M4L-endorsed and DeSantis backed School Board Members Immediately Wreak Havoc

Disruptors gonna disrupt.

In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis and Moms for Liberty celebrated big wins in their endorsed/supported school board races. Those School Boards were sworn in on Tuesday, November 22th. They got right to work disrupting public schools. Let’s take a look at how things are going…

Broward:

Broward is an interesting example – most of the disruption, there, occurred before the new board was sworn in.

In April, DeSantis appointed Republican Daniel Foganholi to replace Rosalind Osgood, who had resigned to run (as a Democrat) for the Florida Senate. In August, just days after the primary election, Governor DeSantis suspended 4 seated board members in response to a Grand Jury Report on the Parkland Massacre. He then appointed 4 new members to the nine-person board, who, along with Foganholi, transformed the board from an all-female and Democratically aligned body to a majority-male and majority-Republican one. All four of the DeSantis-appointed board members are men; all four of the ousted board members are women. With the exception of Torey Alston, who will serve until 2024, the other appointees would only serve until new board members were sworn in following the General Election.

On August 30th, the first order of business for the DeSantis appointed board majority was to elect Torey Alston as board chair. On October 25th, the new board unanimously reprimanded superintendent Vicki Cartwright, after criticizing her for “failing to fix a district culture allowing waste and corruption.” At that time, they gave her 90 days to report on her progress.

Just 20 days later, on November 14th, during the last meeting for the DeSantis-majority, Daniel Foganholi made a late night (10 PM) motion to terminate the superintendent. He quoted MLK while doing so: ““Though it’s a weird thing because it’s my last day with the time, you know, Martin Luther King there is always a right time to do the right thing.” The board meeting had been publicly noticed, but there was nothing on the agenda that suggested Cartwright would be fired.

Alston commented:

“I think what you saw was the board empowering the new board that’s coming. I think there is a sense from many parents and teachers, administrators for something different. I think you also heard a sense that community wants to see change swiftly from top down, and I think you heard that desire for real change.”

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2022/11/15/new-school-board-fires-superintendent-vickie-cartwright/#:~:text=Alston%20and%20board%20members%20Daniel%20Foganholi%2C%20Ryan%20Reiter%2C,“I%20was%20shocked%20and%20surprised”%20after%20her%20firing.

When the new board was sworn in on November 22, they appeared less likely to follow Alston’s call for swift change. The new board elected Lori Alhadeff as chair, beating Alston, the only DeSantis-appointee left on the board, in a 6-2 vote. The only other vote for Alston as chairman came from newly elected Brenda Fam, whose campaign slogan “Fam for Families” embraced DeSantis’ parental rights theme. Debra Hixon was unanimously elected as vice chair.

“I believe we are the new school board that can set a new path forward to bring leadership, integrity, healing, stabilization, and respect back to this board,” Alhadeff said amid a wave of applause.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/desantis-appointee-ousted-as-broward-school-board-chair-parkland-parent-replaces-him/ar-AA14qx88

One of the new board’s first decisions may be to decide whether they can rehire Cartwright. Stay tuned…

Lee:

Hurricane damaged Lee County had a little drama. Lee County elected 3 new members to their 7 member board which proceeded to elect their brand new, DeSantis endorsed members Armor Persons and Sam Fisher as chair and vice chair, respectively.

Voters also overwhelmingly approved a referendum to elect future superintendents in Lee County. For more than 40 years, the Lee County School Board was responsible for appointing the district’s superintendent. During the last legislative session, one of Lee’s State Representatives, Jenna Persons-Mulicka proposed House Bill 497, leaving it up to 2022 voters whether or not the School Superintendent should remain an appointed position. The bill ultimately passed and was signed into law by DeSantis.

Sarasota:

Election night in Sarasota saw big wins for the Moms for Liberty crowd, with the politically-connected incumbent, Bridget Ziegler, a founder of Moms for Liberty, winning re-election. Newly elected conservatives Robyn Marinelli and Tim Enos joined Ziegler and fellow conservative Karen Rose to create a solid 4-1 majority.

As reported in the Herald-Tribune, “DeSantis and the Republican Party of Sarasota County endorsed Ziegler, Enos and Marinelli — dubbed “ZEM” by supporters, with the governor visiting Sarasota two days before the primary to rally Republicans to flip the School Board.”

Ziegler was appointed chair. Rose will serve as vice chair. But that is not where the disruption ended. In fact, Moms for Liberty was so excited about their new board’s first meeting (which they said was a move away from “radical Marxist ideology” and the “tyranny” of the previous “wayward” board and towards an “apolitical board” who would understand “where the limited role of government ends and where the sacred role of the parent, established by God, begins”) that they made a little video about it, complete with stirring music. My local M4L group described it this way:

“ICYMI New Sarasota County Schools Board enters the scene like Elon taking over Twitter! THANK YOU, SARASOTA!”

You can watch the M4L celebratory video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otnPkmvo9mA

Immediately after the reconstituted Sarasota County School Board was sworn in and began its first meeting, Vice Chair Karen Rose moved to schedule a special meeting the following week to consider firing the superintendent. The Herald-Tribune described the proceedings:

“Minutes after Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Brennan Asplen handed the gavel to the newly named School Board Chair Bridget Ziegler this week, the board voted 4-1 without explanation to schedule a special meeting next week to discuss firing him… The speed of Karen Rose’s motion for a special meeting and the quick assent by a majority of the board about the superintendent’s contract has raised questions about how the decision was arrived at and whether any communication took place outside of Florida’s open government laws.

In an email news release Friday, JoAnne DeVries, chair of the Sarasota County Democratic Party, wrote that the district would be hard-pressed to find a superintendent as good as Asplen if the board fires him.

This is the first attempt of the new board to create chaos in our public schools,” she wrote. “What well-credentialed educator will want to take the job of superintendent in our schools after a fiasco like this?” 

“… I think all of us in the district were hoping for a period of calm and reconciliation,” Barry Dubin, the executive director of the Sarasota Classified Teachers Association, wrote. “The last thing we need now is a new superintendent search and one hired for political rather than educational reasons.””

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/education/2022/11/25/sarasota-superintendent-brennan-asplen-faces-termination-vote/8324309001/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_HeraldTribune

Asplen was hired by the Sarasota School Board in August 2020, after an extensive search and has earned consecutive “highly effective” evaluations from the School Board. The special meeting to fire Superintendent Asplen is scheduled for Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at 5 pm. Supporters for Asplen invite you to attend a “Rally for Asplen” at 4pm before the meeting.

Brevard:

Not to be outdone, Brevard’s new School Board elected Moms For Liberty aligned officers, ousted their superintendent AND approved a requirement to segregate school bathrooms and locker rooms by biological sex. “We wanted to just go back to being what we were before,” the new chair, Matt Susin, said. Brevard is the birthplace of Moms for Liberty. Local press referred to the meeting as “contentious.” You can watch part of the meeting here.

Susin relied on the two newly elected, Moms for Liberty endorsed candidates, Gene Trent and Megan Wright, to win the chairmanship. Neither of the board members he had served with before, Katye Campbell or Jennifer Jenkins, supported his bid for chair. Trent campaigned on the “DeSantis Education Agenda” and Wright was endorsed by DeSantis and the 1776 Project PAC.

Susin, first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, is no stranger to Moms for Liberty. In October 2021, he met with the Brevard M4L group, where he promised “to help the group elect more conservatives to the board during the 2022 election.” Apparently, he was successful and was rewarded with the chairmanship. Newcomer Megan Wright was elected vice chair by the same 3-2 vote.

The trio immediately moved to fire Superintendent, Dr. Mark Mullins, who has served as Brevard’s superintendent since June 2018. Wright made the motion, saying:

“We have lost our focus on what we’re supposed to be doing, and we’re only as strong as our leaders are,” Wright said. “I have respect for our superintendent, but the public’s perception, Dr. Mullins, is that you are the leader and what they’re calling for is a strong leader.”

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/11/22/mullins-steps-down-bps-head-first-meeting-new-school-board/10705337002/

Campbell and Jenkins strongly opposed the move. Jenkins told Susin:

“I’m not going to sit here and be quiet about the conversation that’s about to take place, that’s going to place some imaginary blame on a man who literally takes direction from the board you’ve sat on for six years.”

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2022/11/22/mullins-steps-down-bps-head-first-meeting-new-school-board/10705337002/

Mullins volunteered to step down before the issue could be brought to a vote, agreeing to enter into separation negotiations with the board.

The following day, board member Campbell issued a statement, declaring the previous day “a very sad day – for me and for Brevard Public Schools” and calling the decision to fire Mullins “premature at best.” She continued:

“Yesterday was perhaps the most political meeting I have participated in since I began in 2018.

But…

Here is what I REALLY want the community to hear from me. Regardless of what you think about what happened yesterday or at any other meeting, PLEASE DON’T GIVE UP ON OUR SCHOOLS! Teachers and staff, please don’t quit. Businesses and community partners, please don’t stop giving your time and encouragement to support our students. I have already heard from some of you. We need your consistent support to help us through this time of transition and potential instability.”

https://thespacecoastrocket.com/katye-campbell-issues-statement-on-removal-of-brevard-schools-superintendent/

Heck, even Moms For Liberty founder Tina Descovitch, who had served on the Brevard board when Mullins was hired, released a statement questioning the call for a change in leadership and offering support for Mullins:

“He is a true servant leader and I believe the board will have a hard time finding someone to measure up.

In my opinion, there have been many failures of the board the last 2 years but the blame should lie with the school board. The superintendent is an employee of the board and his job is to carry out the will of the board.

https://thespacecoastrocket.com/moms-for-liberty-founder-tina-descovich-defends-superintendent-dr-mullins/

After forcing the superintendent to resign, the Board took up the topic of transgender bathrooms. At the October 19, 2022 Florida Board of Education (FLBOE) meeting, the FLBOE passed a new rule regarding transgender student use of bathroom (Rule 6A-10.086). The rule required, among other things, that “If a school board or charter school governing board has a policy or procedure that allows for separation of bathrooms or locker rooms according to some criteria other than biological sex at birth, the policy or procedure must be posted on the district’s website or charter school’s website, and must be sent by mail to student residences to fully inform parents.” The Brevard board voted 4-1 to comply with 6A-10.086 by requiring students to use bathrooms according to their biological sex at birth rather than notify parents otherwise by mail. Jenkins was to only board member to oppose the change.

The Brevard community responded to the board’s actions in a series of letters published in Florida Today:

“This school board made a terrible mistake from Day 1.“

“I was asked if I thought our superintendent of schools should have been terminated by the new school board…The answer is a resounding “No.”“

“We are entering a dark age in Brevard County. The people we have elected to advise and make decisions for our students are using their positions of power to condemn and suppress students and teachers alike. The culture of our community has shifted to one that is hateful and goes against everything most of my peers and I believe. I hope for the sake of future students and my family that people wake up and recognize that the actions of the school board go against almost all principles of kindness, compassion, and basic human decency.”

“The current policy is not only going to make the trans kids feel unwanted, and unsafe. It’s also going to result inevitably in trans kids being harmed or harming themselves, without even solving all the concerns of LGBTQ-phobic kids or parents. Is theirs really the best solution for all the kids? I don’t think so.“

“My heart is broken for our community. Today the Space Coast moved backward a few decades and this is only the beginning, folks.“

“This is a good time to remind everyone: Voting has consequences.“

https://news.yahoo.com/mullins-missed-bps-helm-florida-090002387.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Yep, voting clearly has consequences… Buckle up, folks, this is only week one.

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