Florida School Boards Association Rejects FBI Intervention at Local Board Meetings

The Florida School Boards Association has rejected the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) request for federal law enforcement assistance to cope with frustrated parents who object to Critical Race Theory (CRT) and mask mandates at local school board meetings.

In a letter to NSBA President Viola Garcia and interim executive director Chip Slaven, FSBA executive director Andrea Messina wrote of the state association’s concern it was not consulted about the letter to Biden, a situation that suggests the need for “a review of NSBA leadership and its processes.”

Messina said NSBA’s letter to the president also “urges a public acknowledgment of the federal overreach expressed” in it, and added:

Several elements of your letter run counter to the tenets embraced by the FSBA, and this communication has caused serious concerns, conflict, and consternation for many of our members within the FSBA. Not only has it unnecessarily distracted from the important work being carried out by our members, it has strained important local and state collaborative relationships our members have worked hard to build and maintain for years. This includes our Governor, Legislature, local law enforcement, communities, and our members questioning our commitment to the First Amendment rights of citizens, which we believe is the bedrock of democracy and would always protect.

While FSBA asserts “Illegal acts, violence, and intimidation of any public officials should not be tolerated,” the association states such incidents belong in the jurisdiction of local law enforcement.

“[O]ur districts will continue to work closely and collaborate with local law enforcement to effectively address these and other issues of public safety if and when they arise,” FSBA noted. “We respect our local and state law enforcement agencies and will continue to rely heavily on them to ensure all participants in our school board meetings are safe and secure.”

FSBA informed the national group how it views the role of parents at local board meetings:

We also both encourage and welcome parents, as well as other concerned citizens into our school board meetings to engage in lively, respectful, and civil civic discourse. We respect Florida’s open meeting laws, invite disparate beliefs to be shared, and believe hearing from passionate stakeholders is a sign of a healthy community engagement. We will continue to provide a safe environment for all stakeholders to exchange views; thereby, ensuring parents’ voices are heard when it comes to decisions about their children’s education and safety.

In light of the views expressed in NSBA’s letter to Biden, FSBA said it will continue to withhold its membership dues “until further notice.”

FSBA joins the Louisiana and Virginia School Board Associations, also members of NSBA, who rejected the national association’s request to bring in federal law enforcement to local school board meetings. Both of these school board associations also observed they had not been consulted by NSBA prior to its letter to the president.

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