Teachers union weighs in on Newberry Elementary public-to-charter school conversion

NEWBERRY, Fla. (WCJB) - The president of the Alachua County teachers union is sharing her concerns about the potential public-to-charter school conversion of Newberry Elementary School. Members of Education First for Newberry announced the conversion vote succeeded after hearing from state education officials.

Carmen Ward, the president of the Alachua County Education Association, warns if the charter conversion goes through, teachers at the school would not have the same benefits.

“They would not have a union if they went charter and so all of the agreements that we have, salary agreements, covered health insurance premiums, all of the rights that we have negotiated since 1975 would be off the table for those teachers at that charter school,” said Ward.

RELATED: Newberry charter school group claims victory in elementary school vote fight

Alachua County Public Schools officials say they have not received any official word from the state about the conversion passing.

“We are following the law we are following the rule just the way they say we needed to but because they lost the vote they are now saying we should ignore both and we just can’t do that,” said Jackie Johnson, an ACPS spokesperson.

RELATED: Arbitrator: Newberry public-to-charter schools proposals fail; results face challenges

Leaders of Education First of Newberry say they are thrilled with the state’s response and are preparing the transition to a charter application for the school.

“The Department of Education has on the record confirmed what the threshold is for conversion and the Alachua County School Board unfortunately, was very hasty in what they said about declaring victory that confuses the community,” said Joel Searby, a leader of Education First for Newberry.

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