In a scathing ruling Friday, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker blocked the University of Florida from enforcing a controversial conflict-of-interest policy that gave school administrators discretion over allowing professors to serve as expert witnesses in litigation.
Schools
FPC’s Jim Gambone, a Math Teacher, and Nutrition Manager Judy Gallo are Flagler Schools’ Employees of the Year
Jim Gambone, a math teacher at Flagler-Palm Coast High School is this year’s Teacher of the Year in the district, and Judy Gallo, an area manager for Food and Nutrition Services, is the Flagler Schools Employee of the Year.
House GOP Wants Lower School Board Salaries and Higher Scrutiny of Library Books
The proposal (HB 1467) approved by the House Education & Employment Committee in a 13-7 vote Thursday would require schools to post information about the selection of books and instructional materials on their websites.
Flagler School District Library Plan: Parents May Ban Books for Their Own Kids, But Not Others
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.
Federal Judge Ridicules UF Attorney’s Attempt to Smear Professors in Conflict-of-Interest Battle
In a fiery hearing Friday, a federal judge excoriated a lawyer for the University of Florida who accused political science professors of having “misled” the court in a lawsuit challenging the school’s conflict-of-interest policy.
2 Pedestrian Bridges on Rymfire Drive Will Be Fixed Over the Next Few Weeks
The City of Palm Coast will make repairs to the Rymfire Drive Parkway pedestrian bridges due to deterioration. These bridges are part of the pedestrian walkway near Rymfire Elementary School. The repairs will begin on Monday, January 10 and the completion is expected to take four to five weeks.
Flagler District Rescinds Letter of Reprimand in Case of Wadsworth Teacher Who Told Story About ‘Black Boy’
The Flagler County school district has rescinded a letter of reprimand to Wadsworth Elementary teacher Stacey Smith after Smith appealed the penalty.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”
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.
Private Universities Switch to Remote Learning as Covid Surges, But Florida’s Public Universities Will Not
Several private colleges and universities such as Harvard, Howard, Stanford, Syracuse and Northwestern plan to resume classes in a virtual setting for at least part of the spring semester. So far, none of Florida’s public universities are making that transition, despite concerns from faculty union leaders that officials aren’t making the right decisions to protect campus communities throughout Florida.
Flagler’s Omicron-Led Covid Infections Surge Toward Record as DeSantis Sees Schools and Business as Usual
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.
University System Officials Urge Vaccinations and Return to Masking As Spring Semester Nears
Saying it is “clear the pandemic is not over,” top university system officials are asking students and employees to wear masks on campus and get booster shots to protect against Covid-19 as the spring semester prepares to start.
Proposal Would Lead to Surveillance Cameras in Every Classroom, and Teachers to Wear Microphones
School districts could adopt policies that lead to installing cameras in classrooms and requiring teachers in the classrooms to wear microphones, under a Florida House proposal filed this week. Local school boards would have to vote on the proposal–and pay for it.
Our Thirty Years’ War: Schlesinger’s The Disuniting of America
What historian Arthur Schlesinger had detected in 1992 in a few trends is now orthodoxy–from both sides, neither for the better. The “ethnic rage” of diversity-preaching liberals and the fundamentalist, doctrinaire “monoculturalism” of conservatives has the country in a state of paralysis. Schlesinger wanted a renewed melting pot. But that’s not the solution.
5th Grade Teacher at Wadsworth Elementary Disciplined Over Inappropriate Story About ‘Beautiful Black Boy’
A Wadsworth Elementary teacher told her students a “story” about an inner-city Black student living with violence and poverty and, and told her students–according to their accounts–that they were privileged or blessed to be where they were, leading to disciplinary action against the teacher for being inappropriate and unprofessional.
Florida Department of Education Removes LGBTQ Resources. Nikki Fried Provides Her Own Instead.
Advocates complain that removing resources for LGBTQ students is the latest attack on LGBTQ Floridians by the DeSantis administration. Earlier this month, the department scrubbed dozens of informational links from its webpage on “Bullying Prevention.”
Continuing a Pre-Covid Trend, State College Enrollment Continues To Shrink Sharply
The steady decline of college enrollment in Florida began long before the coronavirus pandemic. The system now has about 100,000 fewer students than it did at the height of enrollment a decade ago. The 2010-11 academic year had an enrollment of 375,292 college students.
As Another Bogus TikTok Variant Stalks Schools Everywhere, Flagler District Urges Responsibility and Vigilance
A threat, spread across the nation on TikTok, the faceless social media bullhorn, is not credible or specific to most locations, as police and school authorities keep saying, but a day rife with absenteeism even in the most normal of times may turn into an attendance rout even as officials urge reason.
Palm Coast’s R-Section Getting 1st Large-Scale Apartment Complex, a 216-Unit Plan Near Rymfire Elementary
The Palm Coast Planning Board recommended approval of a development plan for a 216-unit apartment complex at the southwest end of the R Section. It is to be called Red Mill Pointe, and would become the first large-scale apartment complex of the R-Section. The second tract zoned for it, in the central-west portion of the R Section, is yet undeveloped.
Federal Officials Drop Feud Over School Masking as Districts End Defiance and State Returns Money Owed
In early November, citing steep drops in local coronavirus cases, the last of the eight districts came into compliance with the health department’s rule aimed at preventing mask requirements. The state education department on Nov. 29, returned nearly $878,000 to districts.
Flagler School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin Survives ‘Witch Hunt’ as Board Votes 3-2 to Renew Contract
School Board Chairman Trevor Tucker joined members Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro to rebuff an attempt by fellow-Board members Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright to fire in-house attorney Kristy Gavin, who’s been with the district since 2006. The move to fire her was underscored ideological dissatisfaction and vague claims at variance with years of positive recommendations.
Embry-Riddle Student John Hagins, 19, Arrested on Allegations of Plan to Shoot Up University
An Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student was arrested early Thursday for allegedly plotting a shooting on the campus, the Daytona Beach Police Department said. Police arrested 19-year-old John Hagins after receiving “a concerning tip” from other students.
With $40,000 Award, FPC’s Dylan Long, 18, Is Flagler County’s First Leader For Life Fellow
Dylan Long, a future computer scientist in the International Baccalaureate program, is the Flagler County school district’s first-ever winner of the $40,000 Leader for Life grant award from the Delray Beach-based Asofsky Foundation. The award is administered through the state’s and the county’s Take Stock in Children program by way of the Flagler Education Foundation.
SAT Re-Takes Offered at No Cost Following School Board’s Janet McDonald’s Interference At Matanzas High School
The College Board, the organization that offers college-entrance exams such as the SAT and Advanced Placement tests, is offering SAT retakes at no costs to students who took the test at Matanzas High School on Dec. 4. The re-take offer, which is voluntary, is a direct consequence of Flagler County School Board member Janet McDonald interfering with the process last Saturday, when she went to the school and urged students not to wear protective face masks, in direct violation of College Board rules.
‘Equity’ Returns to Flagler Schools’ Goals After Dubious Exile. Just Call It ‘Educational Equity.’
After a brief, confusing exile for reasons never entirely explained, Equity is back in the Flagler County school district’s proposed strategic plan, or core goals. The school board at a workshop today agreed to restore the word, which had been replaced with “student support,” and set aside the controversy that had surrounded the word’s use only recently.
Banning LGBTQ-Themed Books From Flagler Schools Is an Attempt to Erase Students Like Me. We Will Not Stand For It.
Linking the vile and threatening language his student-led demonstration drew outside a school board meeting in November to the superintendent’s decision to ban an LGBTQ-themed book for now, Jack Petocz, a student at Flagler Palm Coast High School, calls on the superintendent to reconsider the decision and consider its consequences.
Superintendent’s Decision: ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue’ Banned for Now, Other Books Return to Library Shelves
Following the challenges of four titles by Flagler School Board member Jill Woolbright and a review by a book-challenge committee, the superintendent decided to return three of the four titles to their shelves but withhold a fourth pending new protocols that could still provide access.
Boxed in Between Flagler School Board and Builders, County Corrects the Record on Impact Fees
The Flagler County administration issued a tightly argued and at times caustic memo that draws a line between facts and polemics and between legal and speculative arguments in the ongoing debate over school impact fees,. While it corrects the school district in no uncertain terms on several points of law–or math–it also comes close to ridiculing the Flagler Home Builders Association’s arguments as simplistic. It also appears to forge a way out of the impasse for the County Commission.
Violating Facilities and College Board Agreements, School Board’s McDonald Peddles More Masking Falsehoods at SAT Testing Site
Flagler County School Board member Janet McDonald stood guard at a Matanzas High School SAT testing site Saturday, where she had no jurisdiction and was not authorized to be, countering College Board requirements that students must wear masks while testing. The College Board is investigating.
Liberals Must See Past the No-Exit Calvinism of Critical Race Theory
Reactionaries have effectively fabricated a crisis over critical race theory. But on its own terms, CRT can be problematic. It rests on a deterministic view of human beings that should make anyone who believes in individual freedom uncomfortable. Liberals have yet to grasp that reactionary anger has a point, though CRT can still show the way out.
UF Board Chairman Mori Hosseini Blasts Professors Testifying Against New Election Law
During a meeting Friday, UF Board of Trustees chairman Mori Hosseini led the charge in sharply criticizing the professors and rallying around university President Kent Fuchs, though Hosseini appeared to misunderstand the scope of professors’ academic freedom.
Matanzas High School Student Who Assaulted Teacher Is Found Incompetent to Stand Trial
An 18-year-old student in a Matanzas High School class class for behaviorally challenged students, facing a felony charge after assaulting a teacher, was found incompetent to stand trial–and not qualified to be sent to a state psychiatric hospital while awaiting a return to competency.
Committee Reviewing Books 2 Board Members Want Banned Completes Its Work as District Sounds Out Librarians
The findings of a committee judging the appropriateness of four books for school libraries are expected imminently, as new book challenges have been filed and the Flagler district’s eight librarians were interviewed by district staff about their practices.
School Shootings Are At a Record High This Year. They Can Be Prevented.
The shooting at Oxford High School was one of 222 school shootings in 2021, an all-time high, according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s K-12 School Shooting Database.
American Library Association Condemns Broad Censorship of Books on Race and LGBTQ in Schools and Libraries
Some individuals and officials say the voices of the marginalized have no place on library shelves. Including in Flagler, they have launched campaigns demanding the censorship of books and resources that mirror the lives of those who are gay, queer, or transgender, or that tell the stories of persons who are Black, Indigenous or persons of color.
Anti-CRT Lawmakers Are Passing Pro-CRT Laws
Anti-CRT messaging has emerged as a signature – and potent – GOP political talking point. But while Republicans introduced 54 CRT-related bills across 24 states, most of these bills – if you take seriously their actual text – call for more CRT, not less.
FPC Teacher Forced Out: He’d Paid Student $5,569, Had Relationship With Her, and Lied on Job Application
Timothy Whitfield, a 44-year-old resident of Palm Coast hired as a history teacher at Flagler Palm Coast High School last year, was effectively fired two months ago following sheriff’s and district investigations that uncovered grave ethical improprieties but no criminal findings. Whitfield had maintained a relationship with a female student, paid her nearly $6,000 through 127 cash-app transactions, and lied on his job application.
Flagler School Libraries Face Chilling Dangers Beyond Book Bans
Book-banning doesn’t really exist: ban a book, and it gains more notoriety than ever. The danger ahead in Flagler schools is Board members Jill Woolbright’s and Janet McDonald’s attempt to keep certain books from even reaching library shelves before they’re bought, thus eliminating the glare of controversy. That kind of self-censorship is far more damaging to diversity on Flagler’s library shelves.
On Book Bans, ‘Equity’ and the School District’s Duty to Honor Student Diversity: The Students’ Perspective
Karissa Jackson and Kaylee Briggs are among the more outspoken student board members who have served on the Flagler County School Board. They both addressed the ongoing attempt by Board members Jill Woolbright and Janet McDonald to remove or review books from school libraries.
Closing Inquiry, Sheriff Rebuffs Charge of ‘Crime’ in Book Controversy; Woolbright Wants ‘All Young Adult Books Checked’
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office found no grounds for a criminal inquiry into School Board member Jill Woolbright’s charge that making “All Boys Aren’t Blue” available to students was a “crime.” The sheriff was sharply critical of having been brought into a position of making judgments he said are the responsibility of the board and its processes. The inquiry also dismissed claims that Woolbright faced any immediate threat, as had been claimed.
Congressional Committee Launches Probe into University of Florida Policy That Gagged Professors
In a letter to University of Florida President Kent Fuchs on Thursday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said the panel has opened a probe into UF’s conflict-of-interest policy used to silence professors, saying it “undermines the academic and free speech values that are essential” to higher education.
Buddy Taylor’s Cara Cronk and Indian Trails’ Amy Neuenfeldt Are Flagler Schools’ Top Administrators of the Year
Cara Cronk, principal at Buddy Taylor Middle School is the Flagler Schools Principal of the Year. She’s held her current position since last year. Amy Neuenfeldt is the Flagler Schools Assistant Principal of the Year. She has been an assistant principal at Indian Trails Middle School since 2017.
School Board’s Cheryl Massaro Reverses Against Dropping ‘Equity’ in District Goals’ Language
Cheryl Massaro had previously joined three other board members on Nov. 2 in directing Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt to drop the word “equity” from the district’s upcoming Strategic Plan. Tuesday, she said she wanted the matter brought back up for discussion, and that she was no longer in favor of dropping the word.
Trevor Tucker Is Re-Elected Flagler School Board Chair in Nomination Reflecting Guile Behind Deep Divisions
Trevor Tucker was unanimously re-elected chairman of the Flagler County School Board board, with Colleen Conklin re-elected vice-chair. The unanimity of the Tucker vote hides deep divisions on the board that were reflected both in the Conklin vote and the nomination of Tucker.
Why All Boys Aren’t Blue Belongs in High School Libraries: A Response to Brian McMillan
Palm Coast Observer Editor Brian McMillan would restrict the book at the center of a controversy from high school libraries, even though he doesn’t find it pornographic. His argument and his prescription are untenable, because they rest on an analogy that has no application to George Johnson’s “All Boys Aren’t Blue.” A school district committee is currently reviewing the book’s status.
Help Make Flagler County Known for Progress, Tolerance and Growth Instead of Ignorance and Hate
Offering the perspective of a parent, Palm Coast resident Courtney Hildreth calls on the Flagler School Board to re-focus on academic and intellectual freedom, ensuring access to age-appropriate literature, filling classroom vacancies, and preserving principles of equity and acceptance.
Student Protesters Face Hail of Vile Obscenities, Taunts and Threats From Group Claiming to Speak For Children
Students and parents protesting against a potential book ban in school libraries were confronted with a loose band of counter-protesters at the Government Services Building Tuesday evening, some of them in camouflage and body armor, taunting with obscenities, homophobic slurs and threats even as they claimed to object to “obscene” books. Sheriff’s deputies kept the taunts from escalating beyond the verbal.
Potential Book Ban in Schools Galvanizes 2 Sides in Day of Highs and Lows as Sheriff Recoils at Criminal Complaint
the Flagler County School Board today contended with the fallout of a criminal complaint and call for a book ban filed by Board member Jill Woolbright, and did so for 10 hours, from a lengthy and at times ugly workshop to a student-led demonstration marred by harassment and insults by detractors to an evening meeting that stretched past 11 p.m.
The County Commission’s Choice Tonight: Filth or Statesmanship
The Flagler County Commission this evening is set to elect a new chairman, with Joe Mullins in line for the job, unless fellow-commissioners think better than to choose a bigot to represent them and the county. The School Board elects a chair Tuesday evening, with its own dilemmas.
Cheryl Massaro Rebukes Fellow School Board Member Woolbright Over ‘Rogue’ Attacks on Books and Superintendent
In a statement issued Sunday night, School Board member Cheryl Massaro said fellow-Board member Jill Woolbright “crossed the line when she filed a criminal complaint against the Flagler Schools’ Superintendent and Attorney” over Woolbright’s attempt to ban books. Massaro sharply rebuked the attempted censorship of books and said Woolbright doesn’t speak for the board.
The Live Interview: Author George M. Johnson Speaks to Those Who Want Book Banned From Flagler Schools
George M. Johnson, author of “All Boys Aren’t Blue, one of the books School Board member Jill Woolbright calls a “crime” to have in schools and wants banned, speaks to FlaglerLive about frequent experiences with “the purity brigade,” differences between porn and sex, the orchestration behind current book bans and what Johnson would tell the district committee reviewing the book.