Sarasota School Board Shuts Down Meeting Over ‘Restless Crowd’

Families protest any potential mask mandates before the Hillsborough County Schools Board meeting held at the district office in Tampa, Fla., on July 27, 2021. Octavio Jones/Getty Images

PUNTA GORDA, Fla.–A Sarasota School Board meeting was cut short on May 3 when audience members grew loud and restless and demanded to be heard.

Topics covered at the meeting included textbook content, with a number of people making claims that the school board was pushing Critical Race Theory and social-emotional learning. They also referenced the parental rights bill signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis banning sexual orientation and gender identity instruction in kindergarten through third grade that others have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”  One parent carried a sign calling for the removal of school board chair Jane Goodwin.