TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A college superintendent who was criticized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for infusing “politically charged statements” and “personal views” into his administration has reached an settlement with the state’s Department of Education.
Rocky Hanna, superintendent of Leon County Schools, will obtain a reprimand as a part of the settlement with the training practices fee. The settlement ends an investigation tied to Hanna requiring masks for the district’s 30,000 college students and hundreds of staff in 2021, after DeSantis banned the mandates.
“I have done nothing wrong. I absolutely have no ‘history of defying the law’ nor have I ever suggested to anyone to violate the law or not teach the Florida Standards as established by the Board of Education,” Hanna mentioned in an announcement.
Hanna mentioned he has “chosen to ignore my personal pride and remain focused on the bigger picture – helping every student in our district prepare for their next step in life.”
In April, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. notified Hanna there was possible trigger to justify sanctions, which included the potential of a reprimand, suspension or everlasting revocation of his educating license.
Diaz famous that Hanna violated a 2021 DeSantis directive barring districts from mandating that college students put on COVID-19 masks. Hanna required college students to put on masks after a Leon third grader died of the illness early that college 12 months. The struggle went on for a number of months till Leon and several other different districts had their authorized problem rejected by the courts.
Hanna shouldn’t be required to have a educating certificates as an elected superintendent. But the settlement settlement consists of stipulations – two years’ probation, a $1,000 superb to be paid throughout the probationary interval and a requirement that Hanna take faculty stage lessons in management and training ethics – if he turns into employed able that requires such certification, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
Hanna acknowledges that even with the settlement, DeSantis, who has launched a marketing campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, might nonetheless attempt to oust him from workplace. He has eliminated different elected officers in Florida, together with a prosecutor within the Tampa Bay space who disagreed with the governor’s positions limiting abortion and medical look after transgender teenagers and indicated he won’t implement new legal guidelines in these areas.
Hanna criticized the governor a number of instances on social media and at school board conferences since DeSantis banned masks mandates throughout the pandemic. He mentioned that has made him a goal for political retaliation.
“It’s a sad day for democracy in Florida, and the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, when a state agency with unlimited power and resources, can target a local elected official in such a biased fashion,” Hanna mentioned in an April assertion.
In 2020, Hanna, a Democrat working as an impartial, was elected to a second four-year time period with 60% of the vote. He plans to run for reelection subsequent 12 months.
The settlement was reached after Hanna despatched Diaz a letter asking what he proposed to conclude the investigation, the newspaper reported. Hanna mentioned Diaz proposed the reprimand and probationary measures, and the superintendent agreed.
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com