Ask anyone at or around W.W. Irby Elementary—they’ll tell you it’s a special place. If you ask Shay Bellamy-Fults, a 12-year educator and the media specialist at Irby, she’ll describe it like a wonderland.
“There’s no other school like it. Irby Elementary is the only one in the district that goes from preschool to second grade,” Shay said. “Everything is painted in a beautiful mural-like way, and it really is a place of wonder. Our students always say how they’re going to miss this place when they leave. Everyone says Irby is special, and I get why.”
Irby celebrates the magic of being young, sparking imaginations the moment students enter. In 2022, the school received a makeover, enhancing the dream-like environment that’s captured the community’s heart.
However, when the Alachua community learned their beloved school was suddenly at risk of closure, the shockwaves reverberated. Only 10 days before the Alachua County School Board voted on several closures, Shay learned that Irby had been added to the list after a board member proposed scrapping previous plans for a new plan.
“Parents were completely blindsided, and none of us could believe it,” Shay, who’s been at Irby for six years, explained. “After the shock, all the questions started. Like, ‘Why are we suddenly included?’ and ‘How can they afford this?’ The kids were even coming in asking, ‘Am I going to be here next year?’ They’re hearing these adult conversations and don’t really know how to take them in. As a teacher, you’re on the frontline. We’re blindsided like everyone else, but left holding the bag as if we knew or had all the answers. That’s when our anger turned to advocacy. We decided we had to do something.”
With questions coming from every direction and just 10 days to act, Shay got to work. As news quickly dominated conversations at her school, Shay, serving as the union representative, led the response.
“I decided we were not just going to sit down and be quiet because the district decided to make decisions in the dark. For them to know that the vote was coming so soon and then give us that little bit of time to advocate for ourselves, it lit a big fire in me.”
To channel this determination, Shay turned to an email campaign, a tactic that had succeeded in past advocacy efforts for Irby.
“We scheduled emails to send out multiple times a day. We were hitting them at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and 2 p.m. I wanted Irby to be in those inboxes and to keep emailing until we heard back from somebody.”
The campaign quickly brought responses, which Shay compiled into a slideshow. This, in turn, gave union members, parents, and the community the information needed to keep pressuring the board.
Shay, along with another Irby teacher, spoke during public comment at that meeting, expressing her concern about student safety in her community and the lack of community inclusion in such a major decision.
“We’ve already lost a kindergartner just trying to get to Irby from some of the underserved communities near our school. The board’s plans would have had some of our youngest kids—who aren’t zoned to receive bus service—walk farther. We’ve already had a student get hurt,” Shay said. “It’s like they don’t even know the community they’re affecting. But I know these streets. I know we only have 3 children who walk home from our school, and that’s just crossing the street. Now, we would have more walkers who have to go further. Just thinking that it will work is not enough. To know that it works is what I’m looking for, and they don’t know because they haven’t come out to see. Yet they’re about to vote on it.”
Ultimately, Shay’s advocacy proved to be successful. In the days leading up to the meeting, the school board received more than 200 emails as a result of Irby’s campaign. At the meeting, the board postponed a decision on Irby’s fate, instead opting to hold community input sessions in Alachua.
With this extra time secured, the real work began: bringing more of the community into the discussion. Shay and her colleagues spoke to the media, contacted decision-makers, and kept emailing board members. Still, Shay knew these steps would not be enough on their own.
“We gave out flyers, we did emails, we did text messages, and we did a public survey that we put in newsletters and on social media, which was huge. Teachers and parents were coming up to me and telling me they had filled out the survey, so we had real-time data showing what people were saying.”
Their actions continue to show results. Nearly 100 people attended a community input session—more than any other session in the county—demonstrating how essential Irby is to Alachua.
“We have such a huge space, so we host a lot of community events and meetings here over the summer. It’s like a community center,” said Shay. “When we host things like Fall Festival, Spring Fling, STEAM Night, or Character Parade, all of those kids and parents are coming out in droves. Community involvement is part of the beauty and wonder of Irby.”
With momentum building, Shay and the Irby community are preparing for the upcoming board decision.
Shay says none of this would have been possible without the support she’s received, including from her Alachua County Education Association, which has been with her every step of the way.
“My union has been so big on having me talk about what I’m doing. They want to highlight it whenever they can, especially when we have other members with schools that are closing. They’re supporting me,” Shay said. “But if you aren’t in the union, you don’t have anyone fighting for you at all. The thing is, we are all about advocating for these students. We are all about advocating for our school. But it is so surprising to me how many educators are not the best at advocating for themselves. Your union will be somebody in your corner helping you.”
As for anyone else in the fight to save their neighborhood public school from closure, Shay had this advice:
“I would say to build a template message for every direct communication tool out there. Make sure you use those tools as many times as you can. And keep people in the loop. It creates a big chain effect when you have those open lines of communication.”
While the future remains uncertain for Irby Elementary, Shay plans to fight until the very end in hopes the board will heed the community’s warning.
“I’m gonna advocate to the very end, even on the day of,” Shay said. “But I could never do this by myself. I can lead, and I am leading, but I know I could never do this alone. We could never be where we are if it weren’t for everybody taking that charge and continuing to spread the message. I’m just so thankful to have the backing of my fellow teachers, staff, and community like that.”
If you’d like to help Shay in the fight to keep Irby open, click here to send a pre-populated email to the school board.
