BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — In Hernando County, hundreds of people turned out for a heated school board meeting on Tuesday after months of controversy.
In anticipation of a large crowd, the meeting was moved to the performing arts center at Hernando High School. Even so, more than a hundred people were turned away at the door when the theater reached capacity.
Extra security measures were also put into place for the meeting, including additional law enforcement and metal detectors. The school board says it is all necessary following reaction to the controversy surrounding the investigation of fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee.
Barbee showed the Disney film "Strange World" to her class. The movie has an openly gay character in it.
School board member Shannon Rodriguez, whose daughter is in Barbee's class took issue with that. And under the expanded Parental Rights Law, which critics commonly call the "Don't Say Gay" law, she filed a complaint.
Barbee was investigated by the district as well as the Department of Education. The board was expected to discuss the findings of its investigation at the meeting, but it never happened after hours of public comment and discussion.
Over the past couple of weeks, people have been taking sides using social media, including a change.org petition calling for board member Rodriguez to resign. That has nearly 24,000 signatures as of Tuesday night. A counter-petition supporting Rodriguez had a little over 200 signatures.
Even as the school board discussed other topics like book bans and impact fees today, tension seeped into the conversation.
"You can't be the victim of this many people aren't getting along with you," Rodriguez said. "So, there has to be a reason that it's where you are at right now with the BOCC."
"If you want to go there, we will go there," Hernando School Board Chairman Gus Guadagnino said. "I have been on this board for 10 years. I have never ever been the dissension that there is in the last two years. And there are only two things that have changed on this board."
Book bans were also discussed at the meeting, with people from across party lines frustrated over the climate of education in Florida and the direction of Hernando County Schools.
Meanwhile, three state lawmakers from Hernando County issued a joint statement Tuesday calling for the resignation of Hernando School Superintendent John Stratton. They said Stratton has lost the confidence of the community citing, in part, the school system making national headlines over this controversy as well as what they called a lack of transparency and contempt for parents' rights.