The Alachua County School Board shared updates on teacher salary negotiations and heard remarks from a state education commissioner during Tuesday’s meeting.
State Commissioner joins meeting
The school board had a special guest at its Tuesday meeting — Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas.
Kamoutsas’ visit followed the Florida State Board of Education’s decision to summon Tina Certain, vice chair of the school board, during its Sept. 24 meeting due to a social media post she made about Charlie Kirk’s memorial.
"How a 31yr old uneducated white boy has been glorified,” Certain said on a Facebook post. “To see the feds & state elevate him angers me."
During his remarks Tuesday, Kamoutsas said he was “outraged” by the board’s actions and accused members of not prioritizing students.
“Glorifying a school shooter, that is a terrible example for our youth,” Kamoutsas said. “Why are you not prioritizing your students? Instead, your public service is about yourself and your selfish acts.”
Kamoutsas said the state will continue to monitor the Alachua County School Board until it ensures every student and employee is treated with respect and dignity. He added he is determined to change what he described as a culture of intimidation and neglect of duty within the district.
“I’m determined to change the culture of intimidation and neglect of duty here in Alachua County,” Kamoutsas said.
His comments were met with some applause.
The board has faced tight scrutiny from the state for almost three months. In July, Chair Sarah Rockwell received backlash for comments she made on Facebook about the death of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan.
“Oh, did Hulk die? I didn’t even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world,” Rockwell wrote in the deleted Facebook post.
A parent later demanded Rockwell’s resignation during public comment at a July 31 meeting, which Tina Certain recessed after arguments broke out.
The State Board of Education ruled at an Aug. 20 meeting the Alachua board violated the parent’s First Amendment rights by calling for a recess and vowed to continue monitoring its proceedings.
Certain addressed Kamoutsas’ comments later in Tuesday’s meeting. She clarified she posted about Kirk on her personal Facebook page, not the one she uses for district information. The post reflected her individual opinion and aligned with the First Amendment training board members received, she said.
“I felt that I made it because I do have a First Amendment right,” Certain said. “Some folks may agree with it, some folks did not agree with it, but those are my feelings.”
Certain is scheduled to appear before the State Board of Education at its next meeting on Nov. 13 in Crawfordville, Florida.
Board offers employee union updates, evaluates cell phone policies
The board received updates from the Alachua County Education Association, the county’s employee union.
The board’s and union’s bargaining teams have come to a tentative agreement on salaries for this school year, said ACEA President Carmen Ward. The teams are evaluating language this month to increase employee pay.
Ward said the county’s teachers are consistently overworked, and their collective bargaining agreement isn’t properly enforced.
For example, teachers are summoned to open houses multiple times per semester, despite their collective bargaining agreement only calling for one open house each semester, she said.
“Our teachers are overburdened,” Ward said. “It is almost pandemic-level crisis in our district right now with teachers not having enough time to do their job.”
The school board also approved all its action items during Tuesday’s meeting, including a cell phone policy for students.
Under the policy, elementary and middle school students are not allowed to use phones during the school day. High school students are only permitted to use them during classroom instructional time if given instructors’ permission. Otherwise, students should have devices powered off and stored out of sight.
Additionally, the school board’s consent agenda passed unanimously, including school improvement plans, which provide a needs assessment, grade level data review and budget for individual schools in the county.
Public comment
More than 25 residents offered public comments during the meeting, with most speakers expressing support for the Alachua County Public Schools in its conflicts with the state.
Jane Spear, an 80-year-old Gainesville resident, urged the board not to yield to pressure from the state. The board should protect employees and students within the county, such as Lauren Watts, who may have her teaching license revoked after giving a student a “most likely to become a dictator” superlative, Spear said.
“Let’s keep doing the right thing by not caving in to those with a strong political agenda,” Spear said.
Others criticized the board’s recent actions. Tim Martin said free speech comes with consequences, and the district’s teachers and staff bear the impact of the board’s behavior more than anyone else.
“This board has not rezoned in years, this board continues to have overcrowded schools, this board can’t get a school bus to run on time,” Martin said. “I know the repercussions, because I get the emails, I get the texts, I get the phone calls from this board’s staff, from these teachers.”
Martin added he appreciated the board’s ongoing controversies because of their consequences. The board’s decisions will help accelerate charter school conversions across the county and encourage an “exodus” from public schools, he said.
Janet Evans, a 64-year-old High Springs resident, offered comments about the board’s school improvement plans. Evans said she knows the board is evaluating cutting positions throughout the district, but the board needs to do more boots-on-the-ground work to help the teachers in the county.
“If every single administrator at a district level is charged with finding at least five things they can document that they’ve done to help our teachers, it’s going to prove what positions are most worthy,” Evans said.
The school board will meet again on Oct. 21.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @logandmcbride.
Logan McBride is a journalism junior and the Fall 2025 K-12 education reporter. In his free time, he enjoys watching TV shows or playing basketball at Southwest Rec. He is also a big football fan and will die for Dak Prescott.
