At least four people have applied to fill the Alachua County School Board District 5 seat vacated in mid-December by Kay Abbitt, including her husband, a former associate instructional professor at the University of Florida.
Kay Abbitt, who was elected to the District 5 seat in 2022, resigned from the board on Dec. 17 to serve as interim director of Boulware Springs Charter School, the school she founded with her daughter, Megan Lane, in 2013.
The Sun, through a public records request, has obtained the applications submitted to the governor’s office of those wishing to be considered for the seat. What’s not clear, however, is if more applications exist. The records request was submitted Jan. 13 but not filled by the governor’s office until April 4. Requests to the governor’s office to confirm if the list is complete have not yet been returned.
Whomever Gov. Ron DeSantis selects will serve the remainder of Abbitt’s term, which runs through 2026.
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Abbitt’s husband, John, is among those who have submitted an application.
“I have been very engaged with the school board activities while she was a board member, and I would like to carry on the work she has initiated during her term,” John Abbitt wrote in his application.
The Navy veteran also wrote that he has the experience to make Alachua County schools “so much better than the are now.”
“I have observed my wife at her Title 1 charter school, and I know what it takes to make low performing students succeed at a high level,” he wrote.
Tim Marden, the local Republican Party leader and recently elected mayor of the city of Newberry, is listed, along with Kay Abbitt, as having referred John Abbitt to apply for the seat.
According to information provided by the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office, John Abbitt, who submitted his application on Dec. 24, 2024, updated his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican just six days later on Dec. 30.
Stephanie Kolb, a registered Republican who currently serves as the development coordinator for The Education Foundation of Alachua County, also has applied for the seat. Kolb previously served as the program director at Abacus Learning Center from August 2008 to April 2024.
Kolb wrote in her application that she has dedicated her career to “fostering student success and building supportive educational environments,” and that there have been “some difficulties in Alachua County with transparency …”
“Alachua County has gone through a multitude of superintendent and administrative changes in the past 10 years, and our teachers, students and families are leaving to go private schools and charters because of the general unrest,” she wrote. “They have lost faith in our district schools, and I want a role in changing that.”
Austin Skipper, an Archer resident, submitted his application on Jan. 5. Skipper has worked as an agriculture teacher for the Levy County School District since 2018. Before that he taught agriculture in Marion County.
The University of Florida and Newberry High School graduate wrote in his application that he knows the “challenges that face educators and students in the classroom, and would use this experience to better serve the students of Alachua County.”
Skipper, a Republican, also wrote that he feels his is a “qualified replacement” for the remainder of Abbitt’s term, and that he isn’t looking to launch a political career.
“… with the state of the current Board, I believe I could provide common sense policy to Alachua County,” he wrote.
The first to submit an application on Dec. 19 for the seat was Janine Plavac, director of the Health Sciences Institute at St. Francis Catholic Academy. Plavac, a Republican, for 16 years also served as the director of Gainesville High School’s Academy of Health Professions.
Plavac, however, based on her most recent address listed in her application, appears to live in District 1.
The 2008 High School Teacher of the Year for Alachua County wrote in her application that she is “uniquely familiar” with three of the four members of the current school board, having worked with District 2 member Thomas Vu at GHS, and District 4 member Leanetta McNeealy and District 1 member Tina Certain in various school system committees.
“I am very familiar with the workings of the school board and recognize that they dramatically need a school board member that is an advocate for teachers, parents and students and who doesn’t have their own agenda, particularly since I am involved in private school education now,” she wrote. ” … I believe in school choice but also recognize public education is extremely necessary in our community.”
The timeline for an appointment to to the board is not yet known.
It took about three months for DeSantis’ office in 2021 to appoint Mildred Russell to the District 2 seat vacated by Diyonne McGraw, who was found to live in District 4. McGraw recaptured the seat in 2022, but lost her bid for reelection to Vu in 2024.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Applicants for Alachua County School Board District 5 seat