{"id":310714,"date":"2026-06-17T18:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/310714\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T18:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T18:10:09","slug":"two-school-board-members-dismiss-concerns-over-sexual-orientation-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/310714\/","title":{"rendered":"Two School Board Members Dismiss Concerns Over ‘Sexual Orientation’ Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"The<\/p>\n

<\/a>The Flagler County School Board approved an agreement with the University of Florida, above, last April to enable UNF students to intern in Flagler schools. Now UNF wants to amend the agreement to delete \u201csexual orientation\u201d from protected classes cited in the agreement. (Facebook)<\/p>\n

Two Flagler County School Board members don\u2019t mind that the University of North Florida wants to override an agreement with the district that the School Board already unanimously approved two months ago. Or that the reason UNF wants the override is to excise \u201csexual orientation\u201d from a list of protected classes in the agreement\u2019s non-discrimination clause.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no reason why we should discriminate against anybody,\u201d Christy Chong the board\u2019s chair, said, before ridiculing more specific non-discrimination clauses: \u201cWhere do we draw the line? I mean, I could identify as Chinese, but that doesn\u2019t make me Chinese, right? Like, so I mean, but I don\u2019t see an issue here making a big deal out of it.\u201d (Chong three years ago demanded that an LGBTQ \u201csafe space\u201d sign<\/a> at Matanzas High School be removed.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur policy does not include \u2018sexual orientation\u2019 in our discrimination clause, right?\u201d Board member Will Furry said. \u201cSo then what is the argument here? I\u2019m failing to understand why this is an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two board members had a point. But there was a larger context to UNF\u2019s deletion, including its arbitrariness, its removal of a federally protected class, and the fact that the agreement had already been voted on. The discussion surrounding the wording at last week\u2019s workshop underscored the different ways members of the School Board interpret discrimination and how legally to protect students and others against it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two months ago at a Flagler County School Board workshop, Toussiant Robertson, the district\u2019s director of organizational talent, briefed the board on the renewal of an agreement with the University of North Florida that would enable the college\u2019s students to have teaching and counseling internships in Flagler schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was nothing controversial about it. The agreement had drawn few students before (interns are likelier to come from Daytona State College), but the opportunity is there. \u201cThese schools are starting to get smaller and smaller. So there are fewer and fewer students in these schools,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cSo for us to be in a situation where we\u2019re getting more and more universities that want to work with us, that\u2019s a very positive thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Board member Lauren Ramirez said the program makes the district \u201clook great\u201d and called internship programs a \u201cgreat story\u201d that opens the way for students to come back as teachers. Furry proposed a \u201cplaybook\u201d to encourage students to come back as teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two weeks later at a board meeting Ramirez made the motion to approve the agreement. Furry seconded. The motion carried unanimously. \u201cSexual orientation\u201d included.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The vote seemed irrelevant to UNF. The agreement was back before the School Board at last week\u2019s agenda workshop. \u201cThey had a material change that came up after the fact,\u201d Human Resources Director Josh Walker told the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The April agreement\u2019s nondiscrimination clause required that \u201cneither party shall discriminate against any person on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability or veteran or marital status.\u201d The document that appeared before the Board last week had removed \u201csexual orientation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

That surprised Board members Janie Ruddy and Lauren Ramirez. \u201cIs sexual orientation a protected class? Why would they remove that from the non-discrimination portion?\u201d Ruddy asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spence Smith, the attorney for the district, described UNF\u2019s deletion as \u201cpolicy based. They didn\u2019t cite any statutes or change statutorily or administrative rule, so it\u2019s really something that they requested.\u201d He added: \u201cJust because it\u2019s not in there doesn\u2019t mean now you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made a point of it, and that\u2019s concerning, and it doesn\u2019t align with our policies,\u201d Ruddy said, raising the possibility of rejecting the deletion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ramirez had concerns about how the removal would impact the district\u2019s enforcement of its own policies. \u201cIt appears that we still override, no matter what,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s my interpretation. So, if that is correct, then it wouldn\u2019t matter if they removed that wording or not. But if it\u2019s not correct, then I\u2019m wondering if we could be liable.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of the board members referred to last April\u2019s vote enacting the agreement, or that UNF was asking for a change after the fact. David Delaney, the school board\u2019s attorney, said district policies would in fact override UNF\u2019s regardless, and that sexual orientation remains a protected class under federal law. Florida law does not refer to sexual orientation specifically, but to \u201csex\u201d as it relates to gender.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cState law can be broader and more protected than federal law, but it can\u2019t run counter to federal law,\u201d Delaney said. \u201cThe term \u2018sex\u2019 on the federal level has been interpreted to include protection in things like marriage and housing and employment to protect sexual orientation, but not necessarily in every single circumstance and at all times. I\u2019m thinking of things like certain businesses and whether they have to agree to cater a wedding where two people of the same sex are getting married. So there are protections on the federal level that would apply in Florida, but they are not comprehensive in all circumstances to sexual orientation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould UNF understand that a school board\u2019s policy supersedes this MOU?\u201d Ruddy asked, referring to the memorandum of understanding. The university would have to, Smith, the other lawyer in the room, said. \u201cSo what is the point of removing it?\u201d Smith had no explanation, saying only that UNF did not cite any authority for the removal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Flagler district\u2019s non-discrimination policy<\/a> does not refer to \u201csexual orientation,\u201d but does refer to \u201csex discrimination,\u201d in the broader sense that Delaney applied. (The board in December 2020 had adopted an amendment protecting \u201cgender identity,\u201d<\/a> a nod to transgender students. The board has since quietly deleted that protection.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Chong noted that any kind of discrimination is unacceptable, Ruddy agreed, \u201cbut that\u2019s where things like this are required in order to support that and protect our students that may be participating in these or former students that may be participating in these programs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ramirez pointed to the section of the same contract with UNF that explicitly defers to Flagler school district policy, only for Furry to claim that \u201cour policy does not have this. It is not like our policy had this, and they\u2019re removing it on their end. It actually brings it more in alignment with our current policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not exactly: The district\u2019s non-discrimination policy specifically refers (and implicitly defers) to state or federal \u201cprotected classes,\u201d including sex in Delaney\u2019s definition, and with more specificity than does the UNF agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruddy said it wasn\u2019t UNF\u2019s agreement alone, but a joint agreement between UNF and the district. \u201cThis is more akin to an employment relationship, and therefore we should ensure that it\u2019s matching across the board those other employment MOUs that we have with these organizations,\u201d she said. Ruddy called for an agreement consistent with other district memorandums of understanding, while still preferring to see the original language preserved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The board is expected to vote on the revised agreement at its June 23 meeting, which raises a question the discussion on June 9 did not address: since the board already approved the agreement in April, and based on its own procedures, it would first have to vote to scrap that decision before moving on to the revised agreement, and for that would need a majority of three votes\u2013as it would to adopt the revised agreement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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