“A renewed dedication to this district and our students”: Rockwell pledges to move forward

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the beginning of today’s School Board of Alachua County meeting, Chair Sarah Rockwell affirmed her continued dedication to the district and its students, making the following statement about her comment last week: “Oh did Hulk die? I didn’t even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world.” She released an apology on July 26.

“I want to begin tonight by directly addressing the issue that has understandably drawn significant attention over the last week. As many of you know, I made a highly inappropriate comment on my personal Facebook page, one that I deeply regret. There is absolutely no excuse for what I said, and I take full responsibility for it.

“I posted an immediate apology on my professional Facebook page, and again tonight, I sincerely and publicly apologize to everyone who was hurt or offended by my words. My comment does not reflect the values of this district, this board, our administration, our educators, or staff. It also does not reflect the incredible work happening across Alachua County Public Schools. This mistake was mine alone, and I regret that it has distracted from the important work we are doing in this district.

“As a public official, I know I am held to a higher standard, and I should have been more thoughtful. I’m not perfect, and I know that, and I know that I can and will do better. Education is at its core about learning, accountability, and growth, and that’s not just for students, but for all of us, as we teach our students, a single mistake, even a very serious one, does not have to define a person forever. What matters is how we respond.

“I’m choosing to respond with humility, a commitment to personal growth, and a renewed dedication to this district and our students. I know that trust must be rebuilt, and I will work hard to earn it back. I also want to share that since this incident, my family and my friends and I have been subjected to death threats and harassment from people across the country, and here, this includes the release of my home address.

“While I remain fully accountable for my actions, I do not condone political violence, and I believe no one, especially my children, should be put at risk because of my mistake. I understand that many of you still have concerns, and you want to share your thoughts, and I will listen fully and respectfully for as long as I’m physically able, as I continue my recovery from surgery.

“That said, after tonight, I will not revisit this topic again. My focus and our collective focus must return to the work this community expects from us as a board, improving our schools, supporting our teachers, staff, and students, and moving this district forward, the sooner we can move forward together, the sooner we can return our full attention to what matters most, our students. Thank you. And now I am going to turn the gavel over to Vice Chair Certain for this meeting, as I’m still recovering from surgery.”

School Board of Alachua Chair Sarah Rockwell

Vice Chair Tina Certain moved to Rockwell’s chair, Rockwell moved down to Certain’s chair, and Certain presided over the rest of the meeting.

Plavac: “Dr. Rockwell stepping down as Board Chair needs to happen.”

Member Janine Plavac said Rockwell’s comment “sparked serious concern about the tone and judgment expected from public education leaders. School Board members hold a duty to represent all constituents with fairness and dignity. Celebrating an individual’s death based on a political affiliation or ideology violates that principle and undermines trust in our institution.

“This incident is a clear breach of community values: one, nonpartisan representation; two, respect for all; three, sound judgment; and four, preserving community trust. Public education depends on collaboration, not division. We must hold our leaders to the highest standards. This call for Dr Rockwell to resign as Board Chair was based on those values.”

Plavac said the board does not have the ability to fire Rockwell; only the Governor has that power. She added, “I have never professed to be anything more than a nurse of 49 years who values life; a teacher who has taught her students for 21 years the importance of integrity, morals, and ethics; a parent who expects teachers, staff, parents, and administration to be impartial; and a conservative who respects and loves this country. I believe Dr Rockwell crossed that line with her comments, and since she represents all the board members as Chair, I felt that she needed to resign as Chair.”

Plavac said she had not spoken with Rockwell “because with Sunshine laws that is prohibited,… [but] I feel that locally elected officials are held to an even higher accountability than officials on a state or national level. Parents expect that from us, and because of that, Dr. Rockwell stepping down as Board Chair needs to happen. Going forward, I am confident that the School Board will be able to accomplish the necessary work required in the upcoming school year so that parents, teachers, staff, and students can continue to build on our collective vision for the continued success of every student.” Plavac, however, did not make a motion to nominate another member as Chair of the board.

Vu: “I accept [Rockwell’s apology], and I hope that when the time comes, I and all of us are afforded the same grace.”

Member Thomas Vu said Plavac had sent an email to other board members, stating that the Governor was the only one who could remove Rockwell from the board, “which, to me, is in contrast to what she just stated.”

Vu said, “Chair Rockwell made a comment, and it was, you know, inappropriate, regrettable. She has said that, and I’ve talked a lot about how accountability is necessary and it’s appropriate, and we are all worthy of criticism. No matter what you think of us, none of us are perfect, and there will be times when you should be criticizing us. But, you know, the Dr. Rockwell I know is someone who’s given her life to the betterment of others. She is somebody who volunteers, she advocates for students with disabilities, and she’s a leader in this community, and she really does have a heart for everyone here, regardless of whatever her own personal beliefs are. And so she’s apologized. Even with me and my own upset feelings, as someone in this community and as a colleague, I accept that, and I hope that when the time comes, I and all of us are afforded the same grace.”

Vu said, however, that the response to Rockwell’s comments had been “really extreme… There is no scenario where threats of physical harm or harassment toward any single person, let alone their family, is acceptable or justified. Let’s just state that very clearly. And this intensity is disproportionate and has reached levels of vitriol, and these reactions must be unequivocally condemned. So if you are somebody who has done this, I am condemning your actions.”

Vu further accused “this community” of “selective outrage… It really is clear that there are many people in this community hell-bent on destroying public education and are using this as a wedge issue to practice the politics of selective outrage.”

Vu said, “Political leaders right over there in Newberry actively supported and defended a child predator who led an effort to convert three public schools into charter schools. This person was later arrested, charged, and convicted of child sex crimes, Joel Searby, and then, even after he was arrested, the first instincts of these leaders weren’t to condemn him, but to defend him, even going so far as to imply that his arrest was the result of a conspiracy, that it was payback for leading the charge to steal three public schools from our community, And these same leaders who now demand accountability from Dr. Rockwell stood by this individual and dismissed community concerns and failed to demonstrate the same moral clarity they now claim they possess. So, given that clear hypocrisy, I really do want to ask a question to many of us here, where was your outrage?”

Certain: “Under no circumstances will I entertain or accept or ask her to step down from being our Chair.”

Certain said, “Dr. Rockwell, I accept your apology. Thank you for being swift and owning what you say is your mis-speak. And I’d like to for all of us to just be mindful that we’ve all misspoken and that we should indeed respond with grace to each other when we do that.”

Certain said she would have preferred for Plavac to handle the issue privately with Rockwell: “That’s not a Sunshine issue to discuss… because we’re not voting on that.” Certain said Plavac’s email to other board members was “hurtful” because “it was like you were just throwing her under the bus, and for something that was just a mis-speak… If we do something that you don’t like or you disagree with, extend grace to your colleagues. We’re colleagues, and we all welcomed you. We didn’t box you out because you were appointed by the Governor.”

Certain continued, speaking to Plavac, “I do want you to own how you presented this matter to the constituents and the people. You said it should be apolitical. You said you’re a conservative. You actually introduced politics into this as well. You felt like you could express your political views, but I don’t feel that you were extending that same grace to Dr Rockwell… We elected Dr. Rockwell as our Chair during our organizational meeting, and under no circumstances will I entertain or accept or ask her to step down from being our Chair.

“She’s led us admirably since her election in November. She comes to meetings prepared. She leads an orderly meeting. She’s fair and impartial to anyone, not just in this boardroom, but ever since she’s been on the board, she has worked to ensure that every student in this county, no matter their background, their zip code, that they have access to a high quality education, and that they she has even gone into classrooms… She has really conducted herself admirably, and one mistake should not characterize and dismiss all of the hard work that she’s done. And I really would hope that, you know, we could come together collectively and move forward and that there be no hard feelings.”

Member Leanetta McNealy said, “I just wanted to say to the community that many of the things that we are going to be working on tonight and in the future, for the students of Alachua County, we need five strong folk on here, sitting here… I just want you to understand that we have work to do, because you have elected us and what has taken place in the last couple of days, and at my last count, I had 1,222 emails. Did I read them all? Yes, I did, every single one of them, the ones from the community, the ones from out of state. I’m interested in seeing how people think and what they want to say.”

McNealy continued, “I’m relieved that Dr. Rockwell is here with us, because I thought with her health, she would not even be able to be here with us, but with the importance of the work that we have to do, she said, ‘I’m coming. I’m going to be here.’ And I think that’s remarkable. You see me all the time with this purple stick back here. My doctors have failed me, but I’m determined that I’m hopping, but I’m not stopping, and I’m going to hope that my colleagues will unify and that we can do what you have wanted us to do for the children of this community.”

The board moved on with the agenda, which will be covered in a future article.