Reeling from public criticism and media reports last week over her twitter account, which she uses to disseminate demeaning, at times bigoted, often false information, Flagler County School Board Chairman Janet McDonald Tuesday evening personally shut down a student’s speech during the school board’s first public comment period the moment the student mentioned her name critically.
Jack Petocz, a student in Flagler Palm Coast High School’s International Baccalaureate program, was allowed to deliver remarks at the end of the meeting, nearly three hours into the session. But only after the text had been self-censored and edited, purportedly in compliance with the board’s rules. Petocz cited the advice of two people to “redact” his statement. Those rules had raised questions as soon as they were issued. (See the full, unedited statement here.)
Both interventions stunned at least two of the school board members–Andy Dance and Colleen Conklin, who condemned McDonald’s move and called for a rewrite of the rules–producing one of the ugliest meetings of the board in recent memory. Dance called it “a low point” in his more-than decade-long tenure on the board.
“I felt like she was just changing the rules to push her narrative and prevent me from speaking my piece,” Petocz said after the meeting. “The fact that I even had to modify it so it didn’t say the ‘chair’ is honestly so despicable. When she interrupted me, I was trying to tell her that I was following all the rules but she shut me down. Even though she stated before if a rule was broken, which it wasn’t because I didn’t refer to her name or any specific pronouns, I would be given a warning. She just shut it down immediately.”
McDonald’s interventions were a culmination of issues she’s faced since she’s been asked to account for her public pronouncements. Last week and the week before articles in the Observer and FlaglerLive revealed a string of tweets and retweets McDonald posted on her 7-year-old twitter feed, many of them demeaning of or insulting protesters, the Black Lives Matter movement, public schools, gays, the media, liberals, the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine science and others. Rarer is the tweet that indicates empathy or understanding for the groups her tweets and retweets seethe against.
The 6 o’clock meeting Tuesday evening was preceded by a nearly four-hour workshop of the school board, that one barely attended by the public. At the end of the workshop, McDonald said she wanted to address “all the furor that was in the media.” She said she regarded twitter “as just information sharing,” not an endorsement of what she posts. “As far as something you might have read in print, I want to reference Mark Twain: ‘If you don’t read the newspapers or any blog or anything else, or weekly, you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper or a blog or a weekly, you are misinformed.’ So just so you know that I’ve had conversations with folks, and it’s not necessarily what I’ve said. I apologize for any angst that anybody experienced. I tried to clarify what was on whatever, social media, and it was twisted and turned. So I apologized to anyone who took that for truth.”
McDonald was again herself explicitly and repeatedly doing what she accuses others of doing: mischaracterizing, misinforming, misquoting.
If anything she had said in interviews was “twisted and turned,” she never said how, indicate any specifics, asked for any corrections or any clarifications, even though she was offered the chance. She was also offered an open invitation to respond to the “furor” in her own words, at any length she chose, without editing or filtering. She declined.
Twain, of course, never said what she claimed he said. She fabricated the quote to suit her ends which, had a student done so in an essay, would have raised serious questions of intellectual dishonesty and ethics. (“I didn’t know Mark Twain said all that,” Conklin told her after the meeting. “They had blogs back then?” Dance asked her, laughing. “I just figured, if it was the media, it was newspapers, it was stuff like that, it fit, anyway,” McDonald said.) If she had spent perhaps 30 seconds on the Internet verifying the original quote often attributed to Twain (“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read it, you’re misinformed”) she would have discovered that Twain–whose career at many points depended on newspapers–never said that line, though it continues to be mis-attributed to him by unscrupulous columnists and others.
Nevertheless, despite being gently chided by her colleagues at the end of the workshop, McDonald again repeated the same quote, with the same attribution, as she opened the 6 o’clock meeting of the board.
The meeting then proceeded with its usual spotlights then segued into public comment. More than a dozen people had gathered outside before the meeting for a demonstration supportive of LGBTQ rights. Several of the individuals in the demonstration addressed the board, among them Randall Bertrand, the father of a transgender student whose case galvanized the local movement for LGBT rights in schools. Bertrand asked the board to rewrite a non-discrimination policy in light of Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court recognizing that Title VII defines “sex” as including gender identity. The board had refused to include the words “gender identity” in its policy.
The last speaker was Petocz. “Throughout recent times,” he began, “hatred towards minority groups have become increasingly commonplace throughout our world. From the Trump administration’s continual pursuit of reversal of LGBTQ+ rights, to extreme and racially motivated police brutality, in states across our nation. Instead of utilizing her platform to speak out against this hate, the chairperson of the Flagler schools board has only amplified and supported discrimina–”
“I have to stop you, sir,” McDonald intervened. “ I made an announcement at the beginning that we cannot have individuals called out. I would really welcome a direct conversation with you. This is not the work of the board. This is an issue you have with me, and I acted individually as an educator sharing information by a social media platform.”
Again, McDonald was mischaracterizing: Petocz’s statement was referring directly to LGBTQ matters that had been before the board, and would continue to be–if McDonald allowed it. “So I’m going to have to stop,” she said. “This is not for the board meeting.”
In fact, when McDonald read the rules of decorum at the beginning of the meeting, she noted that “the chair may warn speakers” if there was a transgression from the rules–not cut one off and end the presentation. McDonald broke that rule, shutting down Petocz outright. When the rules were drafted earlier this year, and the board discussed them, board members–Dance and Conklin–had made clear that the naming of individuals applied only to individual students and staffers, not to board members.
Kristy Gavin, the school board attorney, did not speak up other than to say there were no more speakers. Conklin did speak up, though by then Petocz had walked off. “I understand that the use of a name was used during the comments,” she said. “The individual could have continued with his public comment whether we like it or not.” McDonald tried to interrupt. Conklin asked to be allowed to continue. Conklin said there’s room for disallowing people to call out individuals by name, but “we have to be careful in not allowing them to express themselves and share. If there’s a comment made, it’s not just about a tweet.” She said a warning should have been issued first. Soon afterward, Bertrand spoke up in protest from the audience and was approached by a sheriff’s deputy, but not taken out of the room. Gavin soon afterward called for a five-minute recess. She offered to Petocz to submit his unedited comment for the written record, but he said he wanted to deliver it in person.
The board resumed its scheduled business. Then came the second public comment period, when members of the public again were afforded the chance to speak, among them Bertrand, who stressed that the board is violating a person’s First Amendment rights when comments are restricted. “I highly recommend you retract that, because I’m done asking,” he told the board, “and if you choose to continue this action, I’m just going to tell you, you’d better lawyer up.” Case law is substantially on his side.
Another member of the public told the board that McDonald (without naming McDonald) had herself used board time “for personal gain and also for self-serving purposes” to explain and defend “personal actions, as well as time being used to express feelings of being misunderstood and misrepresented.” The speaker wondered about the double-standard “regarding rules and also regarding what’s acceptable conduct at board meetings.” Others echoed the sentiment. A few speakers later, Petocz spoke his statement–the sanitized version. McDonald was turned into “a member” of the school board.
In the board members’ closing segment, again only Dance, Conklin and McDonald addressed the issue, with Dance starting by reading a statement on the killing of George Floyd, the unarmed black man murdered by a police officer in late May. Dance then addressed McDonald’s shut-down.
He apologized to Petocz for “getting cut off earlier.”
“Tonight was kind of a low point for me on the board. It was tough,” Dance said. “I think there is a fine line between free speech and our board rules. I have never, as an elected official, I’ve never thought that our board policies, at least to me, any comments that were reflected to me, I mean, I sit and take them, I’m the elected official, that’s what I signed up for. But it’s really to protect our staff. Our staff isn’t the one that went out and ran for election.” Attacking staff shouldn’t be allowed, he said. “But as an elected official, I’ve gone through the process and I’ve put myself out there. If you’ve got something to say and you come up to the podium, I’m going to sit here and take it. So we as a board, based on tonight, we may have to again–I’m the one that says we’ve got to go back and review our processes. I think we need to look at our board rules in a future meeting and just to find what is acceptable and what’s not.”
“I’m sad by the tenor not just our board meeting this evening, but the tenor of what’s happening in our country right now,” Conklin said, calling for empathy and cooler heads. She agreed with Dance. “We all signed up for this,” she said, “but the emotion of the moment is not lost.” Turning to McDonald, she said what she knows of McDonald personally doesn’t match what she’s read in her twitter feed, “but I think that there is an opportunity to acknowledge that those tweets were very offensive to some in the community, and they were. They just were. And so I think that’s where that frustration is coming from. But I would encourage all of us to recognize that there is a place for civil discourse, that discourse doesn’t have to be negative, it’s an opportunity to open up and to learn from each other. That goes both ways.”
McDonald said “tweets, written expression, is so dangerous to put any stock in, it’s a frivolous kind of message.” She did not explain why she’s kept on tweeting, but blamed “blogs.”
“Happy first meeting,” McDonald told Cathy Mittelstadt, the new superintendent sitting through her first official meeting.
“Yes, a lot to digest, but I’m up for it,” Mittelstadt said.
Trailer Bob says
Seems Ms. McDonald needs a very long vacation. NOT the way to act in public meetings that are…well…for the public.
The entire tweet junk is foolish and immature, let alone with regard to an elected official.
Steve says
Couldnt agree more TB. This thing shutdown a Student no less. I can only hold my tongue to what really needs to said but immature is a real nice way of putting it. To use her position and not listen in a public venue is outrageous and IT should be run out of office tarred n feathered. By the way whom does she resemble in her actions tweets and public persona. I can only say to the folks who plan to stay here to wake up in the booth come November. GL
Brenda Arnole says
As a property owner in Flagler county, and with a family that has lived in Florida since it was a Spanish territory, I am outraged by the Chair and her stances. She needs to be removed immediately! The fact that she is trying to excuse her actions with weakly veiled excuses, shows her total lack of character. I wholeheartedly believe that people can, with an open mind, have an educated and meaningful discussion on very sensitive and controversial topics. Unfortunately, the Chair is too far down the drain to not ” flush”.
Hooray for the student that stood up.
FPC Granny says
McDonald “VOTE HER OUT!”
Welcome Ms. Mittelstadt to Flagler County Schools. I as a resident of Flagler County applogize for the disgraceful behavior Mrs. McDonald seems to display more times than not!
Edith Campins says
She has to go. Is this the kind of person we want, of all things, on the Board of Education? Maybe she and Mullens can get together and form their own party.
Love not hate says
This woman does not belong on the board, let alone chair it. She needs to resign.
Staff member says
She had me fooled when she first ran. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Was At The Board Meeting says
McDonald’s closing statement after Conklin told her there was an opportunity to apologize for her offensive tweets and actions was literally 10 minutes of NOT apologizing…
Eva Mowry says
What a disgrace to our county and our country to have a woman like this permitted to conduct meetings and chair so outrageously. Complete disregard for our 1st A rights, and promoting the same lies and misinformation as we see so much of today in our present government. What are we teaching our children?? Thank you to Dance and Coughlin for calling it out and speaking up! Shut her down until we can vote her out. Incredibly sad to read this today.
Time for McDonald to resign immediately says
McDonald definitely needs to resign effective immediately. Her time has come to a close. Close minded individuals do not belong in such position. The fact that she tries to explain that she wasnt aware of her tweets or social media posts or she was unaware that they were offensive or discriminatory is complete ignorance and disgusting. She is an elected official. An employee from any company who chooses to post such may face firing so why is it any different for her? What makes her so above? She has got to go. She cant possibly think anyone is buying her bogus narrative that she didnt know how social media platforms work or how more specifically one works that she has had for several years. This ridiculous excuse just goes to show how she thinks people are naive or stupid. The way you present yourself online is just as important as how you present yourself in person. McDonald its time to take the mask off! Flagler County School Board needs to step up and have her step out otherwise they are showing the residents, the students most importantly that they are not willing to do what is right, they are not willing to get rid of the bad apple. If we expect others in other professions (especially considering current issues within police depts, government etc) to be held accountable, we expect and demand the good help get rid of the bad, to stand up, speak up and out the bad, then why are we not expecting and demanding the same in this case? Janet McDonald its time for you to pack it up and find a different profession… maybe writing fairy tales. Flagler County its time to demand her resignation effective immediately! Flagler School Board… please stand up and do whats right for the students.
Percy's mother says
The difference between an employee and an elected official is:
1. An employee can be terminated by the employer at will (in this state)
2. An elected official is elected to (in this case school board) a 4-year term, voted in by the electorate.
Everyone’s up in arms about this high school kid’s censoring. How about Janet McDonald being censored? Where’s her right to free speech?
You people can’t have it both ways. No one has to go on Twitter to read Janet McDonald’s postings. If her Twitter postings hadn’t been reported on this site, no one would be the wiser.
If Janet McDonald wants to post on Twitter and/or other social media sites, that’s her RIGHT just as this IB high school kid has the right to speak to the school board during public comments (which he apparently ended up doing). I think he was pushing the envelope so as to create the scene which ended up being created.
The person who does NOT have the right is Mr. Bertrand who continually disrupts the school board meetings, is disrespectful in school board meetings and HE needs to be censored for his disruptive behavior AGAIN.
For those who aren’t aware, Mr. Bertrand disrespectfully disrupted the January school board meeting when he stood out of order during public comments and turned his back on the school board and the other public attendees in the audience because HE didn’t like the comments he was hearing. (in an effort at censoring the person who was speaking).
Again in this school board meeting, Mr. Bertrand had to be spoken to by a Flagler County Sheriff’s Deputy. When is he going to be censored for continually disrupting public meetings? When is Mr. Bertrand going to be put on notice?
If the electorate (or part of the electorate) has to create a petition to recall EVERY political appointee whose rhetoric they don’t agree with what’s the point of an election? Get over it people.
Let Janet McDonald continue to post what she wants on her Twitter account, and for those of you who don’t like it, don’t look at it.
Too many people with way too much time on their hands, whether they’re online during work hours or whether retired and glued to social media all day.
Citizen says
She will be voted out, her views are not in sync with the voters. She can’t even educate herself properly; she’s retweeting obviously false articles, quoting “Mark Twain” like she’s profound yet not even thinking about the actual quote and how she is the one who is misinformed. Take a look at her Twitter feed and gauge her intelligence. I highly doubt she will be reelected.
William Moya says
I thought I heard read that she was going to retire, but if she does run, chances are she”ll win, this is Flagler county where probably 60% of the pop. is Trumpian, furthermore she has no intention of educating herself, she, as her cohorts are interested in creating followers, “zombies” if you will, and they spew propaganda exquisitely wrapped in pandering, she is a master at this.
Percy's mother says
She’s NOT RUNNING . . . she’s not on the ballot.
Roy Longo says
Your argument about McDonald’s first amendment rights are true. Can an elected official state “I hate niggers, spics and kikes? Of course they can. But we as Americans should hold our elected officials to a higher standard. When someone gets elected to any position, that person represents everyone in the district, town, county, state, country, or whomever they are representing. Elected officials should not pander to only those that they align themselves with. Nor should they stop the public from speaking because harsh are being directed at themselves.
Concerned Citizen says
I see you’re a McDonald fan and that’s fine.
However you’re on here commenting just as much as the rest of us. So it’s laughable when you criticize us for being on social media to much.
People in glass houses etc etc.
Double stadards are a large prt of our issues in society these days.
Robert says
McDonald is an embarrassment to the Board, herself and educators.
Karen says
Yes she is. She needs to go
Dennis says
She should be removed from the board. Not a good lesson for the students.
Concerned Citizen says
How much longer will we allow the McDonald circus to continue?
She was afraid of being called out over inappropriate behavior. And used her board status to hide behind. That right there shows you what kind of person she is. We already knew about her character.
I cannot understand why her fellow board members are afraid of her. No one wants to stand up to her and demand any type of disciplinary actions. She does what she wants with no recourse. Since she is an elected official can we initiate a recall? Or is there someone that supervises the board members we can go to? I mean this county rose up and got rid of Craig Coffey. Why not the same gusto for McDonanld
@ Mrs.McDonald
I am disgusted and tired of the behavior both you and your husband exhibit in this county. How much time and money have you and your husband cost over the years with your various shenannigans? I don’t fear either one of you. No matter how many law suits or ethics complaints you file. Time for you to consider another line of work. Flagler County is growing tired of you.
Concerned for our children says
Time to go, Janet. Ignorance is not a defense, and especially after seven years of Twitter use. Do we not teach our children that what they post on social media reflects on them (and in my opinion, retweeting counts as such ). I wasn’t at the meeting, so I’m wondering if the attorney or Maria Barbosa commented. The latter is running again. Did she not want to step in the muck, even to defend a student?
ASF says
She can say whatever she wants in a public forum but feels entitled to use the power of her office to shut anybody else’s comments down, because they offend HER, personally?
If that isn’t abuse of power, I don’t know what else is. The hypocrisy is stunning.
Bye Janet says
For McDonald to claim that she was just retweeting things interesting to her and not necessarily things she believes in , shows that she does not even have the courage of her convictions. I bet if she was met with praise for her tweets she would be 100% responsible for what she posted in every way. Instead she makes a poorly executed attempt to walk it back and shut down discourse. Gaslighting. Meanwhile she is part of a group that is supposed to positively impact children. What a disgrace. We would not allow children to behave in that way.
Janet – since you’re interested in public opinion so much, just resign now.
Wow says
Amen!
Sherry says
An employee is actually defined as: “a person employed for wages or salary”. Regardless of how someone attains a particular position. . . they are responsible to the person or persons who pay their wages. As a taxpayer in Flagler country, Janet McDonald certainly is accountable to me, and to every other taxpayer here, because our taxes pay her salary.
The first amendment may give Janet McDonald the right to free speech. . . BUT, it most certainly does not absolve her from all the repercussions due to her hate filled words! In her position as an official paid by the tax payers, there are “professional” standards of behavior that are rightly expected of her. Janet McDonald has very clearly ignored and breached those standards in several ways since attaining her position.
If Janet McDonald refuses to resign, the parents of school children can most certainly call for a “recall election” to remove her from office.
You would certainly have my vote!!!
CB from PC says
Janet McDonald is an elected oficial. She was elected by a majority vote.
A lot of what I see here is from people who do not like her or her husband.
Well, tough shit, whether you agree or not, she has a right, and obligation to voice her opinions as to direction, as a member of the School Board.
And no, I do not believe that 99% of the people have to conform to the 1%, no matter the cause.
Sounds like one individual is continually interrupting the meeting because they want their voice heard.
Well, we all want our voices heard.
That’s what psychiatrists are for.
erobot says
IOW MacDonald followed the rules as currently written, not the revisionists current hot button issue interpretation. Public schools are not the proper venue to fight the war of sexual orientation. Kinda a nutty take, but let’s teach kids the 3 r’s, history, geography, etc. and leave the ludicrous leftwing take on the things to their handlers in the media.
CB from PC says
Thank you. Homework, Math, Science, True History, not this Revisionist crap, English and Civic lessons in how our legal system and government are constructed, is a long way from the stuff which passes for education these days. Wonder how further the bar will be lowered under Mittelstadt?
Good riddance, Jim Tager.
Sherry says
Read ALL the comments here. If you are supporting the hate speech of the McDonalds, it is YOU who are in the MINORITY!
Those who have children in the Flagler country schools are surely outraged to think that such a person is on their school board. A “recall election” is certainly called for in this instance!!!
CB from PC says
You have no idea how powerful the voices of silence will be.
CB from PC says
Same old BS. What is “hate speech”? Why not just cone right out and call them “racist”? That seems the M.O. of most around here who don’t have intellectual capability to come up with a logical counter-argument.
From what I read of incidents in the schools here, and nationwide, the current approach is not working. It is the parent’s responsibility to teach kids manners, courtesy and respect for opposing viewpoints. It is up to the educator to teach kids Math, Science, Histiry, Englush skills, etc. Get rid of all this touchy- feely BS and back to basics. We will have many less problems.
And if kids want to be transgender or whatever, who cares, as long as that choice does not disrupt the education of the other kids.
Tom Mutschler says
It appears that both Mr. & Mrs . Mc Donald are disruptive “whack jobs” that we don’t need in Flagler County. It’s a shame that the many decent people that live here in Flagler County won’t step and run for public office, but I think it is their fear and probably their frustration of having to deal with the nut jobs obsessed with forcing “THEIR AGENDA” on the general public that deters them . I vote Independent I am always open to new ideas but some of the new ideas on both sides of the fence seem to infringe on my freedom as a USA citizen.
Fran says
People are fired for much less… This lady should be gone. Why is she still here?
Bethechange says
No matter the cause? Evidently our democratic experiment has revealed that every now and again the majority has gotten it wrong. The enslavement of people and a woman’s suppression to vote come to mind as profound examples of how the majority got it profoundly wrong. But that’s what the Constitution is for.
CB from PC says
I wasn’t alive when slavery and suppression of women existed. Both were long. eliminated by Amendment long before me, and probably everyone else in the United States. SO WHAT IS YOUR POINT?
Deirdre says
“Education is the proper way to promote compassion and tolerance in society. Compassion and peace of mind bring a sense of confidence that reduce stress and anxiety, whereas anger and hatred come from frustration and undermine our sense of trust. Because of ignorance, many of our problems are our own creation. Education, however, is the instrument that increases our ability to employ our own intelligence.”
Dalai Lama
Thank you for those that speak so eloquently for tolerance and truth, to make the world a better place for all of us.
Sherry says
To imply that anyone who wants to speak out against an elected official should instead seek psychiatric treatment is beyond asinine. . . for many different reasons! Why in the world would we have time allotted for public comments at school board meetings? So, the elected official should be given free reign for “hate speech”, and those who object should go to a shrink? Talk about a complete “Fascist” point of view! I could go on on and on pointing out the details of the hypocrisies. . . but, I’ll instead leave with this thought. Exactly who is it that should be visiting a psychiatrist here? Just sayin’. . . .
Stay safe and healthy. Wear a mask and social distance in crowded public places to protect your neighbors. Demand justice and equality for all. Seek joy, peace and love.
Sherry says
Here is a link to a petition asking Janet McDonald to resign:
https://www.change.org/p/school-board-member-janet-mcdonald-we-the-resident-in-the-flagler-county-school-district-call-upon-janet-mcdonald-to-resign
Tampa Native says
I really suggest the the Board’s Attorney and all the Board members research their right to censor public comments of their actions. Case law is on the side of public comment.
https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/2016/05/10/federal-judge-right-to-criticize-public-officials-clearly-established/
john rex costello says
Republicans ARE the Enemy of America and its Constitution…..they are Insurrectionists & Traitor enablers …they want America to Look like Russia… with its Hateful Racist , and Homophobic policies…..Trump and his Followers are Garbage People