Tallahassee lawmaker seeks investigation into Jefferson County Schools intrigue

Jefferson County Schools — a school district historically mismanaged, underfunded and stuck in academic troubles — is once again embroiled in controversy.

The school district has been run by a charter school operator since 2017, when the state took over and handed responsibilities to Somerset Academy, Inc., to deal with failing grades, staffing issues and missing funds.

Now, state Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, has asked for an independent investigation of the Florida Department of Education and its relationship with Jefferson County Schools.

More: The return of Jackie Pons: Former Leon superintendent is now Jefferson County principal

More: Jefferson County schools trying to improve under charter operator

In the letter, sent Tuesday to the Florida Department of State's inspector general, Tant raised concerns over how the school will be run after Somerset Academy ends its contract with the state and withdraws in June.

“I think somebody independent should be looking at this because nobody is talking about the children who are supposed to be educated. Nobody is talking about the families over there," Tant told the Democrat in a phone interview.

A recent investigation by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald found that the state education department was in talks with a private company to act as an external operator for Jefferson County Schools and was in place to win a multi-million dollar contract before the procurement process even began.

Documents obtained in the investigation say the request for bid was customized for MGT Consulting Group, run by Republican former lawmaker Trey Traviesa of Tampa, a friend of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.

Prior operator's mission: Turn around Jefferson schools

In 2017, Somerset was given five years to turn the district around. Jefferson County Schools was in the process of transitioning from the outside company and back to a locally-run school district when, according to Tant's letter, the district was told MGT Consulting would instead become external operator, to be paid with money received from the federal government for COVID relief.

More: Jefferson County selects charter school company

More: In rural North Florida, out-of-school suspensions are linked to low pay, teacher turnover

The process for what to do with the failing school district has been entangled with insider political drama since late fall. That's when two high-ranking Department of Education officials resigned after an internal investigation into conflicts of interest. The investigation was closed after the resignations.

As reported by Florida Politics and by blogger Billy Townsend, DOE's vice chancellor of strategic improvement Melissa Ramsey and state board member Richard “Andy” Tuck quit after turning in a bid as a private company called Strategic Initiatives Partners to become the external operator for Jefferson County Schools.

Public Schools Chancellor Jacob Oliva, who was also named a founder of the company before the procurement process began, was cleared by the investigation.

Tant does not represent Jefferson County, but heard of the issues because of her seat on the House Public Integrity & Elections Committee.

She said Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port. St. Joe, would be taking the lead on this issue. A request for comment from Shoaf was left with his office staff.

"I just want to make sure somebody is minding the store," Tant said. "The whole thing worries me.”

Contact Ana Goñi-Lessan at AGoniLessan@tallahassee.com and follow her on Twitter @goni_lessan.

Want more news coverage? If you're already a subscriber, thank you! If not, please subscribe using the link at the top of the page and help keep the news you care about coming.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lawmaker seeks review of state Education Department, Jefferson schools