Alachua County School Board Pressed Again, This Time On Sunshine Law

By Jay Waagmeester, Florida Phoenix

Novemebr 14, 2025

CRAWFORDVILLE — Again, the state Board of Education is focused on the Alachua County School Board, this time suggesting its members violated the Florida Sunshine Law and that a prosecutor might want to dig deeper.

The state board spent considerable time during its meeting Thursday in Wakulla County criticizing the Alachua board, including Vice Chair Tina Certain. Although the state board did not propose formal action, Certain attended the meeting, trying to defend herself.

First called in front of the state board in August to address concerns that the board violated a public commenter’s First Amendment rights, the saga between state officials and Alachua officials veered into the topic of social media conduct following Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September.

The state board spent much of its time Thursday rehashing those matters but also introduced a new topic, the alleged Sunshine Law violation.

The state board displayed to the audience during the meeting a screenshot from a Facebook comment section that included comments from an account named Tina Certain and another named Sarah Beth, which bears a profile picture matching what appears to be the personal account of Sarah Rockwell, the Alachua board chair.

In the comments dated nearly one year ago, Certain discusses a budget, property taxes, and funding charter schools. In the same comment section, but not obviously replying to Certain’s comment, Sarah Beth’s account stated in part, “I’m sure the same people who think China will pay the tariffs also think the budget is great…”

“I think what you saw today was clear violations of the Sunshine Law. I don’t know what the next steps are; it could be for a state attorney to make a decision about whether Sunshine Law was violated,” state board Chair Ryan Petty told the Phoenix following the meeting.

“Either we believe in the Sunshine Law and the principles behind it or we don’t,” Petty said when asked if he anticipates a prosecutor will get involved.

When state board members asked Certain about the comments, she said she does not know if the Beth account is Rockwell’s.

She declined to comment any further, under the advice of an attorney accompanying her.

“That’s probably good advice,” Petty said.

“We’re trained as board members or public officials that we don’t talk about business that comes before the board with other board members. You’re not supposed to do that,” Petty told the Phoenix. “Clearly, what we saw today were social media posts where two board members were having a conversation about budget and other items. It’s up to a prosecutor to decide whether or not there was a violation of Sunshine Law and to take action.”

Earlier this week, the USA Today Florida network reported that Certain’s attorney wrote to Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, saying that Certain’s speech on her personal Facebook account is protected under the First Amendment. Certain told board members that Alachua County is paying for the attorney.

“Removing me from office or trying to slap my hand and chill my speech, that’s not the way democracy works,” Certain said during the meeting.

Certain questioned several times the statutory authority of the state board, made up of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointees, to sanction her, an independently elected official.

“Remember, I’m a former prosecutor so, my feelings aside, I care about objectivity. And so, when there’s a bad actor, I care about ensuring that if that individual is in violation of the law, they’re going to be held accountable,” Kamoutsas told the Phoenix following the meeting.

“As it relates to what’s going to happen next, we’ve said it from the beginning. The State Board of Education issued an order, putting them on probation. If there’s continued harassment towards parents, continued First Amendment violations towards parents in the district, they will be held accountable. At a minimum, we’ve said, we’re going to withhold salaries, so we’ll watch them closely. We continue to bring them back here because we want them to understand we mean business and we need to see a difference in Alachua County,” Kamoutsas said.

In August, the Phoenix reported Kamoutsas’ pledge to monitor the Alachua board to ensure compliance with the First Amendment. If the board has committed a violation, Kamoutsas said, he would order school board members’ paychecks be withheld.

On Thursday, under the direction of her attorney, Certain declined to answer other questions, including whether racism would constitute a moral failing for a school board member and how her Facebook comments may have affected students and parents in the community.

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