The Flagler County School Board is holding one of its most important public meetings of the year Thursday (Aug. 24), between 9 a.m. and noon, in the superintendent’s conference room on the third floor of the Government Services building. Misleadingly referring to it as a “retreat,” the board will hold an extended interview with Interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore to determine whether it should end its search for a permanent superintendent and appoint Moore in September.
Some members of the School Board would rather you did not know about the meeting, and did not attend. District officials are following their lead, dubbing the meeting a “retreat”–it is, in fact, a special workshop–keeping any information about it to a strict minimum, and of course making no plans to live-stream it, by audio or video, as all other meetings are, or even recording it.
The last “retreat” the board held a few weeks ago was not even announced on the web, and to some board members’ delight, drew no audience or media, and led School Board Chair Cheryl Massaro to wonder whether it was legal to hold it. It was held, because the meeting had been noticed on the cork board in the lobby of the GSB, which nobody looks at but counts as official notice in the mind of those who like such meetings kept in the shadows.
If you click on the notice about the Thursday “retreat” on the district’s website, it only gives the time of the meeting. No location, no described purpose, no agenda. There is no notice of the meeting on the “Board Docs” section of the website, where workshop and meeting agendas are detailed (at least there was none by the time this article initially published.)
There have been no announcement–on social media, on the website, or in press releases–about the meeting, even though it is part of the board’s most critical process and will lead to a decision wither way–to hire Moore or not. That decision will affect most segments of the community beyond the district’s 13,000 students, their families and 1,500 employees, the business community included.
Nor does the agenda for that Thursday workshop make any provision for public input, despite the public import of the discussion and the momentum in play: board members have made clear that it is at that meeting that they will vet Moore and decide whether to end the search and hire her.
The two-page agenda for the meeting, obtained by FlaglerLive on request, leaves no doubt as to its purpose. (See the agenda in full at the foot of the article.) It doesn’t list the place or time of the meeting, and lists only the five school board members, Moore and Gavin as “attendees,” again telegraphing insularity.
But it is a formal meeting in seven parts in which Moore will be asked about her vision for the district’s “strategic plan” (its goals), how she’ll handle community members, business and finance, and “What do you intend to accomplish in your first 100 days.” One of the segments will also focus on how Moore will handle communications. The questions have nothing to do with transparency with the community, only with relations with the board, which keeps hunting for a tighter lid on information even from its own members.
There will be direct questions: “What Strategies do you believe are missing from the current plan.” “What Achievement gaps have we missed.” “b) How will you engage the parents into the District’s mission and vision.” “What business model or fiscal practice do you believe the District could benefit from to maximize funding received.” “What strategies would you implement to assist departments and staff with determining cost saving measures.”
The agenda was presumably written before reporting uncovered the Bunnell Elementary scandal involving the segregated lecturing to the school’s Black students last Friday as “problems” who must raise their standardized test scores and compete for fried chicken at Chick-fil-A for the privilege. But it’s difficult to imagine that the matter won’t be discussed: there is a sub-item in Thursday’s meeting focusing on “Education Equity,” with a parenthesis of bewildering acronyms: “(SWD, African-American, ELL and FRL).” In English: Students with disabilities, English language learners (students for whom English is not necessarily the first language), Free reduced lunch (the poor).
Moore, at board members’ request, also submitted a resume and a cover letter. The newer resume has been considerably polished and expanded since the two-page version she’d submitted five years ago when she was named principal at Rymfire Elementary, when her top achievement had been as a curriculum specialist. The newer resume is twice the length, top-loaded with her far greater responsibilities–principal, director of teaching and learning, assistant superintendent, and now interim superintendent. (See the resume here.)
If there was any doubt as to Moore’s willingness to take on the superintendent’s job permanently, she removed them. “Through the various roles that I have held here in Flagler schools, I have demonstrated a consistent commitment to fostering collaboration with all stakeholders, delivering high quality work and driving operational efficiency, making me uniquely qualified for this pivotal role,” she wrote the board members. “I am well versed in the intricacies of our operations and have consistently demonstrated a proactive approach to problem solving. These skills are needed as we navigate through not only a change in leadership but a rapidly changing educational landscape.”
The one-page letter is short on specifics, hewing to boosting generalities and reflecting the subtext of Thursday’s meeting: you can grill me for three hours, Moore seems to say. She does not shirk a challenge. She also does not suffer fools: she will be interviewing board members as much as they will be interviewing her. Like Cathy Mittlestadt, her predecessor who elevated her to assistant superintendent, Moore doesn’t do chummy, she doesn’t needlessly flatter (or get taken by flattery), and she doesn’t do good-ol’ boy small talk. Unlike Mittlestadt, Moore’s personality is more broadly congenial and at ease the more she trusts those around her, though that trust isn’t easily gained, and she’s in her element whether in a sea of kids, in an office suite or in front of the weird and unpredictable motley crew that the Flagler County School Board has become.
“In my current role as interim superintendent,” Moore concluded, “I have begun much of the work that is needed to improve academic achievement, stabilize the workforce and improve community engagement. My track record of delivering results and fostering positive working relationships has allowed me to build strong rapport with our faculty, staff, students, families and this community.”
A three-hour interview with the potential superintendent of the school district is anything but a “retreat.” But that’s how the board chose to portray the meeting when it agreed to schedule it for Thursday at its last workshop, when it also flirted with “executive sessions,” or closed-door meetings.
Hunt, the school board member who seems fond of closed-door, “executive sessions,” had wondered in the same meeting “if we need to schedule another executive session” to discuss school finances (that would be illegal), and almost a year into her tenure, she was still claiming that “I don’t really want to discuss it too much here because I don’t know what I can discuss here and what I have to discuss an executive session.”
It was alarming at one point in that same meeting that even Moore referred to a discussion of “finance and safety” as both being “what we agreed to come back into executive session with.” If the superintendent and her staff are discussing finances in any way beyond the scope of how, say, teacher or employee contracts might affect the numbers, then they are breaking the law. (The district appears to be having financial issues that are impacting its union negotiations.)
The law is, in fact, very clear: Board members themselves don’t pick and choose what they discuss behind closed door, and don’t even schedule such meetings. The only time such meetings are allowed under Florida’s open meetings law is when the board needs to discuss pending litigation, when the board needs to discuss strategy ahead of collective bargaining negotiations with its teacher and employee unions, and when it needs to be appraised of very specific, tactical security measures (not security in general), revealing which would compromise campus security. That’s it. They are also barred by law from taking any vote or polling votes behind closed doors.
And it isn’t board members who initiate closed-door sessions, since they are not generally aware of issues that compel such meetings, but the superintendent and the board attorney, Kristy Gavin, the latter responsible for ensuring that board members follow the law during meetings.
They may not discuss personnel matters behind closed doors, including the fate of the superintendent or any other employee. They may not discuss any other board matters, including issues between themselves. They may not discuss contracts, conflicts, policies or regulations or any other matter, unless they do so in open session. If they are discussing any such matters behind closed doors, they are breaking the law, and those taking part are complicit. (In the past, they regularly held closed-door sessions to discuss the expulsion of students, but that has become an administrative matter as expulsions have taken on a different form, with home-based or alternative education continuing.)
Nevertheless, the words “executive session” keep dropping from Hunt’s and Will Furry’s mouths with alarming regularity. “I’m thinking that it might be prudent for us to have either an executive session or just a special meeting that we can really sit down and then make a decisive decision” regarding Moore, Furry said at an August 15 workshop.
“We cannot do an executive session, we do have to operate in the sunshine,” Gavin reminded the board after Furry floated the idea. Yet moments later, as the discussion about a meeting to discuss Moore’s future solidified, Hunt was literally referring to a “back room” as her preferred venue for such a meeting: “I think we can all agree when we are in the back room, meaning together, it is a cohesive it is a cooperative collaborative board. We’re able to speak freely.” Obviously, it’s not clear how often Hunt and the board have found themselves in “back rooms.”
Hunt added: “I personally would prefer that we do not wait to have that conversation until, like, the vote, because then it just becomes about the vote and not five colleagues coming together and having a really nice conversation.”
LaShakia Moore Resume (1) (1)
Whathehck? says
Will Furry and Hunt ever learn what a School Board can or can’t do? They are definitely in the slow category. At least the third stooge didn’t display her lack of knowledge this time.
They are in Florida and Florida has sunshine and a sunshine law, do they know the difference?
Randy S. says
For those who still don’t know, Will Furry was backed by Jill Woolbright and her right wing group.
It’s too late to do anything about Will Furry but for the upcoming 2024 elections, be advised that Jill Woolbright’s group is running candidates for Mayor for Palm Coast as well as Palm Coast City Council District 1.
Remember the above when vetting these candidates (if you vet and research) and especially when voting.
Do we really need another Will Furry as Mayor of Palm Coast as well as another Will Furry realtor on Palm Coast City Council District 1 (currently held by Danko)?
Jim says
That some of these people on the school board are responsible for driving the county towards a school system that provides a great learning environment and a strong basis for developing habits and knowledge to help the students in this county through life is just beyond comprehension. That they opening talk about discussions in private that violate the law tells me all I need to know about their capability to do their job. This is not a private business – it’s the people’s business. If you can’t do that in a public forum as required by law, it tells me you have an agenda that you want to keep from the public if at all possible. Hunt and Furry are not interested in doing what is best for Flagler County students. They are interested in putting in place a system that hides facts from the public and drives their shady agenda.
Hunt is just incompetent.
Furry is a liar and cheat. His campaign move of putting out false information about his opponent just before the election showed that clearly. If he runs again, we’ll be waiting to assure he is defeated. And his so-called “religious” affiliation is a joke. He wouldn’t know how to be honest and upright if you tattooed instructions on his eyelids.
We’ve got to do better in the next election. Too much is at stake to suffer these fools.
Deborah Coffey says
From an earlier article: “Interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore is appointing Donelle Evensen, the current Assistant Principal of the Year for Flagler Schools, as Bunnell Elementary’s next principal, replacing Marcus Sanfilippo.”
Big mistake firing Cathy Mittelstadt. This would never have happened under her leadership. The School Board is incompetent.
Sparks says
What is back room meetings!!!
This is just terrible. The school board doesn’t want the public to know what’s going on. Everyone should be aware of what’s happening in our schools . No to Back Door Meetings!
Doug says
Most can relate to that “gut feeling” moment when something isn’t right. Well, this is one of those moments.
Just Asking says
After reading Ms. Moore’s resume posted here on Flagler Live, here’s my question / comment:
The Master of Educational Leadership was earned from St. Leo University in Orlando. Is St. Leo University accredited by the State of Florida Board of Education?
The following is taken directly from the State of Florida Board of Education website regarding accreditation of educational programs:
Accrediting Agencies Approved for Florida College System Institutions
Introduction
Pursuant to section (s.) 1008.47, Florida Statutes (F.S.), Florida College System (FCS) institutions
under s. 1000.21(3), F.S., must seek institutional accreditation from a State Board of Education
(SBOE)-identified accreditor in the year following reaffirmation or fifth-year review by their
current accrediting agencies.
Effective April 19, 2022, FCS institutions and State University System (SUS) institutions are
prohibited from being accredited by the same accrediting agency or association for consecutive
accreditation cycles. This prohibition will expire on December 31, 2032. Coupled with the
elimination of the state mandate in statute for public institutions to be accredited by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the prohibition
implements 2020 U.S. Department of Education (USED) regulatory changes that eliminated
distinctions between regional and national accreditors, and allows institutions to seek accreditation
from an agency best suited to their mission and goals.
Pogo says
@The stench of Richard Corcoran (and Ron DeSantis) fills floriduh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Corcoran
and is still strong:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/07/florida-department-of-education-federal-investigation-00110119
This started with Jeb Bush, and he and his ilk have never relented:
“State University System of Florida
History and governance
Prior to 1905, Florida’s state institutions were governed by a Board of Education and even earlier variations thereof, reaching back to the Florida Constitution of 1838 wherein higher education and normal education was established, based on grants of land from the U.S. Congress. From 1905 to 1965, the few universities in the system were governed by the Florida Board of Control. The Board of Control was replaced by the Florida Board of Regents in 1965, to accommodate the growing university system. The Board of Regents governed until it was disbanded by the Florida Legislature in 2001, and its authority was divided between the Florida Board of Education (which was given some authority over all levels of public education in the state), and appointed university boards of trustees, which operated independently for each separate institution. In 2002, Floridians led by U.S. senator Bob Graham passed an amendment to the Florida Constitution establishing a new statewide governing body, the Florida Board of Governors…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_University_System_of_Florida#Member_institutions
Stacey Smith says
Hunt should know where all her “back room dealings” got her. EXPOSED As for Furry, from speaking with him at the Library before election, he does not keep his word.
Dr Mike says
There are legal avenues for resolving situations where boards continually work outside the sunshine law. I believe such violations also would have implications for the school solicitor who allows such illegality to occur. A bad place for Ms Moore to start. Nothing worse than working with (for) a board with a power hungry complex.