Amid budget woes, the board makes a controversial change to the district’s anti-discrimination policy.
By Brice Claypoole
Original Air Date: July 25, 2025
Host: On Tuesday, dozens of speakers lined up again at a Sarasota School Board meeting. By far most of them spoke out against a change in the school board’s anti-discrimination policy. But even the opponents of the change say that this is a distraction from a bigger challenge. Brice Claypoole reports.
Brice Claypoole: This Tuesday, culture wars engulfed the Sarasota School Board once more.
Demonstrators’ signs read, “Students before politics.” Photo via SEE Alliance (seeourpower) on Instagram
Protesters rallied outside the School Administration Building to oppose the rollback of the district’s anti-discrimination policies. They urged people to head into the chamber and tell the board their opinion.
India X Miller: We need you there, right now, because when we show up, when we speak out, we make change. We protect our students. Thank y’all.
[Crowd cheers]
BC: India X Miller, host of WSLR’s Trans-Cis-Her Radio show, spoke with a few people at the event.
Rana Bazzini: I’m Rana Bazzini, and I’m supporting that wonderful, wonderful group the SEE Alliance because they are incredible. And I know you’re gonna ask how old I am, right?
IXM: Yes.
RB: Okay. 92.
IXM: 92 years old. So we have people 14 to 92, and—
RB: My name is Rana, and it means “frog,” but I’m not ready to croak yet!
BC: The crowd was passionate inside the chamber as well. Public comment lasted for around two hours. In a 3-2 vote, the board approved replacing protections for specific minority groups with language like “any” and “all.”
Contentious as the debate was, some members think the whole thing was a distraction.
Liz Barker
Liz Barker: We’re going through a major budget crisis. What is the point of bringing up one of those culture-war issues?
BC: That’s School Board Member Liz Barker. She, along with Tom Edwards, voted against the policy change on Tuesday. Edwards, too, says the budget needs to be the focus. But he worries that other board members don’t share his priorities.
Tom Edwards
Tom Edwards: My fellow school board members are more focused in on discrimination of trans rights.
BC: A new state voucher program is costing the school district millions of dollars. At the same time, the Trump administration has frozen federal support for schools. No reason was specified. The money allocated by the state this year doesn’t keep up with inflation, either. Barker says the situation is dire for public schools.
LB: We’ve got a lot coming at us, and it’s coming at us very last-minute and with very little clarity. We’re being forced to make some very challenging decisions that do impact students. And we’re doing our best to not impact students, but the situation is quickly becoming untenable in terms of lack of willingness to fund public education at the state and federal levels.
BC: Advocates say they’re gearing up for tough times ahead. Zander Moricz is the founder of the SEE Alliance, which advocates for equity in education. I spoke with him outside the Sarasota School Board Chamber.
Zander Moricz addresses a crowd outside the School Administration Building. Photo via SEE Alliance (seeourpower) on Instagram
Zander Moricz: We are all in the same boat. We are all in a school district that no longer has the amount of money it needs. Sarasota was already facing a budget shortfall due to state funding, and we are now millions short of what we need for students, parents and teachers. And there hasn’t been a conversation about it; there hasn’t been a statement about it; there hasn’t been a workshop, a town hall, a panel; and we need to come together as a community to have conversations and build solutions.
BC: For WSLR, this is Brice Claypoole.
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