Florida State Sen. Joe Gruters (R-FL-23) has filed legislation requiring Florida school board meetings to be publicly broadcast and recorded on video, along with the ability of parents to make their voices heard and criticize school board members.
The summary of the text of the bill, SB 1300, spells out the requirements for school board meetings:
“Requiring all meetings of district school boards which are not exempt from certain public meeting requirements to be recorded by video and streamed live on a publicly accessible website; providing that parents have the right to be heard at district school board meetings, including the right to criticize individual district school board members, etc.”
The legislation comes as school boards across the country, including in Florida, have imposed COVID-related mask mandates on children and have faced criticism for advocating various forms of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in classrooms.
Earlier this fall, when the school year was getting started, numerous Florida school districts required teachers and students to wear masks, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) issued an executive order banning mask mandates with zero opt-out provision.
As a result, the school districts defied the order despite COVID having very little effect in healthy children, and new data to suggest mask requirements might be harming children.
In opposition to the numerous districts’ requirements, nationally, parents began voicing their concerns. This lead to the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to send a letter to President Joe Biden (D) calling the same parents “domestic terrorists” and said teachers were under immediate threat, requesting federal interference at local school board meetings.
The Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) responded by calling for “a review of NSBA leadership and its processes, as well as urges a public acknowledgment of the federal overreach expressed in your letter.”
Earlier this month, the FSBA announced they are withdrawing their affiliation with their parent organization, joining nearly 30 other state school board associations.
“When we were down in Fort Meyers the board voted to condemn the letter that NBSA sent to the White House requesting the FBI to get involved with local school board businesses,” said Escambia County School Board member Kevin Adams.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at the Florida Capital Star and the Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Fulton Parents Confront School Board About Controversial Survey” by KOMUnews. CC BY 2.0.
