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Flagler County School Board

School Board at Impasse With County and Palm Coast Over Billing Developers for New Schools

July 7, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

flagler schools construction ILA palm coast

The Flagler County School Board says it needs to collect a larger portion of impact fees up front to plan for $175 million in new school construction. The County Commission and Palm Coast object, proposing a plan that would let developers pay a smaller share up front, and pay as they go.

Taxable Values Surge at Highest Pace in 16 Years, Setting Up Windfall for Government

July 7, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Taxable values in Flagler County rose 18 percent higher than the previous year, the fastest pace since the housing boom's peak in 2006. (© FlaglerLive)

Taxable values in Flagler County rose 18 percent in 2021, higher than initially estimated two months ago. Values rose nearly 20 percent in Palm Coast, 14.5 percent in Flagler Beach and 22 percent in Bunnell. The school board’s taxable values increased by 25 percent. For local governments, the surging values can translate to surging revenue–if the governments do not hold the line on tax rates.

After 17 Years, Two School Board Members Put Flagler Youth Orchestra’s Future in Doubt

July 6, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 44 Comments

Superintendent Cathy Mittlestadt, right, in a solo performance at last May's year-ending concert of the Flagler Youth Orchestra at the Flagler Auditorium, under the direction of Joe Corporon, the FYO's artistic director. The Youth Orchestra has been a special project of the school district for 17 years. Some school board members are not as supportive of the model this year. (© AJ Neste for FlaglerLive)

Even as they professed support for what the Flagler Youth Orchestra has achieved and acknowledged its cost-effectiveness, School Board members Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright questioned whether the board should continue supporting the model.

Stray F Word and 14 Seconds of TikTok End Flagler Teacher Abbey Cooke’s Storied 13-Year Career

June 23, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 119 Comments

A tearful Abbey Cooke addressing the Flagler County School Board Tuesday evening, before the board voted to fire her. (© FlaglerLive via Flagler schools video)

The 3-1 vote to fire Abbey Cooke, for a dozen year a highly rated teacher and 2017 Teacher of the Year at Belle Terre Elementary, sent a chilling message to those who would challenge the board, or those who land on any board member’s hostile radar: the slightest misstep can and will be used against them.

School District’s Half-Penny Sales Surtax Renewal, for Tech and Safety, Will Be on the November Ballot

June 21, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Andy Dance was a school board member 10 years ago, when he successfully shepherded the renewal of the district's half-cent sales surtax to voter approval. Dance is now cheering on the renewal as a county commissioner. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission Monday evening approved on a 4-0 vote placing a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot to renew for the third time the school district’s half-penny sales surtax. The vote was not a surprise, though it reflects a shift from Commissioner Joe Mullins, who earlier this month was signaling opposition to the tax.

Flagler School Board Will Consider Arming Teachers and Staffers in Addition to Sheriff’s Deputies

June 16, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 73 Comments

Only sheriff's deputies may carry guns on Flagler school campuses. That may change if the school board embraces the state's program enabling trained civilian employees to be armed. (© FlaglerLive)

After declining to arm teachers in the wake of the Parkland massacre in 2018, the Flagler school district’s position may be shifting. The School Board last week agreed to hold a workshop to discuss whether the district should join the “guardian” program–not as a replacement of the sheriff’s deputies, but in addition to it.

More States and Districts are Arming Teachers, But Research Is Lacking on Strategy’s Effectiveness

June 16, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Gun-free school zones are on the decline, especially in Florida. (Laurie Avocado)

There is data on where and how armed personnel are used in school districts across the nation. There is less data on how effective that armed presence has been. That’s not a result of partisanship but simply a matter of fact: little systematic and peer-reviewed research has been carried out on the subject, and what little there is tends to lack the sort of rigor that can be the basis for sound conclusions one way or the other. 

Arrested for Driving School Bus Severely Drunk, He’s Back in Jail for Showing Up to Court Drunk

June 14, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

Mark McNeill in court on Monday. (Zoom via Wesh 2 News)

Mark McNeill, 60, was arrested in February for driving severely drunk with 40 Buddy Taylor Middle School students aboard. He appeared before a judge on Monday for a plea deal. He was drunk. The judge sent him back to jail. The plea deal is in doubt.

In Major Shake-Up, Bossardet Is New FPC Principal, Peacock to Wadsworth, LaShakia Moore is Deputy Superintendent

June 10, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Bobby Bossardet, left, is the new principal at Flagler Palm Coast High School, and LaShakia Moore is the new assistant superintendent for instruction. (© FlaglerLive and Flagler Schools)

The district insisted the two former assistant superintendents, Bobby Bossardet and Paul Peacock, were not being demoted back to principalships, a claim that was far more credible regarding Bossardet taking over FPC than it was about Peacock, who is taking over Wadsworth Elementary School and whose tenure at the district had been problematic.

District Readied to Open Summer School Without Deputies. Sheriff ‘Wasn’t Going to Tolerate It.’

June 7, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 34 Comments

Sheriff Rick Staly said the Flagler district prepared to open summer school at Rymfire Elementary with 350 students and no deputy requested. Livid at the possibility in light of the most recent school shooting, he ordered that a school resource deputy be dispatched to the school regardless, and told the district he’d be billing it regardless. The district has since conceded the point.

Flagler 3rd Graders’ Reading Scores Fall Again, to Lowest Level in 7 Years, Yet Rank 12th in State

May 31, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

testing 3rd graders

The percentage of Flagler County 3rd graders achieving a reading level of 3 (out of 5) or above–that is, reading at a satisfactory level–fell to 58 percent, the lowest level in at least seven years of comparable testing results, and down from last year’s 59 percent. Scores had peaked at 69 percent in 2017 and 68 percent in 2019, the year before the pandemic.

Replicating Math Textbook Censorship, Florida Tells Publishers to Kill Social Justice and CRT in History Books

May 19, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

florida history textbooks

The department is accepting bids from companies through June 10 to provide social-studies books for a five-year period starting in 2023. The department posted to its website a 29-page document that lists criteria for what is expected to be included in the books — and what’s expected to be left out.

TSA Agents Pay Early Morning Visit to Flagler County School Bus Drivers in Surprise Inspection

May 18, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Flagler County schools' bus drivers had a surprise inspection as they were preparing to roll out this morning. (© FlaglerLive)

As they were preparing to roll out early this morning Flagler County schools’ bus drivers got a surprise inspection from members of the Transportation Security Administration, the at-times dreaded federal agency and division of the Department of Homeland Security. It was a quietly pre-arranged safety drill by Transportation Director Dontarrious Rowls through the TSA’s “Security Enhancement Through Assessment” program.

Damaging Trust with Unions, Flagler School Board Rejects a Rebate to Employees that Its Own Teams Had Agreed To

May 17, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

Katie Hansen, president of the Flagler County Education Association, has suspended full-book negotiations with the district. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County school district’s teacher and service employee unions have suspended collective bargaining negotiations with the district following what both unions say is a breaking of a pledge by the district to award one-time health insurance premium rebates to employees. The unions consider that “bad faith,” breaking trust in the district, damaging what for many years had been cordial relations between the two sides, and raising the possibility of more formal measures.

Looking Past Shock to Continuity, Flagler Education Foundation Appoints Teresa Rizzo Its Next Director

May 13, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

Teresa Rizzo. (Flagler Education Foundation)

The Flagler Education Foundation, the school district’s non-profit support arm, appears to be making the same bet on Teresa Rizzo that it made on her late husband Joe, who had no fund-raising experience when he took over the organization, but vastly improved its its local impact between 2017 and 2022.

To School Board’s Janet McDonald, Freedom of Speech Doesn’t Belong in School and ‘Does Not Mean Freedom of Movement’ or Activity

May 5, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

Flagler County School Board member Janet McDonald. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County school Board member Janet McDonald staked out an extreme position against students’ free speech in schools during a discussion on a proposed policy controlling the place and manner of student demonstrations. The rest of the school board, however, is defending students’ right to protest even on school grounds, during school hours.

Mullins Misinformation and Commission’s Sly Maneuver Frame 4-1 Vote to Scrap School Board Deal

May 3, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 28 Comments

The four horsemen of the school board's apocalypse: from left, County Commissioners Dave Sullivan, Joe Mullins, Donald O'Brien and Greg Hansen. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission’s vote on Monday was on a significant policy matter controlling school construction and development that was not publicly noticed until hours before Monday’s meeting. It was yet another snub to process, to the Flagler County School Board, and it was colored by disinformation and inaccuracies from Commission Chairman Joe Mullins.

Say It Ain’t So, Jacob: Why Is Flagler’s Former Star Superintendent Drinking the Reactionary Kool-Aid?

April 23, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

Jacob Oliva (© FlaglerLive)

Jacob Oliva went from being one of the most progressive, innovative and inclusive superintendents in the history of Flagler County to a shill,  as one of two Florida senior chancellors of education, for the single most regressive, reactionary and just plain mean state departments of education in the nation. Something isn’t adding up. 

Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 17th-Year Roller Coaster Ride in Season-Ending Concert Monday, and Away from the Stage

April 22, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

joe corporon

The Flagler Youth Orchestra’s 200 performers are on stage at the Flagler Auditorium Monday evening for the 47th all-ensembles concert in the organization’s 17-year history, with surprise solo performances in the season-ending event, and a wide range of musical offerings.

Flagler School Board Will Clarify Student Demonstration Policy to Balance Rights and School Operations

April 20, 2022 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

The March 3 student walk-out at Flagler Palm Coast High School. (© FlaglerLive)

With some of its members still smarting from the “Don’t Say Gay” student walkouts at Matanzas and Flagler Palm Coast High School last month, the Flagler County School Board agreed to clarify a policy addressing boycotts and walkouts, both to preserve the rights of students to free expression and to protect school functions from disruption.

When Are Book Bans Unconstitutional? A 1st Amendment Scholar Explains

April 13, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

book bans constitutionality

Government actions that some may deem censorship – especially as related to schools – are not always neatly classified as constitutional or unconstitutional, because “censorship” is a colloquial term, not a legal term. Some principles can illuminate whether and when book banning is unconstitutional.

Palm Coast’s Belle Terre Park and Frieda Zamba Pool Need ‘Total Rebuild,’ But Council Is Wary of Another Expansion

April 13, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

One of several dangerous cracks running through the tennis courts at Belle Terre Park. The city's Parks and Recreation department says the whole park's facilities need a rebuild, including the swimming pool. (© FlaglerLive)

Palm Coast with Belle Terre Park and its Frieda Zamba Pool is in the same boat as the school district with its nearby Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club: both facilities are on their last legs and need millions in repairs or construction, but the two agencies have yet to discuss cooperation. On Tuesday, Palm Coast council members were taken aback by the extent of the needs at Belle Terre Park.

At Belle Terre Swim Club, Hours Cut 28%, Rates Stay the Same, and Plans to Migrate Programs There Are Shelved

March 30, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 3 Comments

The tennis court at the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club have been padlocked, but the courts are still standing. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County School district is planning to cut back hours at the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club significantly, including ending Sunday hours, while shelving plans to consolidate several programs onto the grounds of the club, which still has an identity crisis.

DeSantis Signs Bill Intensifying Scrutiny of School Library Books and Imposing 12-Year Limit on School Board Terms

March 25, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Watchwhatyou read.Even if it'snotinEnglish.(Valentin Salja on Unsplash)

Calling it a move toward “curriculum transparency,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a bill that will intensify scrutiny of school library books and instructional materials and impose 12-year term limits on school board members.

Superintendent Sharply Fends Off 2 School Board Members 2nd Guessing Handling of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Walkouts

March 24, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 24 Comments

Superintendent Cathy Mittlestadt. (© FlaglerLive)

School Board members Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright were upset the district allowed the March 3 “don’t say gay” walkouts at the two high schools, but Superintendent Cathy Mittlestadt drew a sharp line in the sand, reminding them that how administrators and staff handle issues at schools is not in the school board members’ purview. Mittlestadt and two other board members defended the administration’s handling of the walkouts.

Flagler Schools’ Library Policy Balancing Open Access With Parental-Choice Restrictions Becomes Model Across Florida

March 24, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

Lashakia Moore, the director of teaching and learning,

The policy, developed by Flagler schools’ Lashakia Moore, has drawn approbative attention from the Legislature, from the governor’s office and from other school districts. Other districts are now modeling their own policies after Flagler’s as they try to pre-empt book-banning controversies and comply with new state edicts giving parents more say in restricting access–without jeopardizing the mission of open libraries, open stacks and open minds.

10 Years After Adopting Strict Dress Code, Flagler School Board Faces Proposal That Would All But Abandon It

March 22, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

Students have been turning their back on the school district's dress code for years. The Flagler County School Board may finally be catching up. (© FlaglerLive)

A Flagler County school district committee is proposing to vastly scale back the rigidity of the dress code, or what’s left of it, 10 years after the School Board adopted a strict uniform policy–only for the policy to be relentlessly eroded over time.

County Finally Ratifies School Board’s Higher Impact Fees After Months of Obstruction on Builders’ Behalf

March 22, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

It'll cost $1,850 more to build. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County Commission late Monday night voted 5-0 to approve the first increase in school impact fees in 17 years, ending a seven-month confrontation between the commission and the school board as the commission refused to approve the board’s initial request for an increase and further pushed for exact concessions favoring home builders the school board was not willing to make. The new fees start in September.

In Blow to School District, County Would Allow Unlimited Development Whether Or Not There Are Enough Schools

March 21, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 17 Comments

"It's very transparent to me what is happening right now, and totally not appropriate," School Board member Colleen Conklin told the county commission this afternoon, in referrence to a commission plan to end school concurrency requirements ahead of new development. (© FlaglerLive via YouTube)

The Flagler County Commission is considering ending a long-standing smart-growth rule: There would no longer have to be sufficient school capacity for new development to go forward. The plan was unveiled only today, drawing sharp criticism from School Board member Colleen Conklin.

DeSantis and Florida Republicans Discover Their Inner Soviet

March 13, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 36 Comments

florida bigotry discrimination

It’s been a grim few weeks. Democracy, human rights and free speech are under assault as they’ve not been in generations. Misinformation and fabrications are carpet-bombing reality. Thought policing is muzzling expression and rewriting history as a worship-jerk. Individual freedom is in retreat. Authoritarianism–bullying, vengeful, exultant–is triumphant. 

For the Flagler Youth Orchestra, an Unsettling and Emotional Moving Day

March 12, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

All the stage is a whirl: Friday was moving day for the Flagler Youth Orchestra. (© FlaglerLive)

After 13 years in one location, Friday was moving day for the Flagler Youth Orchestra, which has been providing string-music instruction to hundreds of students every year for 17 years. Its director reflects on a transformative day amid anxious and enduring uncertainties.

A Storied Gay-Pride Flag Doubles Down Outside FPC as Veterans Lead Protest of Student Leader’s Suspension

March 8, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 13 Comments

Demonstrators protesting the law dubbed "Don;t Say Gay" outside of Flagler palm Coast High School in March. (© FlaglerLive)

Military veterans from Key West and Washington, D.C., led a protest that drew 30 people outside Flagler Palm Coast High School at dawn today in protest of the school suspending student-leader Jack Petocz last Thursday after he led an anti-“Don’t Say Gay” walkout and distributed gay-pride flags. Petocz’s suspension ended today.

‘Handful’ of Students Suspended Up to 3 Days Following Thursday ‘Say Gay’ Walkouts and Fight Over Trump Flag

March 7, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 28 Comments

Jack Petocz, near the center with a bullhorn, was one of several students suspended at Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School for different reasons following Thursday's walkout protesting lawmakers' "Don't Say Gay" bill. As of this afternoon, Petocz said he still didn't know how long his suspension was to be.

At least one student involved in a fight over a Trump flag that was deployed during the FPC suspension is among those who were suspended. The flag appears to have been deployed as a provocation of the students demonstrating, and was accompanied by taunts against the students, who were repeatedly called “faggots.”

Joe Rizzo, Dynamism Behind Education Foundation and Buoyant Booster of All Things Flagler, Is Dead at 47

March 7, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

Joe Rizzo. (© FlaglerLive)

Joe Rizzo, executive director of the Flagler Education Foundation, former co-owner of Woody’s BBQ and other restaurants, and an unflagging cheerleader of all things Flagler, died overnight or early this morning. He was 47.

15 Year Old Charged With Hate Crime for Brutalizing Palm Coast Boy for Being Gay, at a Shelter

March 5, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 20 Comments

The alleged attack took place at SMA Healthcare's shelter for youths off Route 92 in Daytona Beach on Friday. The facility bills itself as a "Safe Place." (SMA)

A 15-year-old Orange City boy was charged with a felony battery count after allegedly assaulting and brutalizing a 16-year-old Palm Coast boy while calling him a “faggot.” The incident, captured by surveillance cameras, took place at a secure SMA Healthcare facility in Daytona Beach. The victim was so severely beaten that his right eye was partially shut and he may have suffered a broken wrist.

A Parent’s Counsel to FPC Principal Greg Schwartz: Accommodate LGBTQ Students, Don’t Suspend Them

March 3, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

This morning's message at FPC. The school suspended the leader of the protest. (© FlaglerLive)

Randall Bertrand, the parent of an LGBTQ student who was at the forefront of the effort to protect gender-identity rights in the district, recommends to Flagler Palm Coast High School Principal Greg Schwartz how to diffuse the situation at FPC after the principal opted to suspend student-protest organizer Jack Petocz following today’s walkout protesting anti-LGBTQ legislation.

‘Say Gay! Say Gay! Say Gay!’ FPC Students Chant in Walkout Protesting Bills; Organizer Jack Petocz Is Suspended

March 3, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 50 Comments

Jack Petocz, left, at the height of the walkout he organized this morning at Flagler Palm Coast High School, an hour or two before he was suspended pending an investigation. (© FlaglerLive)

Hundreds of students at Flagler Palm Coast High School staged a 12-minute walkout this morning to protest bills nearing passage in the Legislature that would silence educators’ freedom to discuss certain topics, including gender identity, sexual orientation and certain anti-racism themes. Jack Petocz, the organizer of the protest, was suspended after the event.

Full Federal Appeals Court Re-Hears St. Johns Schools Transgender Bathroom Case

February 23, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 11 Comments

st johns bathroom case

In a case with local and national implications, a previous, three-judge panel of the court had ruled in favor of the student who was denied use of the boys’ bathroom. The St. Johns school district appealed to the full court.

County’s Approval of Flagler Schools’ Impact Fee Increase Again Delayed, and Patience Wears Thin

February 22, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

The Flagler County School District and the county administration share the same building, and the same floor, but interpret construction's impact on school enrollment very differently. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County School District and the county administration share the same building, and the same floor, but interpret construction’s impact on school enrollment very differently, thus causing one further delay that means the district will not see increased revenue from its development impact fees until a year later than it hoped.

The GOP Is Using ‘Parental Rights’ to End Public Education as We Know It

February 21, 2022 | Pierre Tristam | 38 Comments

Florida's Parents' Bill of Rights capsizes ethical norms, placing parental rights ahead of those of children. (Stephen Harlan on Unsplash)

The Florida GOP is using the Parents’ Bill of Rights to weaponize a minority of insurrectionist parents against schools, giving parents the right to violate privacy and autonomy where it counts most at school: between students and teacher. No wonder there’s a teacher exodus. It’s just what the GOP wants. Destruction from within. 

A Flagler Palm Coast High School Student’s Message to Lawmakers: Stop Policing My Education

February 17, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

classroom surveillance

A spate of GOP bills in the Florida Legislature seek to sever the trust and safety inherent in the confidentiality of student-teacher discussions, putting the safety of students at risk and further accelerating an exodus of teachers and other education professionals from the profession at a time of critical teacher shortages in Florida.

In Sharp Retreat from County’s and Builders’ Barrage, School Board Adopts Much Smaller Impact Fee Increase

February 10, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

In inflation-adjusted dollars, the impact fee rate for single family homes the Flagler school board approved Wednesday–$5,450–is not an increase, but merely an adjustment in keeping with inflation. In constant dollars it is the same rate set in 2004. It was a major concession to home builders and the county commission.

For Second Time in 3 Weeks, Flagler School Board Members Reject Declaration Against Hate

February 1, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

The Flagler County School Board attempted to discuss civility at a "retreat" last September. There were too many recriminations. (© FlaglerLive)

An attempt by Flagler County School Board member Colleen Conklin to revisit a proclamation denouncing hate speech failed today, with School Board member Jill Woolbright calling the debate a “waste of time” and Janet McDonald calling hate speech subjective.

Dear Chairman Tucker: Don’t Appease School Board’s Crackpots

February 1, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

The Flagler County School Board's Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald. (© FlaglerLive)

School Board members Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright are directly and exclusively responsible for the board’s degradation into binges of deceit and zealotry. Until they have their third vote, it’s in Chairman Trevor Tucker’s power to re-assert the reality-based majority he speaks for. Anything less is appeasement–or complicity.

FPC’s Jack Petocz Is Featured at Length in Page One New York Times Story on Schools’ Book Bans

January 31, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

Jack Petocz, center, holding a copy of All Boys Aren't Blue, at the protest he organized against book bans by the school district last November. Next to him is Flagler Palm Coast High School student Alysa Vidal, holding the sign Petocz made and was featured holding in one of the New York Times' pictures, and School Board member candidate Courtney VandeBunte. (© FlaglerLive)

Jack Petocz, the Flagler Palm Coast High School senior who organized last November’s protest against two local school board members’ attempt to ban books from school libraries, is featured today in a Page One New York Times article that examines a surge of attempted and actual book bans in school districts across the country, including in Flagler.

Jacob Oliva, Still a Flagler Resident, Is One of Three Finalists for Miami-Dade Superintendent

January 23, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 2 Comments

Jacob Oliva during his interview for superintendent in Flagler in 2014. (© FlaglerLive)

Jacob Oliva, senior chancellor of education and a former superintendent of Flagler County schools, is one of three finalists for superintendent in Miami-Dade, the nation’s fourth-largest district. The nine-member Miami-Dade school board will interview him for the job, along with two other candidates, on Monday.

Flagler School District Library Plan: Parents May Ban Books for Their Own Kids, But Not Others

January 18, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 16 Comments

Flagler County school libraries' open open stacks will get new safeguards. (© FlaglerLive)

Book bans may be a thing of the past in Flagler County schools as the district today presented a library opt-out provision for prohibitive parents, while leaving access free to all books for all other students. The approach, as draconianly restrictive for those who want to exercise it and as liberal as a university library’s open-stack policy for the freer-minded could, in effect, make even book challenges moot.

Flagler District Rescinds Letter of Reprimand in Case of Wadsworth Teacher Who Told Story About ‘Black Boy’

January 10, 2022 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

The complaint that triggered an internal investigation at Wadsworth Elementary was filed in September. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County school district has rescinded a letter of reprimand to Wadsworth Elementary teacher Stacey Smith after Smith appealed the penalty. It had resulted from Smith telling her fifth grade students during Math class about an experience she had with “a beautiful Black boy” or “poor little Black boy” while teaching in Chicago at the beginning of her career.

School Board’s Woolbright Objects to Citing “Hate Groups” in Statement Denouncing Hate, and Blames “All Groups”

January 5, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 18 Comments

Flagler County School Board member Jill Woolbright objected to a statement's inclusion of words denouncing hate groups. (© FlaglerLive)

Flagler County School Board member on Tuesday objected to including the words “hate group” in a denunciation of hate against students, and in a stunning equivalence, said she witnessed “poor behavior” from “all groups,” in essence equating students protesting book bans in November with a group of adults who turned out to taunt, insult and hurl threats at them.

Flagler’s Omicron-Led Covid Infections Surge Toward Record as DeSantis Sees Schools and Business as Usual

January 3, 2022 | FlaglerLive | 23 Comments

Omicron's extremely infectious capabilities are apparent in Flagler County, where in the last four days the health department counted nearly 600 confirmed infections, and projects over 1,000 by Friday. Click on the graph for larger view. (© FlaglerLive)

Infection numbers are surging across Florida, but in a 50-minute news conference this morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo not only projected a business-as-usual approach, but said testing protocols will be revised toward less testing, with testing and treatment focused on higher-risk patients, while schools are to remain open and operating under previously relaxed guidelines that de-emphasize quarantines, masking and distancing.

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  • We need an audit on Palm Coast Relieves Itself 3 Years Late as Much-Needed $31 Million Sewer Plant Expansion Doubles Capacity 
  • Randall on County’s Greg Hansen Accuses Kim Carney of ‘Sabotaging’ Beach Protection Plan; She Accuses Staff of Stumbling
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  • Endless dark money on Sheriff Recognizes 911 Dispatcher Megan Flores and Deputies Manka and Held Who Saved 9-Year-Old Boy
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  • JimboXYZ on How Tariffs Are Hurting America’s 35 Million Small Businesses
  • Jon Tibbets on Flagler Commission Hires Michael Rodriguez Its Next County Attorney as Al Hadeed Era Closes
  • Ed P on County’s Greg Hansen Accuses Kim Carney of ‘Sabotaging’ Beach Protection Plan; She Accuses Staff of Stumbling
  • Deborah Coffey on How Tariffs Are Hurting America’s 35 Million Small Businesses
  • Deborah Coffey on Never as Powerful, Florida Republicans Warn Against Complacency and Ridicule Protesters at Orlando Forum
  • JC on County’s Greg Hansen Accuses Kim Carney of ‘Sabotaging’ Beach Protection Plan; She Accuses Staff of Stumbling
  • Skeptical about thr Flagler County Republicans. on County’s Greg Hansen Accuses Kim Carney of ‘Sabotaging’ Beach Protection Plan; She Accuses Staff of Stumbling
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  • avceqq on Two Defendants in Disturbing Cases Get a Taste of Terence Perkins as Senior Judge: No Bond for You
  • FlaglerLive on How Tariffs Are Hurting America’s 35 Million Small Businesses

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