Former Sarasota County School Board Chair Karen Rose, a conservative who lost her reelection bid last year, is back on the board.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday named Rose to replace outgoing Chair Tim Enos, also a Republican, who stepped down from his District 5 seat Aug. 13 to again become the school district’s police chief.
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Rose was defeated for her District 2 seat by Democrat Liz Barker, a school psychologist and mother of four children in public schools. The margin of victory was less than 3,000 votes (51% to 49%).
DeSantis endorsed 23 school board candidates – 13 lost, including Rose – as part of his "parental rights" agenda to counter what he termed "woke ideology" in schools.
Despite decades of experience as a special education teacher and middle school principal, Rose was viewed as an increasingly political force on the board.
She was instrumental in removing Superintendent Brennan Asplen in 2022 and redrawing district lines to align with county commission boundaries in 2023.
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The district realignment, which came amid a hiring freeze, included a $40,000 consultant's fee and other expenses.
Aspen’s replacement, Terry Connor, is hiring Enos as police chief, a role he held from November 2018 until January 2022. Enos has worked more than 30 years in law enforcement, including 22 years with schools.
Robyn Marinelli, who was selected by the board as vice chair in November, is now chair. She was endorsed by DeSantis in 2022.
Although school board races are nonpartisan, Rose’s addition maintains a 3-2 conservative edge on the five-member board. They are Rose, Marinelli and Bridget Ziegler. The liberal pair is Barker and Tom Edwards.
Monday’s move comes two months after DeSantis named Rose to the board of trustees for the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.
Rose, 68, has also been a member of the Florida Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Youngstown State University and her master’s degree in education from the University of South Florida.
