Why Did Florida's Education Commissioner Attend The Leon School Board Meeting?

The answers (yes, plural) came from Florida's Commissioner of Education, Anastasios Kamoutsos  during his lengthy visit with Preston. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is a radio program today that is to borrow
from Dan Patrick's days on ESPN Sports Center in Fuego. Yeah,
we are. We are dealing it today, my friends, and
it's great to share time with you, no matter where,
no matter how. Thank you very much. It's a privilege

(00:28):
to be with you, and we thank you for your time.
We always want to make the most of it, and
we want to make the most of the time of
this gentleman. He is the Commissioner of Education for the
Sunshine State. Anastasios Kumutsas. Kamutsas is with us. How are you, sir,
Good to have you back on the program.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Good morning, Presco Preston, thank you so much for having
me on the show. Looking forward to discussing on something
that impacts both you and I as Leon County residents.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Well let's start there now. Obviously, we've got listeners all
over the state and in fact all over the country
because of iHeartRadio, and so, as I like to point out,
you can learn lessons by just paying attention to what
goes on in any local community. And I think that
what's happening here in Leon County as it relates to
education is a really great opportunity for people to learn lessons.

(01:21):
So let me start with this, why did you choose
to come to the school board meeting on Tuesday night?

Speaker 2 (01:27):
So the reason I was going is, I know there's
been quite a bit of scrutiny on two major issues
right now in Leon County. The first as a school
board member Daryl Jones, who has engaged in social media
posts as it relates to Charlie Kirk that are totally
divisive and inappropriate, and so there's been some outrage in
the community. And I know there wasn't the only public

(01:49):
speaker that evening. The superintendent called me out, suggesting that
this was an intimidation tactic, But I think he fails
to recognize he is a public service and at the
end of the day that answers to constituents. I am,
in fact one of the constituents of Leon County, and
so I am allowed to be able to provide public
comment at a school board meeting. And I did that

(02:12):
as it relates to the Daryl Jones post. But I also,
as Commissioner of Education, wanted to show the school board
and the superintendent there is a pass forward as it
relates to these teachers salaries, and so I took the
time to address both issues, and they're very pressing issues.
I have continued to beat the drum and make sure

(02:33):
it's a priority that these teachers in Leon County are
receiving the compensation increases that they deserve. I am a
huge advocate for the educators and making sure that we
receive it in the timely fashion. Year after year, Leon
County has failed and paying their teachers these salary increases
that the governor appropriates in a timely fashion. And so

(02:54):
to this year, we're doing everything we can so that
they understand we're advocating for them to get those pay increases.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
We're talking about. Over the last six years, nearly six
billion dollars has been put in place solely to improve
and increase teach your pay. I'm curious, I personally think
the fault lies on both sides. What's your perspective.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
I don't disagree, I think, and then I said it
at the meeting. Leon County families and educators deserve better,
and it's up to Superintendent Hannah and the Leon County
School Board to deliver. Leon County Schools continues to show
a lack of effective leadership how is it a year
after year totally nearly six billion dollars Over the past

(03:42):
six years, Leon County has repeatedly failed to deliver those
raises on time. Last year, teachers had to wait over
six months before they saw those pay increases reflected in
their paychecks. And what's interesting is that they continue to
criticize the governor as if he is not championing this

(04:02):
initiative to give teachers the pay increases. Let me remind folks,
he had one point five billion dollars last year alone
recommended in his budget. The legislature landed on one point
thirty six billion dollars, which was still an increase from
the year before. That was an increase of about one
hundred and two million dollars, but again that's money that

(04:23):
is only dedicated for teacher salary increases. Let's also talk
about the highest ever per student funding at nine one
hundred and thirty dollars per student, which is an increase
of nearly one hundred and fifty dollars per student. And
so the district has the ability to be able to
utilize the flexibility. You'll recall in the first year, I

(04:47):
think new teachers were prioritized to increase that starting salary,
and then there was full flexibility given to the school
district to be able to make sure that the veteran
educators were seeing similar pay increases in the salaries. And
so as it relates to Leon County, instead of correcting
task and mistakes and finalizing teacher pay agreements on time,

(05:08):
we see that the Leon County Schools is once again
dragging its seat. I also want to say that while
the state invests in teachers and classrooms, yeah, Leon County
is prioritizing executive staff and administrative paid which is a
real problem.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
You touched on something here at the very end of
that last segment that I think is worth expanding on.
You know, it has long been believed that though there
are some fine people working in the district, just like
there are some great teachers and administrators, but Leon County
has long earned the reputation of it creating high paying

(05:45):
jobs at the district for people that fail as principals
or assistant principles in the school system. It's where bad
administrators go to be paid very well. In your experience,
if you look at the structure of the county stasi
is it are we top heavy. Do we have more
administrative people at the district level than most districts are size.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yes, Unfortunately that is the case, and I called it
out at the school board meeting. Well. I pointed out
at Saint Lucy County School District, for example, Saint Lucy
County has forty nine thousand plus students. Leon County has
about twenty thousand less students. Yet Saint Lucy County has
only two hundred and eight administrators and executive staff, but

(06:30):
Leon County has more at two hundred and seventeen. It
leaves me scratching my head thinking why have they prioritized
administration and executive staff over the teachers. And when you
look at some of these pay raises for those individuals,
you're seeing numbers increasing of over ten thousand dollars and
that's a you know, that's significantly more than what they're

(06:52):
offering the teachers who are in the trenches impacting these
students' lives. I want to make sure I make something
clear because I'm often attacked as if I was not
a kid who grew up with a single mom three kids,
struggling to make ends meet. My entire life, I went
through the public education system, and I often rave about

(07:13):
the great teachers that had a significant impact on my life,
both inside the classroom and outside, whether it was basketball,
whether it was the NATH team. I mean, we have
great teachers who are doing great work. They deserve to pay.
I also want to say the president of the Leon
County Teachers Association, who's a supposed advocate for these teachers.

(07:34):
Scott Maser also has quite an insulated salary, making double
what a starting teacher makes, with a total compensation package
exceeding one hundred thousand dollars. And so the Leon County
District leadership and school board members wonder why teachers are
frustrated and are debating whether to leave the county. I
can tell you this is a big reason why.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Well, I mean, what's going on with the leadership of
the union locally is no different than what happens in
unions all across the country. Florida FEA is top heavy,
with a lot of people making a lot of money.
And of course Scott Maser, in his comments to the
local newspaper, was very dismissive of that, calling it a distraction. No,
it's very significant that he gets paid more than double

(08:15):
what the rank and file teachers are making in this county.
But this also dovetails into the discussion on consolidation. To
my knowledge, only one school board member, Alvis Smith, has
been raising the issue of the need to consolidate schools.
What's happening or not happening in Leon County that is
happening in other parts of the state. I'm under the

(08:36):
impression that, for example, Duval County has been consolidating like
crazy and shutting down schools and opening schools where people
are moving.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
That's exactly right. Look, many schools in the Leon County
School District are operating at half capacity, yet district leaders
refuse to consolidate or manage resources efficiently. They choose instead
to complain about budget issues instead of actually solving the problem.
And I called them out at the school board meeting.
Like you said, We've seen not just Duval, but several

(09:07):
other school districts who are choosing to close and consolidate
schools in order to have more efficient operations. Broward has
done it. Heck, our neighbors just next door, Wakulla, have
even done some consolidations and have developed our implemented plans
for consolidation. So I think with the right leadership in place,

(09:27):
Leon Counties could certainly follow their lead, but that's just it.
I was at an announcement earlier this week with President
Richard Corkran at New College and Governor DeSantis championing the
Civics and Debate initiative, and we were celebrating how many
students have participated. Originally it was only eleven school districts.
Now all sixty seven school district with over three hundred

(09:49):
and thirty teams are participating. The hundreds of hundreds of
kids are doing this. Why because of great leadership? We
don't have that here in Leon County.

Speaker 1 (09:58):
With the Commission of Education for Florida, Anastasio Komutzas, and
he goes by Stassi. Is that your preference? That I mean?
Is it just simpler for people to just say Stassy?

Speaker 2 (10:10):
It's so much easier because my full name is a
houseful so YESSI.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Were we were talking in the break and I've and
for listeners that may not be aware, I talked about it.
Over the last couple of days. There was a video
of an interview with Darryl Jones, school board member who
posted some hateful, defamatory comments about Charlie Kirk that were
in fact wrong, But in that interview he stated, when

(10:37):
talking about his career path that he did not like children.
He didn't like kids was the exact quote, and that
video mysteriously got pulled down yesterday, which I found fascinating.
But Stasi, the thing that concerns me is, you know, first,
I'd love to know when the epiphany happened. Suddenly he's
running for the school board and this was right when

(10:58):
he was announcing his run and now he's it's the
chair of the Children's Services counsel. But to my knowledge,
doesn't like kids, and it just seems that he doesn't
want to talk about this issue with what he posted.
What are people to do because I'm guessing this doesn't
cross the line since he took the post down, but
he's not apologized of any action that the governor can

(11:21):
take against him in removing him from the board. So
what do you think the takeaway is here?

Speaker 2 (11:27):
I think people need to pay attention. That's why I
showed up to the school board meeting. And we need
to continue to raise awareness about the folks who are
in charge of making decisions that impact the health, safety
and welfare of our students. That comment and the comment
related to Charlie Kirk are just totally unacceptable for anyone
who's entrusted with that responsibility. I can tell you at

(11:47):
the Florida Department of Education, I say it all the time.
We believe children are a gift from God and we're
going to do everything we can to maintain their innocence.
And so you've got two totally different views of children
in the education when you just suppose how we view
it at the Department of Education thanks to the leadership
of Governor DeSantis and how Daryl Jones used children. But

(12:08):
with his comment, I was really troubled. He almost tried
I mean, he tried calling me out about my memo
that was reminding educators not to glorify, condone, or excuse
school violence in schools. I didn't really understand what he
found problematic with that, but it's clear to me that
he's choosing partisan stunts over leadership, and he's trying to
use tragedy to divide the community and distract from education,

(12:32):
and as a result, he's alienating a segment of the community.
And we're calling it out.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Well, and that's the thing, instead of at least owning
it right. He takes it down, but doesn't distance himself
from it, doesn't apologize for it, just takes it down,
tells the local paper, I got bigger fish to fry.
It's in the rear view mirror for me. I think
the concern is, if I'm not mistaken, Leon County Schools
is lost ten to twelve, maybe fourteen percent of its

(13:01):
students in the last few years. Parents are taking their
kids out, whether they're homeschooling them, private school and them
charter schooling them, virtual schooling, they're getting out of the
local school system. And I guess inevitably that's what they'll
be faced with, is less revenue to work with because
parents are going to vote with pulling their kids out
of school.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Absolutely, And I made mention of that when I posted
about the video, saying, how do you think a conservative
parent in Leon County Schools will feel hearing your comments
and your inability to at least walk back those comments,
apologize for those comments, recognize your flawed, not perfect, and
made a mistake. And how do you think that parent

(13:42):
is going to take that when they're advocating for their
child to receive the appropriate services but feel as though
they're being discriminated against on the basis of their political views.
What was even more shocking was when I was at
the meeting and I mentioned that an innocent man was
assassinated on a school campus. The crowd went wild and
they interrupted me from speaking. What did that show me?

(14:05):
They showed. That showed that they believe Charlie Kirk deserved it,
that he wasn't innocent, and that as a result of
his political views, the school violence was justified. That's wrong.
We're never going to stand idly by when folks are
advocating for that, especially those who are entrusted with the health,
safety and welfare of our students, whether it's teachers, administrators,
or school board members.

Speaker 1 (14:25):
Commissioner, awesome visit, Thanks for the time, and importantly, thank
you for showing up at the school board meeting and
reminding them that not only are you the Commissioner of Education,
but you're a resident of this community and it matters
on behalf of the rest of us.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
Thank you very much, absolutely, thank you, and God bless.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
Commissioner of Education for the Sunshine State, Anastasios Kimutsus, our
guest here in the Morning Show with Preston Scott