The School Board chose Dr. Bernier. No need for a spoiler alert, the news is all over the city of Jacksonville and dominating everyone’s attention, including the media, such that a school bus getting rear-ended while it performed its safety stop at the railroad tracks has not appeared as a news story like it normally would.

Unfortunately for those who were passionately against him, there will be no Oscars moment where whoopsie, wrong envelope is corrected and the other guy wins.

I lead off with those paragraphs because one of the themes of this morning’s school board meeting is that we are a divided community over this decision. Both men possessed the qualifications needed for hiring and experience that would serve them well in undertaking the superintendency of the nation’s 20th largest school district. Whoever would be chosen (it had not been determined yet) must receive the support of all to be a success.

• Cindy Pearson (District 3), “Open minds and hearts, please.”
• Kelly Coker (District 1), “The politics have to step aside for the good of the children.”
• April Carney (District 2), “Two wonderfully qualified candidates.”
• Lori Hershey (District 7), “I’m asking the community to support the selection.”

Board members were at pains to explain the work they put into making their selection, describing phone calls made to Lee and Loudon Counties where they talked to board members, officials, and members of the communities as they attempted to discern who could best take hold of the district and grapple with a plethora of issues. They discussed the differences between their experience in regards to economically-disadvantaged families and English Language Learners.

Another theme was the Florida educational landscape and the specific knowledge needed to navigate it. This seemed to be what tipped several board members to Bernier.

• Kelly Coker was particularly complimentary towards Daniel Smith, describing him as a “visionary, incredibly bright, and a collaborative leader.” However, she noted that he doesn’t know Florida and the district does not have the time to build up a visionary in the role.
• Warren Jones (District 5) thought that “Smith would be better to move us academically,” noting that he had “rebuilt trust and confidence with the Loudon community” after the indictment of its superintendent. He expressed concern with Bernier’s “Tallahassee relationships.” But, in the end, he believed Bernier has a better grasp on the many areas of concern.
• Cindy Pearson posed the question, “What is best for students, staff, and families? Who is the best for now?” She thought Bernier would have more of an immediate impact versus focusing on targets five years away.
• April Carney too had the difference of Florida schools and Virginia schools on her mind. But she also had the culture wars in mind and expressed reservations that Loudon County was ignoring the direction of Virginia’s governor and was implementing Title IX interpretations of the USDOE that would safeguard the rights of LGBTQ students. She specifically mentioned a concern about “student safety in the bathrooms.”

By my tally, six of the nine public comment speakers expressed a view that could be described as transphobic or anti-DEI. Some were more obvious about it than others. Almost all of the nine speakers mentioned student safety, but not in a way we normally think: bullying, fights, social media harassment. Carney reflected those views.

In the end, the vote was 7 – 0. Chairman Willie wanted Daniel Smith, but saw that he would be outvoted and felt that a unified, recorded vote would be better.