Frost announces he will not seek second term on School Board

MARK SCHUMANN

Whoever is considering gFrost for an assignment with the state board of education should be aware that the one-term Indian River County School Board member does not take well to criticism, as is evidenced by this recent post to his Facebook account. This post went up Nov. 18 and was on Frost’s Facebook page as of Nov. 30 at noon.

On a local radio program yesterday morning, Indian River County School Board Chairman Shawn Frost announced that he will not run for election in 2018. Frost was first elected to the School Board in 2014.

Frost said he has hopes of being appointed to the Florida Department of Education, where he plans to work on gaining voter approval for several proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.

Explaining his decision to not seek re-election, Frost said, “I have to choose between reform on a small scale — Indian River County — and reform on a larger scale…I’ve chosen to focus on the state level. I will be joining, hopefully, the state board of education, and working on those constitution amendments over the next year, and that won’t leave time for running for office.”

One proposed constitutional amendment being considered by the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission would establish 8-year term limits for school board members across the state. Another amendment would eliminate salaries for school board members.

With support from an outside group connected with the charter school movement, Frost in 2014 successfully challenged then School Board Chairman Karen Disney-Brombach. The group, Florida Federation for Children, spent $420,000 statewide in electioneering efforts seeking to defeat incumbents who opposed expansion of Florida school voucher program. In 2012 and 2014, the Florida Federation for Children received a total of $200,000 from a for-profit group, Charter Schools USA. Frost was also aided by campaign mailings attacking Bromback that were coordinated by a local group, Conservatives for Better Schools.

During yesterday’s radio program, Frost mentioned recently being with Dr. Brian Carpenter, former CEO of the Nation Charter Schools Institute. Carpenter now heads Brian L Carpenter PhD and Associates. The organization’s website describes Carpenter as “one of the most influential voices on charter school governance.”