At the January 15 meeting, the School Board of Alachua County voted in favor of limiting countywide student acceptance into the Buchholz High magnet programs. The plan was passed instead of a previous plan that called for new boundaries for the currently overcrowded high school.

Under the already-approved plan, enrollment in the Buchholz Academy of Finance and Academy of Entrepreneurship program will limit out-of-zone student enrollment to 20-percent or less. During the 2007-08 school year, more than 50 percent of the students enrolled in each of the magnet programs were from outside of the Buchholz zone.

Alachua County superintendent Dr. Dan Boyd outlined a four-point plan, which includes sending all zoning exemption requests for Buchholz High to the zoning appeals committee. In addition, the two magnet academies, beginning with next year’s ninth grade and any new students, will be admitted to the available spaces in the academies through a District-wide computerized lottery. All transportation to the school that was arranged for this year will remain in place. The fourth point in the plan is to have any developments that are platted after January 28, 2008, to be zoned to a high school other than Buchholz, whether those developments fall within the BHS boundary or not. Current out-of-zone Buchholz students will be grandfathered into the new plan.

“We appreciate the public input we’ve received relative to a problem we’ve had,”?says Boyd. “I think this will go along way toward reaching the capacity we want.”

The school board heard comments from scores of parents after the magnet program limits were passed. Many expressed concern that their children would not be able to attend the magnet programs at Buchholz. Others were there to endorse how wonderful the academies had been for their children and said that to take the opportunity away from other students in the county was unfair.

Nevertheless, the board did not waiver in its support for Boyd’s plan. “The superintendent is not making this decision lightly,” says board member Wes Eubank. “If you end up at a school other than Buchholz, it’s not the end of the world.”

School board member Tina Pinkoson assured the crowd that the board’s decision had “nothing to do with the pressure (about the boundary issue) from Haile Plantation.”

Board member Virginia Childs said that the school board would need $30 million to build a “bare bones” high school and $50 million to build a school with athletic facilities. “The best case scenario would be to have a new high school in five years from September 2008,” says Childs. “That would only be if there was a sales tax and I don’t see that passing with the current economic climate.”

Fort Clarke Zoning Change Still Up For Debate
The School Board of Alachua County has already held the first reading of possible school attendance zone changes for Fort Clarke Middle School. There was a scheduled meeting on Tuesday, February 5, for a public hearing on the proposed amendments.

The recommendation is to move the area bordered on the west by NW 43rd St., on the north by NW 68th Ave., on the east by Hwy. 441 and on the south by NW 53rd Ave., from Fort Clarke to Westwood Middle School. The zoning change would go into effect for the 2008-09 school year. Most of the area in question actually is closer to Westwood Middle School.

Fort Clarke Middle School is operating at its capacity this year. If the proposed boundary change is adopted, the school would lose about 170 students.