| In the Spring of 1992, the School Board of Alachua County purchased property to build a new elementary school in the community of Alachua. When the community members and parents realized that the schools were only 1.2 miles apart, they expressed a concern that their children would be divided. They asked Dr. Hirsch, principal of Alachua Elementary, and Mr. Stechmiller, principal of Mebane Middle School, to address this issue at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. It was determined that a committee of community members would make a presentation at a school board meeting and request that they consider dividing the schools by grade level, creating a Pre-K to Second site and a Third to Fifth site. This plan would also allow fifth grade students, who had been at Mebane in middle school, to return to an elementary setting. In October 1991, the School Board of Alachua County voted 5-0 to accept this concept. |