Gov. Ron DeSantis Wednesday appointed Derek Barrs, the former Florida Highway Patrol troop commander and chief who lost to Janie Ruddy by 290 votes in a School Board race in August, to the board seat Sally Hunt resigned a month after the primary.
Barrs, 51, will serve out the two years remaining on Hunt’s term, but being a resident of Palm Circle in Flagler Beach–in District 3, which will be represented by Ruddy starting next month–he would have to move to District 1 in Palm Coast if he were to run and win in 2026. “Right now my focus is not on the next election, but rather fulfilling this vacancy to the best of my ability and serving our community,” Barrs said Wednesday evening.
“As someone with a strong commitment to service, and building relationships, I’m honored to have been selected to fill this role,” he said. “My background has taught me the dedication and discipline needed to ensure the safety and well-being of our children. I believe these qualities resonated with the Governor’s administration, and I am deeply humbled by their trust in me. I am ready to apply my experience to help shape a brighter future for our students and serve our community to the best of my ability.”
Barrs’s appointment is not a surprise: DeSantis had endorsed him in the primary, and has been more aggressively involved in school board races than in any other local government elections. He had also endorsed Christy Chong and Will Furry for Flagler’s school board two years ago. Barrs will now form an ironclad, staunchly conservative majority with Chong and Furry. It isn’t the first time the board has had a Republican majority: it’s had one for most of the past two decades. But it’s the first time that majority has been as ideologically defined by and aligned with the governor’s “parental rights” movement.
While the movement made its mark during and after the Covid pandemic with opposition to masks and vaccines and a slew of book-banning, including in Flagler, those controversies have receded, ceding the place to an enduring and more far-reaching one: “school choice.” Thanks to a 2023 bill championed by Paul Renner, the Palm Coast Republican and Speaker of the House for a few more days, that initiative has accelerated the exodus of students from public education to private, at public expense.
“Flagler County has experienced an increase in enrollment over the past year, which I see as a sign that the district and our educational staff are building on past successes and making strides toward future progress,” Barrs said in his Live Interview last August. “However, parents must continue to make the best choices for their child’s education and where they decide to enroll them.
Barrs since 2020 has been deputy program manager and associate vice president of the HNTB Corporation, the Kansas City-based infrastructure design firm, describing his rule as a consultant “on various traffic related and commercial motor vehicle safety projects, training, and program support within the State of Florida and various other States.” At FHP for several years before that, he’d led the Office of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement. He is also a member of the board of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Employee Trust.
“We’re looking forward to the experience Mr. Barrs will bring to the board,” Superintendent LaShakia Moore said in a statement her office issued Wednesday evening. “His commitment to next generation learning environments and student success is a strong fit with our mission here in Flagler.”
Next month Colleen Conklin, who has been on the board since 2000, will log her last board workshop, as will Cheryl Massaro, who was elected in 2020. Neither opted to run for an additional term. Ruddy will take the place of Conklin. Lauren Ramirez, who Massaro had endorsed, will take Massaro’s place. Ramirez defeated Vincent Sullivan in the primary, but with a more decisive 60 percent of the vote. The Ruddy-Barrs race was not part of last August’s recounts, though Barrs turned up for one of the Canvassing Board meetings to reviewing the process of recounting the closest races.
“I seek to be a sensible voice in our School Board discussions and decisions, aiming to elevate our educational standards and outcomes,” he said when asked what he thought might have made the difference in his interview for the appointment. “I look forward to working together with the board and our Superintendent to reach our full potential and provide a world class education for our students and supporting or teachers and staff in Flagler Country.”
He did not address a question about his anticipated dynamics of serving alongside Ruddy, though their race–in contrast with 2020 races for the board–was distinctly civil, even courteous, as had Barrs been before and after his loss.
The School Board next meets for a workshop on Nov. 12, when Barrs will be seated. Ruddy and Ramirez, who will be invited to sit with the board at that workshop, will be sworn-in on Nov. 19.
