A bill written in response to the Volusia County school district charging a school board member for public records, sailed through its latest committee Feb. 10.
The “Florida School Board Members’ Bill of Rights” proposes to grant “free and timely access” to records, such as expense reports, invoices, and line items from budgets. It would also bar districts from having employees sign non-disclosure agreements after a controversy erupted in Volusia County last year.
Sen. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, the bill’s cosponsor, said he also wants to ensure elected school board members have “reasonable access to district staff,” without having to go directly through the superintendent.
“What Volusia County did that offended me was the nondisclosure agreements,” Leek said at a Feb. 2 Senate Education K-12 Committee hearing. “I thought that can’t be right.”
Hearing about how Volusia County School Board member Donna Brosemer was charged $76.10 after requesting to see the signed agreements sealed it for Leek. He wanted answers.
So Leek started asking others in the Legislature, including Sen. Don Gaetz, a former Okaloosa County School Board member and superintendent, about instances where board members were “frozen out” from information.
Gaetz said he, too, was disturbed hearing about the use of NDAs by a public school district.
“The whole notion of non-disclosure agreements, making school district employees sign NDAs so they can’t talk to school board members or anybody else? That seems to me a total violation of the whole direction of state government and operating in the sunshine, and operating in an accountable fashion,” he said.
The bill has been more controversial in Volusia County than Tallahassee, where the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-0 in favor.
Volusia School Board members spoke out against the bill at the Feb. 2 committee hearing, saying it goes too far in granting board members access to staff in ways that could undermine the school superintendent’s authority over day-to-day operations.
Volusia School Board chair, sheriff oppose bill
Ruben Colón, chair of the Volusia County School Board, said he has never been denied access to records and district staff in his eight years. Colón expressed concerns that the bill lacks guardrails to keep board members from “leaking” confidential information.
“It doesn’t simply refine oversight,” he said. “It shifts Florida’s governance model in ways that will be felt immediately in the day-to-day operations of our schools.”
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood weighed in, too, sending senators a letter of “strong opposition” that he had read into the record.
Chitwood said he has worked closely with schools for many years, and praised Volusia Superintendent Carmen Balgobin for lifting the district’s state accountability grade to an A in 2025.
“It is critical that superintendents are empowered to effectively manage the day-to-day operations of our school districts,” Chitwood wrote, adding that the current model “has proven to be the most effective structure for both staff and accountability and student outcomes.”
Krista Goodrich, vice chair of the Volusia County School Board, suggested the bill be amended to ensure that the documents supplied to board members pertain to that board member’s duties.
“Without that boundary, documents or staff access could be misused, and employees could feel pressured to share information that is personal or inappropriate,” Goodrich said. “Protecting students must remain our top priority.”
Board member Jessie Thompson spoke against the bill, saying she, too, wanted to be certain it contained protections against confidential student information being disseminated, and that board members being allowed to speak directly with staff members without the superintendent’s approval could “create confusion.”
Does posting opinions ahead of a school board vote violate Florida’s Sunshine Law?
Jamie Haynes, who is nearing the end of her second term on the Volusia school board, said she doesn’t believe the bill is needed.
Allowing board members “free and unfettered access to anything, even things that are not part of public records,” raises concerns about confidential information being misused, Haynes said.
She raised questions about whether the bill would open access to confidential information, such as student records and employee health histories, and expressed a concern about Brosemer’s use of social media, and whether that might violate the Florida Sunshine Law.
“We are all blocked from being able to see what one board member posts, and that board member posts on social media all the time about what’s happening in her opinion,” Haynes said. “You know if you give your opinion prior to a board meeting, you’re already breaking the law because you are telling how you are going to vote.”
Gaetz, a former Senate president, said Haynes’ interpretation of the Sunshine Law is wrong.
“I’m sorry that there’s trouble in Volusia County,” Gaetz said, “but to suggest that just because a board member announces in advance what their position is on an issue, that that violates the Sunshine Law, if someone is telling you that, you need to get a different attorney, because that’s baloney.”
Leek also addressed the concerns about whether the bill might shake loose student records or health information that have been made confidential by federal laws.
“The things that are being complained about today, you cannot get … but we will make changes to make sure it’s clear,” Leek said at the Feb. 2 hearing. “It doesn’t involve any confidential information, certainly any student information or private health information.”
What’s next for ‘School Board Members’ Bill of Rights’?
The “School Board Members’ Bill of Rights” faces one more panel review before going to the Senate floor for a vote. A similar House bill has passed two committee stops and is headed to the House floor for a vote next week.
Phil Leary, chairman of the Putnam County School Board, spoke in favor of the bill at the Feb. 10 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. He described a superintendent cutting off board members’ access to staff after a state audit revealed financial irregularities.
“This bill is critically important,” Leary said.
Brosemer, the Volusia School Board member who has butted heads with her colleagues over the NDAs and other matters, missed the Feb. 10 School Board meeting to attend the Senate committee hearing in Tallahassee, where she praised Leek and Gaetz for sponsoring the bill.
Brosemer said three of the staffers who refused to sign the NDAs no longer work at the district.
Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Tamarac, asked Brosemer whether Volusia County Schools Superintendent Carmen Balgobin was elected or appointed. Brosemer said she was appointed.
“Y’all should fire ’em,” Osgood said.
Brosemer responded: “I’ll deliver the message.”
Leek has said he didn’t set out to punish Volusia County, but wanted school board members statewide to have the ability to do their jobs, which includes evaluating the superintendent and district operations.
“I do need to make clear to everyone, our superintendent is a good superintendent,” Leek said of Balgobin. “She has actually taken our district up to an A, and I think she has gotten some terrible advice on these NDAs in particular, and on the public records requests.
“But this bill here is designed to protect school board members who aren’t necessarily in the majority, when the machine kind of works against you and boxes you out, and makes sure you can’t get the information you need to do your job,” Leek said.
Balgobin − who didn’t weigh in on the bill − said she respects the legislative process and the perspectives of elected officials at every level.
“I’m grateful for Senator Leek’s recognition of our district’s progress,” Balgobin said in an email. “Our historic A grade and 95.6% graduation rate reflect the hard work of our educators, staff, students, and families.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia County School Board split over Florida Senate bill
Reporting by Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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