SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – The Florida education commissioner on Thursday sent a letter in response to how Seminole County Public Schools handled a situation with a paraprofessional who resigned after self-reporting “concerning thoughts” toward a 6-year-old student.
Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas wrote to school district superintendents, urging them to be cautious of who they hire after the situation in Seminole County left him “both disturbed and, frankly, exasperated.”
“He self-reported to the school resource officer and then quit, leaving families, staff, and the community in the dark for days. Parents were blindsided, educators felt abandoned, and the superintendent’s office seemed more concerned with optics than immediate safety,” he wrote.
The district said the Sabal Point Elementary paraprofessional, 23, reported to a school resource officer on Sept. 24 that he had thought about cutting a child’s throat with a knife when he became frustrated with the student.
He also reported that he had also thought about carrying out a shooting at the school, according to the sheriff’s office.
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However, parents during a school board meeting this week voiced frustrations over how the district handled the situation and said they were not informed about the issue for days.
“How many times have you swept something under the rug to protect yourself?” Emily Reardon, Sabal Point PTA president, asked during the meeting.
Kamoutsas said he shares the same concerns and that “our children and educators deserve proactive protection, not reactive damage control.”
“This incident must serve as a wake-up call. I remind you that all districts have an obligation of due diligence when considering candidates for employment, especially if those individuals have opportunities for direct contact with students,” he wrote.
He ended the letter reiterating, “Safety is non-negotiable.”
“We will not tolerate lapses that put students or staff at risk. Treat this as a professional imperative, not a suggestion,” he wrote.
News 6 spoke with Kamoutsas on Thursday about the action his office is now taking.
“We’re going to work with the district and find out what exactly happened, and you know once we have the next steps, we’ll report that publicly,” Kamoutsas told Seminole County Community Correspondent Catherine Silver. “But at this point in time, you know, we’re going to make sure we do some fact-finding.”
Kamoutsas also told News 6 he believes that parents not only at Sabal Point, but across the district, should have been told immediately about what happened.
“They should have been notified immediately about the incident and kept informed on the actions that the district was taking,” Kamoutsas said.
Superintendent Serita Beamon publicly addressed the district’s response to the initial incident at this week’s Board meeting, where she shared that the paraprofessional was employed at a different school and transitioned to Sabal Point Elementary at the beginning of this year. She also said he cleared a background check when he was hired by SCPS and that the district was not notified about two other previous encounters he had with law enforcement earlier this year because he was not arrested or criminally charged.
“I would also share with you that we have engaged in conversations with a number of folks and we’re reviewing how we communicate about highly sensitive health information of our employees in situations like this,” Beamon told the crowd. “So, it is something that we are looking to see if we can do a better job.”
Kamoutsas told News 6 that he believes the district could have done more.
“It’s not just a background check where you see an individual has no priors, it’s reference checks,” Kamoutsas said. “We want to make sure every district in our state is doing everything they can.”
Kamoutsas said he expects all district superintendents to analyze their hiring procedures and make sure that “they’re taking every step possible to ensure that an individual like this is never allowed on a school campus in any school district.”
The commissioner said the former Sabal Point elementary employee will be added to a statewide database to ensure that he will not be hired by any other school in the future.
Seminole County Public Schools sent a message to families on Thursday regarding the letter, saying in part, “we are well aware that the incident involving Sabal Point Elementary has uncovered a vulnerability in the process, and we are actively working to address this issue.”
Here is the full message from the district:
Good afternoon, SCPS families and staff,
We want to make you aware that the Florida Department of Education issued a memo this morning to all school district Superintendents across the state in response to the situation that occurred within our district. We are including the memo HERE for your review, which includes the state’s guidance for all K–12 public school districts in Florida.
Please know that all SCPS employees undergo a mandatory background check required by Florida statute, and we carefully follow all state and federal laws during the hiring process. We are well aware that the incident involving Sabal Point Elementary has uncovered a vulnerability in the process, and we are actively working to address this issue.
While this is a challenging time for our impacted school community and for Seminole County Public Schools, it also presents an opportunity for growth and deeper collaboration. We are fully committed to working closely with our school and district-based leaders, law enforcement partners, staff, families, and the Florida Department of Education to review our practices, identify areas for improvement, and strengthen our procedures moving forward.
Thank you.
Read the full letter from the education commissioner below: