ALACHUA, Fla. — A controversial social media post made by a Florida school board chair has the Florida Board of Education declaring the Alachua County School Board violated parents’ free speech rights.
Alachua County School Board Chair Sarah Rockwell was in the hot seat during the Florida Board of Education’s meeting in St. Johns County on Wednesday.
Rockwell came under fire for a social media post after the death of Hulk Hogan in which she wrote, “Good. One Less MAGA in the world”.
“Celebrating the death of an individual because of their political beliefs is conduct unbecoming of the education profession,” said Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas.
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Rockwell apologized for the post, but claimed it was protected free speech.
“That comment was made on my personal page, not in my professional capacity,” said Rockwell to the Board of Education.
Here in Duval County, Action News Jax reported last year on social media posts made by then-school board candidate Tony Ricardo, who ultimately won his election.
Among those posts was a photo of a demon sewing a Pride Flag.
While the posts drew criticism from LGBTQ groups at the time, they were never scrutinized by the Board of Education.
When asked about the appearance of a double standard, Ricardo told Action News Jax he believes the situation in Alachua differs from his own.
“Because we don’t all believe exactly the same things, voicing an opinion and personally held beliefs carries the risk of offending others- sincerely held beliefs can do that, no matter which side of an issue you fall on,” said Ricardo. “The difference I see in the two situations is the voicing of the opinions from the Dias, sitting in the position of authority, which I have not done.”
Along with Rockwell’s post, three instances where conservative speakers had either been cut off during public comment or removed from board meetings in Alachua were also scrutinized by the Board of Education.
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In the most recent instance from July, law enforcement was summoned, and a man was ordered to leave after criticizing Rockwell for her post about Hogan.
The Alachua County School Board’s Vice Chair argued the man disrupted the meeting by continuing to speak after his allotted time, but ultimately was not forced to leave after the board’s attorney recommended against it.
Still, the Board of Education found probable cause that the Alachua School Board had violated parents’ First Amendment rights, given the totality of the various instances in question.
The Board of Education ordered Alachua board members to undergo training and be monitored for compliance for the rest of the school year.
“And that includes withholding an amount equal to their salaries should any of those provisions be violated,” said Commissioner Kamoutsas.
Action News Jax asked the Department of Education why Ricardo’s posts never elicited the same level of response as the Alachua case.
The department issued a statement that did not address the specifics of our question.
“Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas made clear that the Alachua County School Board’s repeated attempts to silence parents are intolerable and must end immediately,” said a DOE spokesperson. “Today, the State Board of Education determined the Alachua County School Board violated the First Amendment as well as Florida law.”
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