Jessie Thompson says she resigned as Volusia County School Board chair after much prayer, but intends to continue as a board member to support students and represent “teachers and parents who feel like they haven’t been heard.”
At a December meeting, Thompson apologized for comments she made at an Aug. 30 Moms for Liberty summit equating Deltona High School diplomas with “participation trophies,” saying she wouldn’t trust some Deltona students with pumping her gas and making reference to board member Ruben Colón as a “tan gentleman.”
Those comments and others made during a session titled “How to Work With Your School Board,” surfaced in a YouTube video of the event, leading many, including Deltona Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr., to call for her removal as board chair.
Jessie Thompson
Thompson was facing a meeting next week at which her chairmanship would be reconsidered, inviting more scrutiny and public comment. She resigned from the chair post on Jan. 2 and will remain on the board.
Thompson’s aim: Graduates with skills, knowledge to succeed
She texted The News-Journal this statement, which read in full:
“When I ran for school board, I promised to ensure every student receives an exceptional education. During my tenure, I remain committed to building on this progress. I will continue my regular meetings with parents, teachers and students to understand their needs and concerns. Working closely with our superintendent and staff, I’m focused on expanding our resources to ensure all students graduate with the academic skills, critical thinking abilities and practical knowledge needed to succeed in college and careers.
“There are teachers and parents who have reached out to me while campaigning and while in office with the same concerns I’ve expressed. I’m not alone in this. Prior to resigning as chair, I prayed constantly, and I know I’m making the right move. But the big issues still remain, and so I will continue to support our students and hear from teachers and parents who feel like they haven’t been heard.”
By “comments I’ve expressed,” Thompson clarified in a subsequent text she was referring to: “Concerns that if we have high graduation rates and lower proficiency rates, how well are students prepared?”
Low proficiency, she said, is a national issue shared by many teachers and parents.
What did she say at Moms for Liberty event?
At the Moms for Liberty session, Thompson was discussing “low standards” for graduation in Florida and questioned Deltona High School’s 100% graduation rate in the previous year.
“Now, I’ve walked that school multiple times. I’ve met some bright students, and I’ve met some students that I wouldn’t trust filling up my tank of gas, so I find it really hard to believe that they graduate, and graduation is now turned into basically just handing out participation ribbons,” she had said.
Thompson also dropped jaws with her comments on Colón, referring to him as “super liberal” and some members of the public who come before the board as “liberal wackadoodles.”
“We have a tan gentleman who just, like, gets all puffy,” Thompson said. “He gets filled with pride because he is supported, and then that encourages him to do some more crazy nonsense.”
At the conference, held in Washington, Thompson told attendees she is hated by the rest of the board and has fed “false data” to board members to convince them to vote with her on agenda items.
“Fun fact, if you really want to mess up someone’s day on a school board and you don’t like them, you can feed them false data, and I guarantee that they are going to Ron Burgundy it and not research it,” she said, referring to the 2004 comedy movie “Anchorman.”
“Trust me, I’ve done it to a couple people,” Thompson said. “That’s how I got some safety and security things passed. I knew the other board members didn’t read long contracts, and so I worked with our sheriff’s department to get something put into that contract, and then they voted to pass it without reading it through. It was magical.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia School Board chair ‘prayed constantly’ before stepping down