Florida education commissioner scolds Alachua County School Board over past comments, conduct

The Gainesville Sun | By Chelsea Long | October 8, 2025

Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas in an appearance at the Oct. 7 Alachua County School Board meeting, scolded board members for not adhering to state directives.

The commissioner reprimanded Vice Chair Tina Certain for her conduct at previous board meetings and for comments she made on social media about the late Charlie Kirk.

Kamoutsas questioned Certain’s fitness to serve, calling the vice chair “selfish” for prioritizing personal interests over students’ needs, citing the district’s lowest performing schools.

Kirk, a conservative activist and CEO and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was killed by single gunshot to the neck on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Following a memorial for Kirk on Sept. 21, Certain in a post on her personal Facebook page reffered to Kirk as a “31yr old uneducated white boy.”

Certain’s comment was made less than two months after ACSB Chair Sarah Rockwell was criticized for her comments on social media about the July 24 death of WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan.

“Oh did Hulk die? I didn’t even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world,” Rockwell wrote.

That prompted a contentious July 31 school board meeting at which a man, later as Jeremy Clepper, told Rockwell she should resign and called her a disgusting and vile human being. As Clepper left the microphone, a roar of boos erupted, prompting Clepper to engage with audience members.

Certain then asked Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies in the room to remove the man from the meeting. However, she quickly backtracked after being advised by the board’s attorney.

Alachua County School Board member Tina Certain listens to public comment during a school board meeting on Oct. 7 in Gainesville.

Following the meeting, the school board was directed by the Florida Department of Education to update its public comment policies in August after the state board found the ACSB violated Clepper’s First Amendment rights.

As a consequence, the state board said it planned to monitor all Alachua County School Board meetings through the end of the year.

“The State Board of Education and I will continue to monitor the Alachua County School Board until it complies with the law, protects parental rights and ensures that every student is put first and that every citizen is treated with the respect and the dignity that they are entitled to,” Kamoutsas said at the Oct. 7 meeting.

Kamoutsas reminded Certain that she is expected to attend the state board’s Nov. 18 meeting and make her case for why she should remain on the board.

Residents overwhelmingly voiced support for board members and criticized state officials for their involvement in local issues.

Tina Days, a parent with three kids in the Alachua County school system, said Kirk should not have been killed for his speech and doesn’t believe Certain should be punished for her speech either.

“I dare say nobody has the right to tell people how to feel about this person because the things that he [Kirk] said have hurt a lot of people,” Days. said

Rock Aboujaoude criticized Certain’s social media post, but said grievances should be settled in the next election, not by the state.

“Some remarks were in poor taste, but that is not cause for a governor or a state board to wield the power to silence those whose personal views they dislike,” he said. “That is exactly the danger the First Amendment was designed to guard against.”

Amy Trask said state officials are abusing their power to “silence dissent, punish educators and chill free speech,” and thanked board members for pushing back.

“I want to thank this board for refusing to play along, for recognizing that the real harm comes when we allow outside actors to dictate who gets to speak, who gets to teach, who gets to lead, and who is deemed worthy of our constitutional rights,” she said.

Clepper, who spoke out against Rockwell’s comments about Hulk Hogan, also addressed Certain’s remarks and accused her of being prejudiced against white people.

“All Charlie Kirk ever did was create environments for open debate and discourse to challenge and open minds,” he said. “It was rhetoric like this board has vomited for years that got that young man, father and husband murdered.”

No more cellphones on school grounds

The school board unanimously approved an amendment to prohibit student use of wireless devices during the school day. Prohibited devices include cellphones, smartwatches, radios, laptops and e-readers.

High school students are allowed to use their personal devices with permission from their teacher or school administrators during class, according to the policy, but otherwise devices must be powered off at all times.

Students can use school phones to contact parents and guardians during the school day. Parents and guardians can reach students by calling the school office.