{"id":59409,"date":"2024-06-08T12:33:21","date_gmt":"2024-06-08T16:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=59409"},"modified":"2024-06-08T12:33:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-08T16:33:28","slug":"whistleblower-disrupts-former-lee-county-schools-superintendents-new-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2024\/06\/whistleblower-disrupts-former-lee-county-schools-superintendents-new-job\/","title":{"rendered":"Whistleblower disrupts former Lee County schools superintendent\u2019s new job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A storm of controversy surrounds the former Lee County School Superintendent after a letter claiming racial bias and defamation surfaced on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"201\" height=\"251\" src=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/images-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59411\" style=\"width:372px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Dr. Christopher Bernier said he left Lee County when his position changed from an appointed role to an elected one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, he\u2019s the superintendent of Duval County, but some are questioning why he left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The email claims Bernier \u201chad a misconception of how women and black employees should be submissive.\u201d It also accused him of racial profiling against an employee and using his position of power to threaten, intimidate and demean an employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below is the Facebook post showing an anonymous email sent to Lee County Schools Chief Operations Officer Larry Stephens on April 1<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"544\" height=\"885\" src=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/thumbnail_image.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-59410\" style=\"width:730px;height:auto\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><br>During public comment on Tuesday at the Duval County school board meeting, people questioned the decision to hire him in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe last thing we need to do is hire a superintendent with baggage. We read about pending litigation today. We\u2019ve heard about a whistleblower complaint and his requests for more money and perks that haven\u2019t been done in the past. The last thing we need to do is make a mistake with this,\u201d Ellen Glasser, the former Mayor of Atlantic Beach, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, people are questioning why Lee County and Dr. Bernier parted ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A representative for Bernier has an answer for that: \u201cThe position of superintendent in Lee County changed when the community voted to move to an elected superintendent. I respected that decision and chose not to seek office. This spring, I actively participated in processes to secure a position as an appointed superintendent. In Lee County, we improved student outcomes, and I left on good terms. I look forward to similar success as the Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many from Duval want the district to reconsider their decision to hire Bernier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would respectfully ask that you consider what\u2019s been in the news and take the bold move to, especially during a fiscal crisis, to rescind your office, rescind your offer of employment or reconsider this appointment,\u201d Glasser said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A storm of controversy surrounds the former Lee County School Superintendent after a letter claiming racial bias and defamation surfaced on social media. Dr. Christopher Bernier said he left Lee&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":59411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[2704],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59412,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59409\/revisions\/59412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}