WUFT | News and public media for north central Florida
The path forward: what Newberry residents can expect after elementary school charter conversion
By Bernardo Montás
April 18, 2025 at 4:00 AM EDT
Over the course of 20 years, 88-year-old lawyer Robin Gibson dedicated himself to public education in Lake Wales, Florida.
“I’m an incurable community person,” he said.
Gibson was an architect of the city’s charter school district, which began with five public schools converting to charters in October 2003.
Polk County as a whole has 10 conversion charter schools — the most by far of any county in Florida. Since the state enacted its charter school law in 1996, Florida has accumulated 23 conversion charter schools.
In Alachua County, Newberry Elementary is slated to become the state’s 24th conversion charter school in fall 2026. Its conversion has been a highly debated topic since April 2024.
As Newberry Elementary enters uncharted waters, precedent may give parents and teachers alike an idea of what’s to come for the school.
When Lake Wales Charter School District’s original five charter schools converted from public schools, they were graded no higher than a “C,” according to state education department records.
In the 2023-24 school year, three of those schools were graded “B” and two were still graded “C.”
Berkley Elementary School, another Polk County conversion charter school, was graded “C” when it converted in 2003. It was graded “A” for the 2023-24 school year.
In total, four of Polk County’s ten conversion charter schools were graded “A” last school year. Each was graded “C” when it first converted.
Not all of Polk County’s conversion charter schools were as successful. Haines city Literacy Learning Academy, Bartow Charter School and Lake Gibson High School closed within five years of converting.
Alachua County Public Schools officials weren’t entirely convinced of the decision to convert Newberry Elementary to a charter school. Jackie Johnson, the public information officer for ACPS, said her office had its fair share of worries.
“We shared a number of concerns with the charter review commission at the state level regarding the application that was presented,” she said. “Our concerns covered everything from who was going to be able to go to this school, what transportation was going to be available and how special programs would be funded for students with special needs.”
Nonetheless, Johnson is now tasked with outlining the charter agreement as Newberry Elementary’s conversion date approaches.
Once ACPS presents its contract to the elementary school’s organizers, it will have 40 days to negotiate who will operate the school before getting the contract approved by the operators and the school board.
Still, Johnson disagrees with the Florida Department of Education’s approval of Newberry Elementary’s charter conversion.
“Whatever decisions the state may have made afterwards should not have applied retroactively to a vote that had been held months before,” she said.
In a School Board of Alachua County meeting held March 12, Board Member Tina Certain echoed Johnson’s disagreement.
“I do believe the motion failed and suggest the superintendent move to file an appeal to the Florida Department of Education challenging the approval,” she said.
In that same meeting, Newberry resident Jessica Mrozinske Baker captured the feeling of those who oppose the Florida Department of Education’s decision in her public comment.
“I fear that, if we don’t fight this, the charter school situation out there will keep dragging more and more money out of this school district than it has right now,” she said.
Lynn Norman-Teck, executive director of the Florida Charter School Alliance, says conversion charter schools commonly spawn from grassroots efforts.
“They’re usually home grown,” she said.
Norman-Teck said the burden is on the organizers of Newberry Elementary’s charter school conversion to produce positive results.
“Whoever’s driving that conversion has to sell it,” she said. “They have to define their mission and meet their goals.”
Parents tend to look beyond a school’s grade as a determining factor for whether to send their child to that school, Norman-Teck said.
Factors like proximity to home and access to standardized state exams are ones parents typically consider when deciding whether to send their kid to a charter school.
Ultimately, the driving factor is having freedom of choice. Charter schools promise parents greater flexibility regarding their child’s education, Norman-Teck said.
Gibson said Newberry Elementary parents and students will have to wait until its conversion to decide whether it was the right choice.
“The only thing they can do is wait and see if their elementary school can hit it out of the park,” he said.
“I’m an incurable community person,” he said.
Gibson was an architect of the city’s charter school district, which began with five public schools converting to charters in October 2003.
Polk County as a whole has 10 conversion charter schools — the most by far of any county in Florida. Since the state enacted its charter school law in 1996, Florida has accumulated 23 conversion charter schools.
In Alachua County, Newberry Elementary is slated to become the state’s 24th conversion charter school in fall 2026. Its conversion has been a highly debated topic since April 2024.
As Newberry Elementary enters uncharted waters, precedent may give parents and teachers alike an idea of what’s to come for the school.
When Lake Wales Charter School District’s original five charter schools converted from public schools, they were graded no higher than a “C,” according to state education department records.
In the 2023-24 school year, three of those schools were graded “B” and two were still graded “C.”
Berkley Elementary School, another Polk County conversion charter school, was graded “C” when it converted in 2003. It was graded “A” for the 2023-24 school year.
In total, four of Polk County’s ten conversion charter schools were graded “A” last school year. Each was graded “C” when it first converted.
Not all of Polk County’s conversion charter schools were as successful. Haines city Literacy Learning Academy, Bartow Charter School and Lake Gibson High School closed within five years of converting.
Alachua County Public Schools officials weren’t entirely convinced of the decision to convert Newberry Elementary to a charter school. Jackie Johnson, the public information officer for ACPS, said her office had its fair share of worries.
“We shared a number of concerns with the charter review commission at the state level regarding the application that was presented,” she said. “Our concerns covered everything from who was going to be able to go to this school, what transportation was going to be available and how special programs would be funded for students with special needs.”
Nonetheless, Johnson is now tasked with outlining the charter agreement as Newberry Elementary’s conversion date approaches.
Once ACPS presents its contract to the elementary school’s organizers, it will have 40 days to negotiate who will operate the school before getting the contract approved by the operators and the school board.
Still, Johnson disagrees with the Florida Department of Education’s approval of Newberry Elementary’s charter conversion.
“Whatever decisions the state may have made afterwards should not have applied retroactively to a vote that had been held months before,” she said.
In a School Board of Alachua County meeting held March 12, Board Member Tina Certain echoed Johnson’s disagreement.
“I do believe the motion failed and suggest the superintendent move to file an appeal to the Florida Department of Education challenging the approval,” she said.
In that same meeting, Newberry resident Jessica Mrozinske Baker captured the feeling of those who oppose the Florida Department of Education’s decision in her public comment.
“I fear that, if we don’t fight this, the charter school situation out there will keep dragging more and more money out of this school district than it has right now,” she said.
Lynn Norman-Teck, executive director of the Florida Charter School Alliance, says conversion charter schools commonly spawn from grassroots efforts.
“They’re usually home grown,” she said.
Norman-Teck said the burden is on the organizers of Newberry Elementary’s charter school conversion to produce positive results.
“Whoever’s driving that conversion has to sell it,” she said. “They have to define their mission and meet their goals.”
Parents tend to look beyond a school’s grade as a determining factor for whether to send their child to that school, Norman-Teck said.
Factors like proximity to home and access to standardized state exams are ones parents typically consider when deciding whether to send their kid to a charter school.
Ultimately, the driving factor is having freedom of choice. Charter schools promise parents greater flexibility regarding their child’s education, Norman-Teck said.
Gibson said Newberry Elementary parents and students will have to wait until its conversion to decide whether it was the right choice.
“The only thing they can do is wait and see if their elementary school can hit it out of the park,” he said.