Florida State Representative Randy Fine (R) sent a letter to Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz on August 11th, 2022, requesting an investigation into an alleged sexual assault at Johnson Middle School over the summer. The victim of the assault is said to be a female student and the perpetrator is said to be a biological male student identifying as a transgender female.
State Rep. Fine said multiple parents came to him with concerns regarding the alleged sexual assault. These parents also have been unable to get information regarding this situation. The concerns he heard from parents is what prompted him to send his letter to Commissioner Diaz.
In his letter, Fine casts blame to Brevard Public Schools’ ‘Open Bathroom’ policy for allowing the alleged sexual assault to take place. Currently, according to the Brevard Public Schools ‘LGBTQ+ District Guidance’ has the following listed under Action 3: Restrooms/Locker Rooms:
“All students are allowed to access locker rooms and restrooms that are consistent with their gender identity or be provided appropriate accommodations. If accommodations are desired, decisions should be student driven and with district support on a case-by-case basis.”
This is most likely the part of the policy that Fine is talking about. Currently, according to Moms for Liberty – Brevard County, FL, the ‘Open Bathroom Policy’ has been since removed from the School District’s website. There is nothing currently on Brevard County’s website about such a policy existing, yet an internal resource guide exists for policy that can’t be viewed by the public. This can be viewed by some as a lack of transparency on the part of Brevard Public Schools.
State Rep. Fine said this policy has been ‘champion’ by School Board Chairman Misty Belford and School Board Member Jennifer Jenkins. He said Belford and Jenkins are under ‘pressure’ to follow through with enforcement of the ‘Open Bathroom Policy’ .
Belford and Jenkins are reportedly Liberal in their political ideology.
Fine also cited in his letter an inappropriate relationship Palm Bay Vice Mayor Kenny Johnson had with a student cheerleader when he was a teacher and football coach at Bayside High School. Johnson was 23 at the time of the incident. Fine said Johnson was later brought back as a volunteer before being removed after an investigation by Florida Department of Education.
According to Fine, this history with Brevard Public Schools has only added to the reasons why Fine is seeking the assistance of the Florida Department of Education. Fine also took aim at the Superintendent in Brevard County Dr. Mark Mullins for ‘contributing’ to covering up Johnson’s misconduct at the time. Fine said Brevard Public Schools and Mullins were ‘sanction’ when the issues with Johnson took place while serving as a volunteer.
Fine had tweeted on August 12th, 2022 that Brevard Public Schools had initially denied the event happening, but then found records related to that event. He said the only way parents could get the records was to pay $7 for a public records request.
Indian River County parents expressed concern over the possibility of a similar transgender bathroom policy being used in Indian River County back in May 2022. This came after the Indian River County Moms for Liberty chapter found an internal resource guide for Administrators and Teachers, similar to what Brevard County has with its’ ‘LGBTQ+ District Guidance’. One part of the Indian River County guide sounded like it would allow biological males into women’s restrooms and vice versa.
Thankfully, Indian River County Superintendent Dr. David Moore addressed the concerns, assuring parents that there will NOT be situations with biological males in women’s restrooms and vice versa. Dr. Moore said the document Moms for Liberty Indian River, Florida found was only a guide, NOT a policy. The guide was supposed to help administrators implement policy if they had any questions on how to do so. The guide Indian River County had was NOT reflective of the actual policy.
There have been concerns from many that another Loundon County incident could happen again. In 2021, a male student identifying as a transgender female sexually assaulted two female students in women’s restrooms. Each sexual assault occurred on different days. This was sadly possible thanks to a transgender bathroom policy Loundon County Schools had, which allowed transgender females into women’s restrooms and vice versa. This incident sparked nationwide outrage as a result.
One can see how parents in both Brevard County and Indian River County have had concern over such a matter.
Indian River News reached out to School Board Members Jennifer Jenkins and Katye Campbell along with the Brevard Public Schools Administrative Office for comment regarding the incident at Johnson Middle School. We will update this article if they respond to our request for comment.
Update August 15th, 2022
Brevard Public Schools Head of Communications Russell Bruhn told Indian River News “There was no incident at Johnson Middle School; this is fact and truth that there was no incident. State Rep. Fine is incorrect.”
School Board Member Jennifer Jenkins sent us the following, just note that we accidentally emailed the wrong Jennifer Jenkins (apparently she has a letter ‘D’ after her email, who knew):
How stupid do you people really think I am? You didn’t even email the correct Jennifer Jenkins and you believe I’d fall for a false newspaper?
But, since you asked, what do I want to say about ‘Representative’ Fine?
That he was stupid to reveal to the FL Today editor that Matt Susin called him to investigate an incident that never took place at a school in his district, causing a false report to the Melbourne Police Department. ‘Representative’ Fine just legally jeopardized his own ally. Fool.
Happy Monday.
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