FROM THE EDITOR
Now that we’re two weeks into the Summer of 2023, when kids across the land get to recharge and refresh, it’s a great time for me to talk about our schools.
I have all the timing of a guy with last year’s bus schedule.
For starters, when it comes to the new superintendent, Osceola’s School Board got it right. Keep in mind, I’m writing this on Monday, and the decision came down Tuesday night to choose the business-minded Dr. Mark Shanoff, currently the Chief Information Officer of Orange County Public Schools, and a former principal at the elementary, middle and high-school level.
I have to believe this school district is primed for big things — if the District and community rally around the Board’s choice.
Now, from Bill Beck Boulevard to the State Capitol: at least two of the bills passed by the State Legislature during its recent high-voltage session have me all charged up.
House Bill 225 replaced the Florida High School Athletics Association’s existing Board of Directors, made up of 12 principals and athletic directors from across the state among 15 slots. It will now be a 12-member board featuring eight appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis or the Board of Education. HB 225 also removed eligibility barriers for student athletes who transfer schools but want to pick for whom they play. I can tell you as a former sports editor, that action is going to make a trend of top athletes transferring to a few power programs and hurting the balance of competition even more.
I ask this clearly and pointedly — you know who knows high school athletics the best? Athletic directors, most of whom are former coaches, and their bosses, the principals who know their local programs better than anybody.
Osceola’s own Fred Hawkins sponsored the bill, noting the change will bring accountability and oversight to the state board, with the FHSAA now reporting to the Department of Education. But DeSantis, who prides himself on governing “the Free State of Florida,” sure wants to add a level of government control to how your kids’ sports are run.
Other legislation has to do with how long School Board members can stay on the ballot — and how they appear on it. One bill shortened Board members maximum stay on the dais from 12 years (three terms) to eight (two). This wasn’t the worst idea to come out of Tallahassee this session, although when the 'term limit' topic comes up, I always say that voters already have them in place — they’re called elections. Nobody dictates what you do with your vote.
And, with that vote in 2024, you’ll be asked whether to change School Board races, currently non-partisan in Florida, to partisan elections starting in 2026.
Why? Lawmakers in favor say voters want to know their candidates’ party affiliations, so it’s about “transparency, period.”
This is a horrible notion, and I urge you to vote against it next year. The gymnastics that come with today’s partisan politics need to stay outside School Board chambers, where doing the right thing for students needs to be the top priority — and about the next three after that.
Currently, it’s a violation of state election laws for a Board candidate to state their affiliation during a campaign. If that is so important to you to know as a voter, it should be up to you to research your candidates and learn it on your own, rather than being told on your ballot.
Let me end this back on a positive note — a belated congratulations to the Class of 2023. I attended a couple of the OHP graduations, and while the day celebrates years of work and accomplishment, the ceremonies seemed fast-paced and, well, rushed. Like in college, high school grads deserve to hear from a motivating keynote speaker.
A memo to Osceola’s new superintendent: can we make this happen? I’ll volunteer to be the leadoff motivator. I’ve got the speech half-written already.
Editor Ken Jackson is a member of the Colonial High School Class of 1992, a time when School Boards were politics-free and athletes played at the schools for which they were zoned. The views in this column are his own and not those of the News-Gazette or its editorial board.
