ALACHUA COUNTY,FL (352today.com) – Parents and teachers in Newberry will have six days in April to cast ballots in a vote to decide whether three Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) will become charter schools.
ACPS has set April 5-12 as the dates parents and teachers will vote on the conversion of Newberry Elementary, Oak View Middle and Newberry High School to charter schools.
According to state law, classroom teachers and one member of the primary household for children attending the three schools are eligible to vote.
The district says the votes for each school are independent of each other.
“It’s by individual school,” said Jackie Johnson, ACPS Public Information Office. She provided this example to explain how the voting works. “If both the eligible voting teachers and the eligible voting parents (two separate voting blocs) at one school vote for the charter, that school becomes a charter. If the eligible voters at the other two say no, those schools don’t become charters.”
ACPS says there are strict rules they must follow in order to protect the integrity of 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,” the district said in a release. “Outside of voting periods, the boxes will be locked in a secure location on each campus.”
According to the National Charter School Resource Center, a charter school is a public school that operates as a school of choice. Charter schools commit to obtaining specific educational objectives in return for a charter to operate a school. Charter schools are exempt from significant state or local regulations related to operation and management but otherwise adhere to regulations of public schools — for example, charter schools cannot charge tuition or be affiliated with a religious institution.
The ballots will be unsealed and counted by an independent arbitrator on Wednesday, April 17, starting at 8:30 a.m. in the Mentholee Norfleet Municipal Building at 25440 West Newberry Road in Newberry.
“We appreciate Supervisor [Kim] 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.”
For more information including answers to frequently asked questions, visit the district’s website.