None of us should have been surprised by what we saw and heard last week at our School Board’s first meeting since the governor handed the Moms For Liberty control of public education in our county.
All of us, however, should be alarmed by the harsh and dogmatic manner in which the board’s new Moms-backed majority conducted itself for much of the Monday night session, ignoring the fact that two of its three members were seated without having ever received a single vote from a member of our community.
On full display was the Moms’ intolerant, hard-right agenda, complete with the expected venomous attacks on teachers, concocted culture-war propaganda and a blatantly ideological decision that threatens the recent progress made in repairing the board’s relationship with our black community.
“We knew this was going to happen as soon as they got a majority,” one prominent schools official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “This is just the beginning. It’ll get worse.”
That’s difficult to imagine, given the sometimes-bizarre events of the evening.
There was board member Gene Posca, viciously accusing teachers of being unpatriotic and failing to set the proper pro-America examples for students, then questioning whether they can be trusted alone with our children.
Going completely off the rails, Posca would later urge the Vero Beach City Council to remove its vice mayor over an innocent and lighthearted Facebook post that was far less repulsive than his politically motivated tweet about the Ku Klux Klan and Democrats last fall.
There was also board newcomer Kevin McDonald, participating in his first meeting, voting to remove the tried-and-true Peggy Jones as the panel’s representative on the court-ordered joint work group, which, along with local NAACP leaders, continues to address the issues cited in a 1967 federal desegregation order that still haunts the district.
It was McDonald’s vote that provided the 3-2 majority needed to replace Jones with Moms puppet Jackie Rosario, who has proven to be no friend to our Black community.
And, as usual, there was Rosario, dutifully carrying the Moms’ banner and bringing up cultural topics – including the district’s policies governing students standing for the Pledge of Allegiance and observing a daily moment of silence – that rev up the fringe group’s supporters but do little to improve public education or student outcomes.
It doesn’t seem to matter that this majority was created last month, when Gov. Ron DeSantis, in an entirely political and shamefully petty move, chose to reject now-former board member Brian Barefoot’s efforts to rescind his erroneously submitted resignation in February and replace him with McDonald.
Nor does it matter, apparently, that this manufactured majority represents only a small minority of the parents in the district.
This is now the Moms’ show, and the headliner of its tumultuous debut episode was Posca, who wasted no time in setting the hostile, take-no-prisoners tone we’ll apparently be forced to endure for as long as this hard-to-watch series runs.
Recalling Sebastian River High School’s graduation ceremony last May, Posca launched his attack by taking shots at a “majority of teachers” he alleges did not stand and participate in the recitation of the Pledge.
He also criticized the school’s leadership, which he said has allowed teachers to publicly disrespect our constitution, military and nation.
“That sort of behavior is a sign – a big red flag – that there’s an underlying problem in that school,” Posca said. “For a majority of teachers to behave that way, openly and in front of everyone, it’s a sign that there’s a dereliction of leadership at Sebastian River High School.”
Then, as School Board Chair Teri Barenborg attempted to respond to his unsubstantiated allegations, Posca played the role of pseudo-tough bully, rudely interrupting and speaking over her.
When Posca finally relented, Barenborg wondered aloud why he waited nearly a year to mention what he claimed to have seen, saying he should have promptly notified Sebastian River principal Christopher Cummings or School Superintendent David Moore.
That’s when Posca became combative.
“Are you implying that you did not see what I saw – because you said that, if you saw something, you’d respond right away?” Posca asked Barenborg, using an unnecessarily aggressive tone. “Did you somehow miss that almost all the teachers are sitting … and all the students were standing with their hands over their heart?”
Barenborg replied that she didn’t know if the teachers were standing because, when reciting the Pledge, she focuses her eyes on the flag, not the audience.
“That’s a great excuse,” Posca responded with obvious snark.
For what it’s worth: Posca did later correct himself, but only to say he was actually referring to the playing of the national anthem – not the recitation of the Pledge – during the graduation ceremony.
Multiple witnesses, though, have told Vero Beach 32963 that Posca also was wrong when he accused teachers of not standing for the anthem.
Those witnesses, who said they were on the field for the ceremony, were joined by the local teachers’ union, which last week released a written statement condemning his “intentionally false statements” and “inaccurate and harmful accusations.”
The union and its president, Jennifer Freeland, demanded from Posca an immediate retraction and public apology, stating that video evidence shows both students and teachers “standing respectfully” for the anthem.
The union’s statement also rebutted Posca’s assertion that parents need to be concerned about their children sharing classrooms with teachers who “don’t love their country,” calling his fears “entirely unfounded and offensive.”
The statement continued: “These defamatory remarks undermine the trust and respect between educators and the community.”
Later in the meeting, however – after Rosario raised the possibility of installing patriotic programs and complained that too few students were standing for the Pledge at the start of their school days – Posca stubbornly doubled down on his attacks.
Not only did he say he stood by his earlier remarks, but he also blamed teachers for students, especially at the high school level, not participating in the recitation of the Pledge.
“I don’t blame the kids at all,” Posca said. “I blame the teachers, who are supposed to be their leaders – that are responsible for leading their kids to respect their country, respect the flag.”
You’ll notice he didn’t blame parents, which seemed odd, given his stout endorsement of the Moms’ embrace of parental rights. Instead, he clung to the bogus narrative that liberal-minded teachers are indoctrinating our kids, even though there’s no evidence that it happens here.
Perhaps Posca, who ran unopposed for his District 1 board seat in 2022, would like to see a loyalty test for teachers. If so, he’d probably be disappointed with the results.
Moore staunchly defended the district’s teachers and their patriotism. He also offered a rousing endorsement of Cummings and vouched for the principal’s character.
In addition, the superintendent joined Barenborg and Jones – all three regularly visit the district’s schools – in saying they had not witnessed the same standing-for-the-Pledge issues identified by Posca and Rosario.
Moore’s biggest challenge, however, is likely to be continuing the progress of the district-NAACP work group with Rosario replacing Jones, who has been the Black community’s most trusted ally on the board.
“Peggy Jones, because of her experience and insight, has made important contributions that have been very valuable to the process,” said Tony Brown, president of the local NAACP chapter. “She has been there, done that – as a parent, teacher, principal and now as a board member – and she truly cares about all children in this district.
“With her help, we’ve made tremendous progress,” he added. “Things haven’t always moved along as quickly as they could have, but it’s a lot less contentious, and we’re getting closer. We’re closer than we’ve ever been.
“But with a new board member coming in, everybody’s concerned.”
They should be.
Although Rosario’s district includes Gifford, the county’s largest Black community, Brown said she is rarely seen there – “except when it’s election time” – and that she has “done nothing for her Black constituents.”
You might remember that Rosario, in response to an oppressive new state law, pushed hard for the removal of the board’s racial equity policy, which was celebrated by the local Black community when it was unanimously adopted in 2020.
You might also remember that she resisted Jones’ efforts to replace it.
In fact, neither Rosario nor Posca attended the meeting at which the board voted 3-0 to adopt the new policy, which was authored by Jones.
Yet, after Posca nominated Rosario, McDonald voted with them.
“The work group has been struggling for a long time to reach agreement,” said McDonald, who is being challenged by retired businessman David Dyer in the August election. “It’s only reasonable that a different member could help bring this to a conclusion.”
But to appoint Rosario?
“We expect she’s coming in to be divisive and disruptive,” Brown said, “but now she’s got to deal with what’s already memorialized in court, a judge who doesn’t tolerate nonsense, and a pretty good team of lawyers.
“She’s not going to be able to get away with the stuff she pulls on the School Board.”
Last week, though, it was Posca who stole the show, embarrassing himself and the board by closing with a call for the removal of Vero Beach Vice Mayor Linda Moore – because, in a post on her personal Facebook page, she asked friends to donate sex toys to be used for an art project.
For the vice mayor to make such a request, Posca said, she must be “operating under a delusional thought process” and is “clearly unfit” to serve on the council.
Contacted last week, Linda Moore downplayed Posca’s ridiculous rant, saying she addressed the matter two weeks earlier, when she deleted the post and acknowledged she had made a mistake within 24 hours.
“It was meant in a spirit of fun for a wacky art project, but I really didn’t stop to think how some people might be offended …,” she wrote in her follow-up post. “And as the vice mayor, it was inappropriate.”
She’s not going anywhere.
Nor should she.
Besides, Posca conveniently failed to mention his own past social-media posts, including the sharing of a politically motivated, KKK-related meme that prompted more than 600 people to sign a change.org petition seeking his removal from the board last fall.
There was no reason, however, to put a damper on a successful opening night, when the Moms and their board majority publicly flexed their muscles, then gathered in the parking lot to congratulate themselves.
This is their time, and we knew it was coming.
You don’t like it?
Your time is in August.
