Forum Probes Racial Literacy Gap in Alachua County
About 100 residents gathered at a Gainesville church as the school board searches for a new superintendent.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Secondary Education
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About 100 people attended a roughly two-hour community forum at Greater Bethel AME Church in East Gainesville titled "Why is Our School System Failing Our Children?" The event examined a racial literacy gap in Alachua County, where Florida Assessment of Student Thinking English Language Arts results show a roughly 42% to 47% disparity between white and Black students.
Why it matters
The Alachua County racial reading gap is more than double the current statewide reading gap, making it a local concern for families across the county. The forum comes as the school board works to fill its superintendent post, putting the district's approach to literacy under public scrutiny.
Achievement rates on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking English Language Arts show a roughly 42% to 47% gap between white and Black students in Alachua County. That gap is more than double the current statewide reading gap, and the forum did not report a remedy plan.
The players
Alachua County Community Remembrance Project
A group founded in 2018 by the county board of commissioners with the Equal Justice Initiative to foster truth and reconciliation about the county's Jim Crow-era history.
Equal Justice Initiative
A Montgomery, Alabama-based human rights organization that partnered with Alachua County to found the Community Remembrance Project.
Rev. Ron Rawls
A Gainesville minister who moderated the forum and framed it as an effort to gather community insight.
The details
Attendees submitted questions on cards handed out by volunteers with the Racial Justice Committee of the United Church of Gainesville, and a five-person expert panel responded. Seven audience members addressed the panel directly from the podium, and moderator the Rev. Ron Rawls said the goal was to foster dialogue and gather insight rather than answer every question.
Timeline
Jim Crow era: historical period of racial violence the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project addresses.
2018: The Alachua County Community Remembrance Project was founded by the county board of commissioners with the Equal Justice Initiative.
Thursday evening, November 2026: Community forum held at Greater Bethel AME Church.
Before February 2027: Target date for the school board to select a new school superintendent.
Season Trajectory
The forum applies the Equal Justice Initiative's Community Remembrance Project model, founded in Alachua County in 2018, to classroom outcomes rather than historical memory alone. Its link to the school board's superintendent search places the literacy debate at a moment when district leadership is changing.
Families in Alachua County may want to follow the superintendent search, since the new leader will shape how the district responds to the literacy gap. Parents interested in the issue can watch for announcements about another forum, which organizers have said may be held soon.
The takeaway
Racial literacy gaps in Alachua County are drawing community attention as the school district prepares to choose new leadership. Residents who want to shape the response can attend upcoming forums and raise questions directly with district officials.
What happens next
The school board is aiming to select a new school superintendent before February 2027, and another community forum may take place in the near future.
Further reading
For broader context on school performance in the region, see Secondary Education coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Independent Florida Alligator.
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