Former school board candidate files lawsuit against Diyonne McGraw

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - A former Alachua County school board candidate filed a lawsuit against Diyonne McGraw, who currently represents District 2.

A recent petition calling for McGraw to resign because she lives in District 4 has brought controversy to the school board.

Attorney Jeff Childers announced he is representing Khan-Lien Banko, the former school board candidate who ran against McGraw in the last election.

A portion of the press release issued by Childers reads, “McGraw recently gave TV 20 some documents purporting to show that her residence should be included in District 2, the district for which she was elected, instead of District 4, where the Supervisor of Election’s map shows that she lives. When asked about McGraw’s documents, attorney Childers said that “the documents don’t amount to any legal argument. Ms. McGraw is making some kind of non-legal argument about fairness, and my clients disagree that her disqualification is unfair in any way.”

Childers also said that in 2001, McGraw’s residence was in precinct 12 which was assigned to school board District 4, which he says means even in 2001, she was not in the right district.

“Ms. McGraw seems to be confused about the difference between voting precincts, which are redrawn by the County after each census, and school board districts, which are drawn by the School Board whenever needed to ensure an equal number of voters live in each of the five districts,” Childers explained.

On June 4, 2021, The Alachua County Supervisor of Election’s Office confirmed to TV20 that, “The address on the candidate’s Candidate Oath is located within District 4 of the Alachua County School Board. The candidate qualified and was elected to serve in District 2.”

At a school board meeting on June 8, 2021, Leanetta McNealy said since there are more voting precincts than in 2001, all of the board members may be elected in the wrong district.