UPDATE Thursday 8:40 am: Flagler Schools released the following statement on the retreat’s postponement: “This morning, Interim Superintendent LaShakia Mooreasked the Flagler County School Board members to postpone their scheduled Board Retreat. It was supposed to be held at 9:00 a.m. at the Government Services Building. A rescheduled date and time has not been determined.
“Mrs. Moore told the Board that her immediate attention was needed at Bunnell Elementary School, meeting with families, students, and staff.”
UPDATE Thursday 8:22 am: The retreat Thursday morning has been postponed per the district. A makeup date is not yet known.
BUNNELL – The Flagler County School Board is set to meet Thursday morning to interview and assess interim Superintendent LaShakia Moore about her prospects for the permanent superintendent position. The gathering, which is not a regular meeting nor a scheduled workshop, is the first time the Board will address the topic since deciding to suspend their external search and move forward with vetting Moore.
The meeting is also the first School Board gathering since Bunnell Elementary School made local and national headlines for an assembly of only Black students regarding the demographic’s perceptively lagging test scores. The assembly, which was signed off on by Principal Donelle Evensen, has drawn widespread condemnation for suggestions that poor scores would correlate to prison or death by gun violence, and its usage of a competitive tournament among the Black kids in attendance.
Moore on Wednesday released a video statement apologizing for the assembly, marking the first significant crisis of the district since she took the reins over the summer break. That debacle will likely also come up in discussion as much of the nation’s eyes are turned to Flagler Schools.
Those wishing to attend the meeting discussing Moore’s superintendency should report to the superintendent’s conference room on the third floor of the Government Services Building (1769 E. Moody Blvd) at 9:00 am. The meeting is scheduled to last until around noon.
As of now no official announcement has been made by the district regarding the meeting. Florida’s Sunshine Law dictates that meetings of elected officials regarding public business must be conducted with the opportunity for the public to attend, and so the Board would not close the doors off to the community without running the risk of legal action. Even so, no resources for a live stream appear to have been readied as of Wednesday afternoon.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.