Santa Rosa Schools
DeSantis Came to Milton for Applause. He Got Questions About Henry Mack.
The governor’s storm update was scripted. The residents who showed up on Friday were not.
Gov. Ron DeSantis rarely holds a press conference that isn’t staged. The governor and a lineup of state officials speak for most of the event, and the media gets a handful of questions at the end.
- On Friday, Oct. 16, he brought that format to Milton to talk about Hurricane Isaias recovery. He expected thanks. Parents and teachers instead used the open mic to ask about Education Commissioner Henry Mack and what he reportedly told Santa Rosa Superintendent Karen Barber.
The Script
DeSantis opened with numbers: more than 1,600 response missions, 11 points of distribution, a quarter of a million meals, half a million boxes of water and 26,000 tarps. He announced a state-backed RV housing program with a nonprofit and said Florida filed its major disaster declaration request in less than a week.
- Jared Perdue of the Division of Emergency Management praised the governor’s leadership. State Rep. Michelle Salzman thanked him for “showing up every day” and told residents there is “no red tape.”
The first crack came after Perdue finished. A citizen called out that he thought the state had been “sitting on our hands.” It was the only unscripted line before the Q&A, and it set the tone.
The Pivot
When residents pressed the superintendent, DeSantis denied it with an answer to a question nobody asked.
“I’ve never spoken to your superintendent. … I don’t know who she is.”
My reporting never said DeSantis spoke to Barber. It said Mack did, on a conference call, according to a source who sat in on it. That source told me Mack refused to accept any reason the schools couldn’t open Wednesday, accused her team of being “too tired” and said, “If I have to order FHP break down your doors, that’s what I will do.”
- When a resident raised the threats directly, DeSantis said, “That’s not true,” and asked why the room couldn’t “focus on things that are productive.”
- He did not say what part was untrue, and he did not address what Mack said.
“That is in the Past”
A longtime resident told the governor that the state was dealing with “a giant tornado” and then raised “the pressure that was applied by the Secretary of Education.” DeSantis cut in.
- “Okay. Look, I get it, but that is in the past. I don’t think that’s true.”
- When another resident said a records request would be filed next week, he answered, “Go ahead and do that.”
- He then said, “Those guys were doing what they thought was right.”
- He never said who “those guys” were.
It was not in the past. Santa Rosa schools were still closed that very day, and students don’t return until today—Oct. 19.
The “Mandates” Answer
A parent said she wanted to know about her kids going back to school and that she has friends who are teachers and staff. DeSantis said: “We didn’t put any mandates on anybody. There’s no mandates on anybody. The communities can make those decisions.”
- Another parent told him moms who had never been to a school board meeting had to show up Tuesday. His reply: “That wasn’t us telling you you had to do that.”
Compare that with the record. Mack, whom DeSantis recommended and the State Board of Education unanimously selected on July 22, reportedly accused Barber of denying parents the choice to send their kids to school and threatened state troopers, funding and a public attack on the district.
- On Wednesday, Mack opened the State Board meeting by praising Walton and Okaloosa for reopening ahead of Santa Rosa and Escambia. That is pressure, whether it came with a formal mandate or not.
Gov. Rick Scott Handled Disasters Differently
In April 2014, Pensacola and Escambia County faced an unprecedented rainstorm that dumped over two feet of water in less than 24 hours. Scott was here the next morning, walking the streets, listening to residents.
I interviewed Gov. Scott as he toured Palafox Place with Sheriff David Morgan and Mayor Ashton Hayward. He stopped and talked with several business owners. He told me that his biggest concern was the safety of the people whose homes were damaged.
He was sincere and emotional. No script, no microphone moments for politicians.
