Florida principal fired for Holocaust comments will be rehired, school board votes
The Palm Beach County School Board voted to rehire a former high school principal who was fired last year after he refused to say the Holocaust was a “factual, historical event.”
In a 4-3 vote, school board members voted in favor of rehiring former Spanish River Community High School Principal William Latson. He will be given an administrative job and $152,000 in back pay.
School Board Chairman Frank Barbieri and board members Karen Brill and Erica Whitfield voted against Latson’s rehiring.
“I hope you understand Dr. Latson that this is on you and that you finally take accountability for your words and actions,” Brill said during the school board meeting. “On behalf of the 17 million people who died in the Holocaust ... I will not support the judge’s and superintendent’s recommendation.”
Brill went on to say she is appalled that the school board would be asked to allow Latson to return in any capacity.
Board member Chuck Saw, one of four who voted in favor of the rehiring, said it would avoid a expensive legal battle after he partly blamed the media for the situation surrounding Latson.
The vote comes after an administrative judge ruled in August that the Boca Raton principal should not have been fired. The judge said he should get back pay and be rehired by the school district.
Palm Beach Schools Superintendent Donald Fennoy, who last year recommended Latson’s firing to the School Board, recommended Latson be reinstated and given $152,000 in back pay, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Why was the Spanish River High School principal fired?
Latson had worked for the Palm Beach public school district for more than 20 years, had an almost spotless record and had been the principal of Spanish River High for 11 years. He sparked national controversy after emails he wrote to a Spanish River mom in 2018 surfaced last year.
In those emails, Latson told the mother that “not everyone believes the Holocaust happened” and that he couldn’t say the Holocaust was real because he worked at a public school and could not take a position on the matter.
Latson — and the district— were put in the hot seat, with local and state officials calling for Latson to be fired and an explanation into why the district took so long to act. At the time, Fennoy said he had lost confidence in Latson’s leadership.
When the School Board fired Latson last October, officials said it was not because of his comments but because of “ethical misconduct” and “failure to carry out job responsibilities,” including not responding to messages from school district officials during the news coverage of his comments. Latson had gone on vacation to Jamaica the day media outlets began reporting on the story, WFLX reports.
The Tallahassee judge sided with Latson in August and said students at Spanish River were learning about the Holocaust, as is required by Florida law, and that Latson’s actions were not serious enough for termination.
