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Residents urge protection of public schools, warn voucher expansion is diverting funds
Summary
Multiple speakers during public input said Florida’s voucher expansion is redirecting public dollars to private schools and urged the board to protect public education; speakers also raised desegregation and student safety concerns.
Several speakers during the public‑input portion urged the school board to defend public education and raised concerns about Florida’s voucher program, a longstanding desegregation order and student safety in middle schools.
Margaret Murray, vice chairman of Education Champions, described the grassroots group’s work since an August school board meeting and said the organization has grown to about 150 members. "We formed after the August 23 school board meeting...we stand up for public education and the right to read," Murray said.
Marilyn Lavecchia, a founding member of Education Champions, told the board she supports school choice but said Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship (voucher) program no longer matches its original intent and is diverting public funds. Lavecchia said, “School vouchers are not expanding opportunity. It is redirecting $4,000,000,000 of our public tax dollars to private, often for profit concerns,” and that the program provides about “$10,000 per child in public tax dollars” with “little or no accountability,” statements she attributed to her analysis of the program.
Dr. Margie Flanagan, chair of Education Champions, urged the board to continue supporting public schools as a pathway to economic opportunity and praised the district’s leadership and teacher workforce for recent gains in student achievement.
Thomas Kenny and Jennifer Pippen, who identified themselves with other local groups, raised related concerns. Kenny criticized detailed contract oversight connected to a court‑ordered desegregation remedy and urged the board to revisit parts of the transportation discussion connected to desegregation busing. Pippen, identifying herself as chair of Moms for Liberty in Indian River County, said she supported adoption of the classical curriculum at Pelican Island and thanked the district for protecting the free‑speech rights of staff during recent investigations; she also raised a safety concern about a change to a bus stop serving Stormgrove Middle School and asked the district to reevaluate the route.
Speakers asked the board to safeguard public schools’ funding, curricular integrity and student safety. Board members did not take formal action based on public input at the meeting, but several members acknowledged the comments and referenced ongoing work on transportation, curriculum and school climate.
