The Flagler County School Board held its Tuesday evening meeting on September 23, 2025, addressing multiple proclamations, safety concerns raised by community members, and welcoming two new student school board representatives while conducting routine business.
Proclamations Recognize October Awareness Campaigns
The meeting opened with several proclamation presentations recognizing various awareness campaigns for October 2025. Doug Glasco presented the bullying prevention month proclamation alongside students from Rymfire Elementary School, establishing October as National Bullying Prevention Month with the theme “Choose kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.”
John Subers from AdventHealth Palm Coast presented the breast cancer awareness month proclamation, highlighting that AdventHealth Palm Coast Foundation’s Pink Army has “raised and distributed over $200,000, helped hundreds of patients, and performed over a thousand procedures in direct support of Flagler County residents battling breast cancer.”
Dr. Kim Holliday presented two disability-related proclamations recognizing the first two weeks of October as Disability History and Awareness Week, and October as Disability Employment Awareness Month. She introduced Dr. Jennifer Wright as the new coordinator of Exceptional Student Education and highlighted various student accomplishments, including participation in district-wide competitions, performances, and successful transition programs.
New Student School Board Members Introduced
The board welcomed two new student representatives for the 2025-2026 school year. Principal Randaldi introduced Matanzas High School’s Ava Mullen, describing her as “an outstanding student leader with a weighted GPA of 5.0196” who has served in various student council positions and earned recognition as a three-time world finalist in Future Problem Solvers.
Principal Bossardet introduced Flagler Palm Coast High School’s Olivia Delgado, highlighting her 4.8 weighted GPA and leadership roles, including president of the National Honor Society and founder of Seeds of Hope, a project addressing food insecurities. “Her words gave me confidence that she will represent her peers with both heart and strength,” Bosardet said.
Community Members Voice Safety and Training Concerns
Multiple community members addressed the board during public comment periods, focusing primarily on school safety and staff training needs. Kaylee Triani and Brianna Lopez, two students, presented concerns about bullying prevention, with Triani stating, “Bullying gets you nowhere in life. If anything, it gets you in more trouble, which I’m pretty sure none of us wants to be in.”
The students proposed several solutions, including reward systems for positive behavior, one-on-one feedback approaches, and positive affirmations posted in school bathrooms. They suggested implementing buddy systems between former bullies and victims, stating, “They could end up being best buddies.”
Brianna Lopez, a paraprofessional, highlighted training deficiencies in her public comment. “I come here to mention the lack of hands-on training that I myself and many other paraprofessionals and other staff members do not have when it comes to dealing with physical behaviors that require paras, teachers, and staff members to intervene,” Lopez said. She emphasized the need for proper training to ensure staff know “what we can do and cannot do when a child behavior becomes physical.”
Lisa Torres, president of the support staff union, acknowledged the training concerns and thanked board members for their attention to the issue. “This issue isn’t isolated to paraprofessionals. It’s district-wide in many support staff positions, but the paras have been far more the most vocal,” Torres explained.
Metal Detector Discussion Emerges from Community Concerns
Katherine Cheek delivered an emotional plea for enhanced security measures, referencing the September 4th incident when “a student was on our campus with a weapon all day walking the halls with our kids” without detection. She drew parallels to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, her alma mater, where a school shooting occurred.
“If I asked you to find Winder, Georgia, on a map, you could not. But we also had two high schools, two middle schools, and a couple of red lights across town. And they did not have metal detectors on their campus either,” Cheek said. She described how Winder initially refused metal detectors after the first shooting, but eventually approved them after subsequent incidents, with the third would-be perpetrator being stopped by the detection system.
“If it could happen in Winder, Georgia, it can happen here. It’s a matter of time. We have to do something to protect our kids,” Cheek concluded, advocating for weapons detection systems despite the anticipated difficulties and costs.
Hilda Smith also addressed safety concerns, expressing her fears as a parent. “So tired of listening to RIPs and thoughts and prayers and the screams on TV watching parents stand outside the fence just to wonder if their children are okay,” Smith said. She mentioned that parents on Facebook had offered to fundraise for security improvements through car washes and bake sales.
Routine Business and Policy Updates
The board unanimously approved several consent agenda items covering financial matters, academic services, operational services, human resources, and superintendent items. These included routine expenditures, personnel changes, and administrative updates that had been previously workshopped.
In action items, the board unanimously approved advertising policy updates to align them with state statutes. Board member Ruddy clarified that the vote was specifically to advertise the proposed changes rather than implement them immediately.
The board also unanimously approved a calendar change, moving the November meeting from November 11th (Veterans Day) to November 4th at 2:00 p.m. to avoid the holiday conflict.
Board Member Requests and Follow-Up Items
Board member Ruddy requested updates on several previously discussed items, including a feasibility study for metal detectors, information about gifted screeners and advanced placement programs, and appropriations requests for FTC programs. She also sought follow-up on the bullying process clarifications that had been requested in August.
“Back in August, when the bullying process and investigation study was presented by Mr. Glasco and Mr. Finelli, there were three requests that came from that conversation as a follow-up,” Ruddy said, listing the need to clarify investigation triggers and review disproportionate reporting numbers between schools.
Student Representatives Provide Campus Updates
During closing comments, both student representatives provided comprehensive updates on their respective schools. Delgado reported on FPC activities, including Link Crew mentor programs, club activities for Hispanic Heritage Month and childhood cancer awareness, and athletic achievements, including a freshman cross country record broken by Douglas Seth.
Mullen shared updates from Matanzas High School, including successful freshman orientation events, new student advisory council inductions, and the introduction of 48 students receiving ACE Cambridge diplomas. She highlighted that “MHS students earned 604 industry certifications, which doubled in number from the previous year.”
Board Members Address National Tragedy and Local Concerns
Several board members used their closing comments to address recent national events, particularly referencing Charlie Kirk. Board member Chong delivered extended remarks about the recent assassination, stating, “Our country is in a scary place when violence is justified and people think that they can murder someone that they do not agree with.”
“America was founded on the principles that we have a right to disagree, to debate one another, to believe what we choose to believe, and to have free speech,” Chong continued, encouraging people to “live like Charlie did and stand for what you believe in.”
Chairman Furry emphasized peaceful resolution of differences through democratic processes. “Activism doesn’t mean violence. You have a voice and there are ways to express that voice through our system,” he said, encouraging citizens to engage with elected officials and use voting as their primary tool for change.
Superintendent’s Response to Community Concerns
Superintendent Moore addressed the bullying and safety concerns raised during public comment, emphasizing the district’s commitment to investigation and response. “As adults, we are mandatory reporters. If there’s something that you see or you witness, please, please, please, beyond just speaking up and telling an administrator or adult on campus, if you feel like a child is being harmed, it is your responsibility to report that to the Department of Children and Family,” Moore stated.
Moore announced that the board would hold a closed session on September 30th dedicated exclusively to safety discussions in collaboration with the sheriff’s office. “The sheriff’s office will walk us through recommendations and other things that we need to address,” she explained.
Regarding bullying investigations, Moore challenged critics directly: “If you can point us to a time that we have not responded that we have not taken seriously a report of bullying and definitely any report of abuse, you call us out and you point us to it because we take this seriously and we do have the data to support and to show that we do.”
Additional Community Concerns Addressed
Patricia Kio spoke about her termination as a lead custodian, believing it was related to her domestic violence situation. The board advised her that the staff would communicate review procedures to her.
Connie Sparks, a three-year volunteer, expressed concerns about teaching methods and student behavior she had observed, including a second-grader who “told me about the bullying and that she wanted to kill herself.” Sparks called for zero-tolerance policies and increased parental involvement, noting poor attendance at PTO meetings.
The board took no formal action on these individual concerns but acknowledged them as part of their ongoing commitment to address community feedback and improve school environments.
