Seminole School Board, Superintendent Potentially Violated Sunshine Law: Report

  A recent report by individuals associated with the Seminole County School Board's latest political drama indicates potential Sunshine Law violations by some members of the board and the outgoing superintendent.

  The controversy began February 9th when superintendent nominee Chad Farnsworth left a Seminole County School Board meeting relieved that the body approved of his candidacy, with the board pledging to draw up a contract for the follow up February 23rd meeting. That contract never materialized and did not appear on the subsequent agenda .

  In fact, Tina Caldarone switched her support to Serita Beamon, the school board's former attorney, altering the previous decision. The last minute change came as a surprise, with Beamon possessing no background in the field of education management, a major contrast to Farnsworth's decades of service in education. Many have now begun to speculate on the reason for the change. Between the February 9th and February 23rd meetings, it is alleged that the outgoing superintendent, Dr. Walt Griffin, called school board members on the phone and berated them for not selecting Serita Beamon as the first African-American woman superintendent. The only problem: any closed-door discussions amount to a potential violation of Sunshine Law.

  Some now suggest Dr. Walt Griffin also pushed the limits on Sunshine Law while discussing the subject with the search committee as well. Amy Pennock, a member of the school board in favor of Farnsworth, expressed frustration with Dr. Griffin's actions in a Facebook post: "We have come to find out that the existing superintendent overstepped his bounds in conversations with the search committee. Based on the reversal, it is possible he did the same with the board."

  Pennock explained that many in the school system shared the same concern but stopped short of commenting out of fear for the careers and being labeled a racist. Attorney Phil Kaprow, counsel for Brittany Walker and Sharon Swalina, a parent and a teacher, told The Orlando Local News that the actions of Griffin and certain board members encompassed a potentially illegal move, not only in terms of Sunshine Law violations, but also in regard to abuse of Robert's Rules which do not allow for a recission of this type of vote. Despite the pressure exerted on the body by Dr. Griffin, he may not have been the only individual pushing for Beamon in an unethical manner.

  Reports indicate that several members of the Goldsboro Community (one of Central Florida's oldest African-American communities) also wielded borderline threats to push for Beamon's nomination as superintendent. According to sources close to Dr. Griffin, his main focus apparently centered on securing his legacy as superintendent by promoting diversity, albeit at the expense of ethics and the law. The school board is composed almost entirely of Republicans whose party generally opposes identitarian politics, although several GOP affiliated members decided to abdicate this position.

  The board's only Democrat, Kristine Kraus, supported Beamon as well, most vocally during a February 9th meeting, invoking diversity and equity as reasons undergirding her vote: "I think equity has to be forefront in our decision making. One of the candidates has built and fought for [this for] a long time..."

  Once Kaprow filed a complaint against the school board, Kraus fired back, entering out of context quotes by Farnsworth into the record on March 9th when he was no longer a nominee, and used school board funds to fact check them.

  “I’m not one who believes in coincidences at that level. In my opinion, there may have been shenanigans involved,” Kaprow surmised. We reached out to Tina Caldarone and other members of the board to discuss these issues to no avail. A hearing date has not yet been finalized, with several judges recusing themselves. Farnsworth sent a letter on March 10th to the school board outlining his concerns about the process. 

This story will be updated when new information becomes available.