Sarasota, FL — August 25, 2025 — Governor Ron DeSantis has appointed  Karen Rose to the Sarasota County School Board, returning her to a seat she lost in an election less than a year ago. Rose will fill the vacancy left by Tim Enos, who stepped down to resume his role as the school district’s police chief.

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Rose’s reappointment creates a 3–2 conservative majority on the board, alongside members Bridget Ziegler (the famous throuple enthusiast) and Robyn Marinelli. During her previous term, Rose aligned with Ziegler and Marinelli to oust Superintendent Brennan Asplen, push book restrictions, conduct “woke audits,” and enact policies aligned with Project 2025’s vision for education. This conservative bloc ensured Sarasota’s role as “ground zero” for Florida’s education culture wars.

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Teachers and students reported harassment, loss of academic programs, book bans, and fear of retaliation. Many educators and families began leaving the district, while public meetings became battlegrounds filled with Proud Boys, far-right groups, and heated attacks against the board’s sole Democrat, Tom Edwards, an openly gay member of the community. 

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Then, in 2024, Sarasota voters signaled their exhaustion with the constant hate- and homophobia-fueled culture wars dominating the school district. The community rallied behind school psychologist Liz Barker and re-elected Tom Edwards, rejecting incumbent Karen Rose and the divisive politics she represented. Parents, teachers, and students voiced frustration with the relentless focus on right-wing ideology over education, saying they wanted to “put students before politics” and restore stability to schools that had become national symbols of partisan conflict.

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Now Governor Ron DeSantis has overridden the will of the people by returning Rose to the school board. And many community members are angry.

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“The appointment of Karen Rose to the Sarasota School Board is yet another example of the Florida government attempting to strong-arm their political agenda into the lives of children and their families," said Tsi Day Smyth, deputy director of Voice of Florida, an advocacy organization committed to advancing reproductive freedoms and human rights. "Last year, Floridians made their feelings clear when they voted overwhelmingly to keep school board elections non-partisan. Governor DeSantis has bypassed the will of parents of students who voted to oust Rose from the board. His blatant lack of respect for the desires of voting parents is proof positive that this was never about 'parental rights' and always about furthering a corrupt and antidemocratic political agenda."

 

Governor Ron DeSantis’s policies have imposed sweeping restrictions that many Floridians say are eroding their freedoms and damaging the state’s future. His agenda has banned classroom discussions of race, gender, and sexuality, fueling book bans and silencing teachers under threat of retaliation. Abortion rights have been rolled back, immigration crackdowns have destroyed families and businesses, and state universities have seen diversity programs dismantled. ​

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“[Appointing Rose to the school board] is an act of desperation by a man at the end of his governorship whose only legacy will be a failed presidential bid and a property insurance crisis," said Smyth. "In the future, I expect Rose and DeSantis will both fade into obscurity while the Florida students who stand against them will go on to achieve greatness; not because of the heavily conservative School Board but in spite of it.”