Questions About Indian River County School Board Candidate are Raising Some Red Flags

August 19, 2018, 8:04 pm

Indian River County District 2 School Board candidate Jackie Rosario’s present and past causing concern among local voters.

Rosario’s website notes that one of her top priorities is to be fiscally responsible when it comes to setting policies and procedures.

Rosario, a former teacher and assistant principal says she has school building budgets experience that none of her opponents have.

“I’ve created initiatives in schools, and has had oversight, in part, with million-dollar school budgets,” says Rosario.

But, when asked at local candidate forums, Rosario didn’t get into specifics about her budget initiatives. Her website also doesn’t list any specifics about past budget experience.

Critics claim Rosario just looking for a paycheck. A school board member in Indian River County gets an annual salary of $33,333 for their part time responsibilities. Benefits also include 96 percent of health insurance premiums paid by the school district plus being included in the Florida Retirement System. The total each year is around $40,000 from the local taxpayers. On her Form 6 candidate financial disclosure paperwork, Rosario didn’t list any income.

Rosario has made her experience as an Assistant Principal in New York, St. Lucie, and Indian River County, a focal point in her campaign. At the Indian River County Tax Payer’s Association candidate forum on August 15, Rosario told the audience she left Storm Grove Middle School for health reasons. But Public Records Requests made to Indian River and Saint Lucie Public School districts yield some different information.

Rosario failed to mention on May 15, 2013 she was notified that her contract would not be renewed. On March 11, 2013, a breach in security at Storm Grove Middle School was reported to the principal. According to the findings, students were given possession of sensitive testing documents by Rosario who tasked them with doing her work.

Rosario was warned that “students cannot be in possession of testing materials at any time,” by the school principal Jennifer Idlette-Williams.

Rosario was in violation of a rule that met requirement of the Test Security Statute, s. 1008.24,F.S.

The rule prohibits activities that may threaten the integrity of the test. This action could result in student or classroom invalidations and even loss of teaching certification.

Because of Rosario’s action, she was reprimanded by the school principal.

That same year, a job performance evaluation issued gave Rosario a final score of 2 out of 4 possible points. The Rating Rubric indicates that an employee with this score “Needs Improvement.” In a write-up she was referred to as “incompetent”. Later, the principal and school district issued a letter of non-renewal. Rosario would not be allowed another year as assistant principal at Storm Grove Middle School (SGMS).

One teacher told Florida Daily that when a school employee takes medical leave, the understanding is that they may return to the job after the leave is complete. However, Rosario only took her leave after being reprimanded for a catastrophic mishandling of secure testing documents.

At a recent Communication Workers of America (CWA) Union meeting, Rosario was asked about her time at SGMS. She indicated that she was “bullied” by her supervisor.

On social media, some local teachers and principals state Rosario would be disastrous for the school district.

Teacher Shana Price Nathaniel said on her Facebook page that “Rosario use to work at SGMS, and anyone who has worked with this lady knows her character. If this lady gets this position we are going to be in more of a mess than what we are in now. I am asking all teachers to please not support this lady. She was reported to District Office on many occasions. As well as other things she has done.”

Cheryl Denham Conley, a former elementary assistant principal in Indian River County and Florida’s teacher of the year in 2011, was on the same page. “ No, no, no! This (Rosario) would be bad for the district, teachers, and most importantly, students! No way!”

Florida Daily reached out to Rosario and she did not respond.

Contact Ed at Ed.Dean@FloridaDaily.com.