Alachua County school district ushers in its first all-women board Tuesday
It was a historical moment for Alachua County Tuesday morning as the school district ushered in its first-ever, five-member all-women school board.
The four incoming members who were sworn in Tuesday morning all won their Aug. 23 primary elections: District 1's Tina Certain, District 2's Diyonne McGraw, District 3's Sarah Rockwell and District 5's Kay Abbitt.
The fifth board member, Leanetta McNealy was not up for reelection.
The meeting room was overflowing with supporters. Abbitt, Certain and McGraw wore bright smiles on their faces as they sauntered around the room giving people hugs and thanking them for their continued support.
“This great," said one woman supporter in attendance. "I’m glad to see that they have so much support."
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The ceremony opened with interim Superintendent Shane Andrew giving remarks and recognizing public office leaders who were in attendance.
"As a team leader, I want to congratulate and welcome our new school board members each and everyone of you," he said.
McGraw wins seat back
The audience stood up and applauded for McGraw, who had one of the most contentious election races after being removed from her seat last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who she later unsuccessfully sued.
DeSantis removed McGraw after it was discovered she lived 350 feet outside of the District 2 lines and replaced her with local GOP activist Mildred Russell. Redistricting this past year allowed McGraw to refile for her old seat.
She sported a "History Makers" pin on her chest, having been part of the county's first majority Black school board and all-women board. She said her road to reclaiming her school board seat has been challenging and thanked those who supported her along the way.
"All of the voters in Alachua County understood the assignment," she said. "It was a journey. However, it's not about me. It's about all the 29,000 plus students that we serve here in Alachua County," McGraw said.
Abbitt was the first of the newly elected school board members to be sworn in. The co-founder and former Boulware Springs Charter School director defeated Prescott Cowles in one of the closest local races in the election.
She was sworn in by Eighth Judicial Court Judge Mark W. Moseley and was joined on the dais by 11 members of her family.
“This board is going to work together very well and not because we’re all female," she said. "But I think because we all have the same desire for our kids to be successful."
Rockwell, the former school teacher, was the last newly elected school board member to be sworn in. She was joined on the dais by her two children, her husband and her mother.
"I'm excited to work with this group of women, even though we may not agree on the path forward, we agree on the end goal," Rockwell said.
Decisive victory
In what was the biggest blowout victory among all school board races, veteran member Certain will return to her chair for District 1 after being challenged by Levy County school teacher Daniel Fisher.
Certain fought back tears as she talked about her grandmother who was a driving force in her pursuit of a school board member position.
"When I started, my goal was never political. My goal was to change the lives of these kids in Alachua County," she said. "My heart is to honor the legacy of my grandmother."
Certain said she looks forward to having the board create a strategic plan for the first time in 10 years and hopes to lead the conversation of rezoning efforts.
"We cannot expect student outcomes to change if we do things the same," she said. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done."
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: All-women school board sworn in for Alachua County
