract for Superintendent Shane Andrew on a split vote, the School Board of Alachua County (SBAC) voted to terminate Andrew with another split vote. 

After scrambling for an interim to hold things together until there has been sufficient time to search for a permanent replacement, the board unanimously picked select former Collier County Public Schools superintendent Kamela Patton to serve as interim, with plans to conduct a national search for Andrew’s replacement. 

Patton’s contract lasts until June 30, 2025, and former board chair Diyonne McGraw said Patton expressed no interest in taking the position permanently. 

Speculation on how long a national search will take has varied, but the school board plans to add extra meetings and workshops where needed to advance initiatives such as the search, and rezoning. 

2. A potential return to school rezoning 

What began as elementary school spot rezoning in March 2023 quickly accelerated to become a comprehensive K-12 rezoning that Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) planned to put into effect in time for the 2024-25 school year. 

ACPS put out feelers for community input, and as community members consistently came back with complaints about the proposed zoning maps, the school board ultimately voted in favor of then-superintendent Shane Andrew’s recommendation to leave existing zoning “as currently structured while we continue to develop options for consideration by the public, the school board and ACPS employees to be implemented for the 2025-2026 school year.” 

The special meeting where the board voted 4-1 to put rezoning on hold was almost a year ago now, in January 2024. The topic most recently returned before the board in September 2024, when a motion to approve a contract for school rezoning consulting services failed for lack of a second. Board members didn’t like the contractor’s timeline and cost and said there was a lack of detail. 

3. UF’s search for a president 

After Ben Sasse unexpectedly stepped down from his post as the University of Florida’s president in July 2024, former president Kent Fuchs stepped in as interim and set goals to enhance UF’s reputation and excellence, bring joy and smooth the transition for the next president. 

Sasse cited his wife’s health as his reason for resignation, but after he left the office questions arose about his high spending rates and the Florida Department of Financial Services offered auditing services to search for “fraud, waste and abuse” during his presidency. 

Fuchs’ return to presidency also brought a leadership overhaul, as several university leaders stepped back into roles they had held under Fuchs, before Sasse’s 17 months in office.  

The UF Board of Trustees established a Presidential Search Committee to help recruit the next president and has scheduled listening sessions to start on Jan. 9.    

4. Newberry Elementary School conversion battle 

In February 2024, a group of parents and local leaders launched a campaign to turn Newberry’s three public schools into charter schools, hoping to create their own hyper-local school district of sorts. 

The lead-up to an April vote brought a hot contest between proponents and detractors of the conversion push, and while the initiative failed in two schools, conversion efforts carried on at Newberry Elementary School after a contested election and clarification from the state. 

Many, including ACPS, maintain that Newberry Elementary’s vote also failed, and strong feelings remain, including a shouting match in a commission meeting that led to a cease-and-desist letter sent by Newberry’s attorney to a local citizen.   

The question is now in the state’s hands, as the Newberry Community School nonprofit has submitted its application and budget to the Florida Charter School Review Commission. The application should be considered at the commission’s Feb. 26 meeting. 

5. Governor-appointed school board member 

School Board Member Kay Abbitt gave up her District 5 seat suddenly in December to avoid a conflict of interest as she fills in as an unpaid interim director for the charter school she started with her daughter. 

Abbitt had less than 28 months left in her term, so Florida statute dictates that the governor gets to appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy for the remainder of her term, which ends in 2026.