TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Two days before the end of Black History Month, the Florida Commissioner of Education’s African American History Task Force met in Tallahassee.
AAHTF members told 10 Investigates they had less than a week’s notice and it was the first they’d heard about the Task Force in six months.
About half the Task Force members were able to make it to the meeting in Tallahassee on Florida A&M University’s campus Tuesday afternoon.
On the agenda, the first thing after the welcome and introductions was “the significance of Black History Month.”
“I hadn’t heard anything from the Task Force since the summer. So, sort of the inside joke I have with myself is that, every week, I would go on the website to see if I was still on the Task Force,” AAHTF member Dr. Brenda L. Walker told 10 Investigates.
After 10 Investigates spent more than a month asking the Florida Department of Education and AAHTF Chair, Glen Gilzean, why the Task Force had nothing planned for Black History Month, members got an email last week about the meeting, leaving Task Force members scrambling to get to Tallahassee.
“I had to do some pretty quick rearranging of my schedule,” said Dr. Walker, who is also a professor at the University of South Florida.
She said the Task Force has previously handled Black History Month “very differently.”
“Just in terms of planning and the resources that go out to teachers for Black History Month to more effectively teach Black history. And the coordination with museums, with African American museums,” she said.
The African American History Task Force's website still features content about celebrating Black History Month 2023.
“I think it definitely needs to be updated because for many teachers who are less familiar with Black history, that would be their go-to, the website, to receive up-to-date information,” said Dr. Walker.
Over the past month, 10 Investigates called Task Force Chair Glen Gilzean’s office five times, emailed him, texted him, messaged him on Instagram and LinkedIn, and replied to a post he made on X.
He did not respond, so we showed up at the meeting in Tallahassee to get answers.
“It’s bigger than [Black History Month], right? As you heard the chancellor say, [teaching] Black history is written into law and, more importantly, it’s American history.”
Gilzean denied that Tuesday’s meeting was the first time the Task Force had acknowledged Black History Month 2024.
“Well, we had our [Summer] Institute last year, which kicked off into the new fiscal year, right?” he told 10 Investigates. The Summer Institute was in August 2023.
Gilzean referred further questions to the Florida Department of Education, which hasn’t responded to our five emails and two phone calls about the Task Force since mid-January.
“We’re more than happy to answer lots of questions,” said Florida Department of Education Director of Communications Cailey Myers, before walking away as we asked whether the public had been given proper advanced notice of the meeting.
We reported in April 2023 that Florida’s African American History Task Force had been shrinking for years.
After our investigation, the Florida Department of Education appointed six new members. Five out of the six are active in Republican politics. Four have previously been appointed to positions by Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Just ending on a hopeful note: I’m just really hopeful. The meeting today was very civil,” said Dr. Walker. “I’m just hoping that we can continue, and we can learn and grow together.”
Gilzean said there would be two more Task Force meetings prior to its Summer Institute, which they hope 1,000 educators will attend.