Santa Rosa school board approves routine agenda items, appoints interim assistant principal; public speaker warns about library content

The Santa Rosa County School Board on an approximately 44-minute meeting unanimously approved multiple administrative and financial items, appointed an interim assistant principal effective June 11 and heard a public comment urging the district to remove a book currently under review.

Most votes on the board's consent and action agendas were unanimous. Items approved included requests to advertise public hearings on policy updates and student codes of conduct and progression, approval to advertise a transportation program policy, the district's Visa rebate program (24-20-24), a grant-match item, prequalification of contractors, direct purchasing change orders, a budget amendment (24-08) and bills and payroll for April 2025. The board also approved the district's new and updated professional-learning components for June 2025 and a 2023–2028 professional learning catalog the district said was updated to comply with state requirements.

Why it matters: The approvals clear several administrative steps the district says are needed to meet state requirements and keep projects and school operations moving into the summer. One public commenter, Cindy Smith of Pace, urged the board to speed up removal of what she called "graphic and obscene" materials from school library access and cited Florida law in urging action. The comment signals continuing community scrutiny of the district's materials review process.

The board's action and administrative approvals The board approved, by voice vote, multiple motions described on the agenda as requests to advertise public hearings for policy updates, including: school board policy updates; the 2025–26 code of student conduct; the 2025–26 student progression plan; and school board policy 8.3 (transportation program). A motion to advertise the transportation policy drew extended comment from a speaker who identified state traffic-process requirements and questioned whether a referenced "LHL/LHF" provision belonged in the district policy or was a clerk-of-court function; the board proceeded to vote to advertise the hearing.

The board approved a request to advertise a hearing on universal breakfast policy (board policies 8.46 and 8.42), the Visa rebate program 24-20-24, a grant-match item, the prequalified contractors list, and routine direct-purchasing change orders. Financial items approved included budget amendment number 24-08, bills and payroll for April 2025 and the monthly financial statements for April 2025. The financial director told the board the district had not yet received two state funding calculations (the fourth calc and the first calc for 2025–26) and that the district's FCR (financial-cash-reserve) was 5.3 percent as of the prior day.

Personnel and curriculum approvals The board approved an interim appointment for Joseph Goodwin as interim assistant principal at Helena Barr Middle School, effective June 11, while the district advertises and interviews for the permanent vacancy. The board also approved the 2025–26 administrative recommendations by school site and accepted the collection titled "New and Updated Components, June 2025" and the Professional Learning Catalog 2023–2028. Staff explained those catalog updates were made to comply with state statute 1012.98 and State Board rule 6A-5.071.

Construction, facilities and environmental monitoring Representatives from DAG Architects and facilities staff provided project updates. Work at T.R. Jackson includes completed demolition, underground utility work and reroofing on sections of the building. Soundside High School's main building has base pavement and completed masonry and metal panels; HVAC is operating in parts of the building and interior finish work has begun. Jay Elementary School is continuing exterior work and preparing to receive a generator.

Board members and staff reported significant flooding at the Jay campus following recent storms. Sam Marshall told the board the campus' south-side track was holding water "about 6 feet underwater," that dumpsters were floating and that a storage building and the gym sustained flooding. Facilities staff said they will inspect gym-floor damage and report back.

The board approved a request by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to install a small groundwater monitoring well on district property near a former gas station across the street from one campus. Staff described the installation as a roughly 2-foot-by-2-foot concrete pad with a monitoring well; the agency will remove it if no contamination is detected after several years.

Public comment on library materials Cindy Smith of Pace used the public-comment period to criticize the district's review committee and to call for removal of materials she described as "graphic and obscene," specifically citing the book Going Bovine, which she said remains pending review. Smith invoked Florida statute 847.012 and told the board, "We will not stop. If we must go to the governor, the Department of Education, or even the federal level to suspend funding until this is corrected, we will." The district did not take immediate action on the book during the meeting; public comment concluded and the board moved to other business.

Other agreements and committee appointments The board approved dual-enrollment articulation agreements with PSC and the University of West Florida, an agreement with the Florida Department of Health, a set of private-provider contracts, and a suicide-prevention flowchart. The board also approved an FSBA (Florida School Boards Association) advocacy-committee nomination: Mr. Elliott will serve on the committee and Mrs. Boston volunteered as alternate.

What’s next Staff said official district and school grades from the Department of Education should arrive later in the summer; superintendent Doctor Barber said preliminary internal calculations show improvements in learning gains and proficiency but the district is awaiting final state figures. The meeting adjourned after the board completed the agenda.