The Volusia School Board on Tuesday agreed to discuss appointing a new Chair at their next business meeting on January 14th. The move comes in the wake of current Chair Jessie Thompson's controversial comments about students at Deltona High School at a political gathering, plus racially-charged remarks about one of her colleagues.
Thompson came under fire after she said that "I've met some students that I wouldn't trust filling up my tank of gas" at a summit hosted by the conservative group Moms for Liberty in Washington D.C. She said that graduation might be too easy if some of those aforementioned students were part of Deltona High School's 100% graduation rate.
Additionally, she called her colleague, Board member Ruben Colón, a 'tan man' in reference to Colón's skin color. Colón, who motioned to make Thompson Chair back in November, called Thompson's words 'hurtful' and said she disparaged the district's children. He openly called for reconsidering Thompson's continued role as Chair to evaluate whether she should be the face of the Volusia School Board.
Now reckoning against a frustrated Deltona community, Thompson apologized. "I chose those words poorly," she said. "I do sincerely believe that all our students deserve the best education, every single one." She also apologized for what's been characterized as a rocky tenure so far with her current colleagues on the Board.
The Volusia School Board ordinarily appoints its Chair for the year at a meeting in November, this being how Thompson was voted into that role last month. Thanks to the agreement reached between the Board members on Tuesday, they will now move that action item up from next November to their January 14th meeting. If the frustrations of the School Board and the community hold, Thompson could be ousted from her Chair role (but not from office) and replaced with one of her fellow members.
