During the Hernando County School Board workshop on Dec. 12, board member Mark Johnson said he had presented a proclamation to Superintendent John Stratton regarding the situation with Israel and Hamas.
Johnson asked the other board members if they had a chance to review it. Board member Gus Guadagnino said, “I think it’s something we need to stay clear of. I have my own feelings about it, but I don’t want to push down on other people.”
Board member Susan Duval responded only that she agreed with Guadagnino and that she did not want to get into “this situation.”
Board Chairwoman Linda Prescott said she read it. She then commented that while she was at a recent workshop, a teacher in another district mentioned that there was a protest at one of their schools. Prescott said the teacher went on to say some of the students in her district were crying and afraid to come to school and afraid to voice their opinions. Prescott said the teacher told her “I advise all of you to not have any type of proclamation because this is what happened in my district.”
Johnson pointed out that the proclamation was the same one the Hernando Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) passed and was written verbatim other than changing the name in the proclamation to “Hernando County School Board.”
“There’s a lot going on in the school system,” Johnson said, pointing out that the President of the University of Pennsylvania resigned after she wouldn’t take a stance and say that it was a horrendous act. “What I wrote was what our county commission wrote verbatim, just changing the name to this board. I feel strongly it’s something I would like to see us do, I think it’s only correct.”
Johnson said he thinks it’s something the board should make a stand on. “We are talking about an ally of this nation. We are not talking about the Palestinians, but an evil terrorist group that beheaded and burned and raped women, and it’s disgusting.”
The BOCC proclamation Johnson referred to was adopted at the county commissioners’ Nov. 7 meeting. The proclamation affirmed that Hernando County supports Israel’s right to not only exist but flourish as a nation that serves as a “melting pot” of peoples of Jewish faith, Jewish descent, and others in the Middle East. It also condemned the unprovoked terrorist attacks carried out on Oct. 7 by members of Hamas on Israeli civilians and the breaching of the country’s border security.
While school board member Shannon Rodriguez did not comment on the resolution during the workshop, she told Hernando Sun that she would support it if brought before the board for a vote. She said that she supports the BOCC’s resolution and would support the same resolution for the school district.
