Meanwhile, the Sarasota Republican Party wants another board member to resign as well.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: August 13, 2025
Host: Three seats on the Sarasota School Board are up for election next year, and the pushing and shoving has begun. Today, one board member resigned, and yesterday, the Republican Party of Sarasota asked another board member to resign. Johannes Werner reports.
Johannes Werner: This morning, the school district sent out a press release announcing the resignation of board member Tim Enos, effective just 11 days from now, on August 24. Enos is returning to the job he held before his election—chief of police for the Sarasota County Schools Police Department. That’s a job under the purview of the superintendent of schools, but some board members were caught by surprise when they first heard about it yesterday.
Tim Enos
Enos was elected as part of a three-member slate endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Moms for Liberty, the conservative parental rights-centered organization launched by fellow school board member Bridget Ziegler.
Enos’ replacement will be appointed by DeSantis for the remainder of the term.
The day before the Enos announcement, the Sarasota Republican Party asked fellow board member Tom Edwards to resign. The first openly gay School Board member in Sarasota sailed through re-election last fall. Last week, he accepted the job of executive director for Project Pride SRQ, and that prompted the Republican move.
That non-profit is known as the organizer of the annual Pride Festival. It also has an outreach program to local businesses, as well as to LGBTQ seniors. Also, it offers mental health programs. The Project Pride activities that prompted the Republican Party to issue a press release demanding Edwards’ resignation are its youth outreach programs. The party argues this is a conflict of interest. Specifically, said Rod Thomson, a spokesman for the local party, it was a statement attributed to Edwards in Project Pride’s announcement of his hiring. It said: “He also hopes to develop after-school programs that address critical thinking topics, particularly those that are no longer allowed to be fully explored—or are even prohibited—in area classrooms.”
![Press release by the Republican Party of Sarasota COunty titled "Sarasota GOP calls for resignation of School Board Member Tom Edwards over conflict of interest". SARASOTA, Fla. (August 12, 2025) The Republican Party of Sarasota County has issued the following statement: "School Board Member Tom Edwards is a supporter of radical LGBTQ beliefs and has pushed them as a School Board member — completely out of touch with what the Sarasota County community of parents want. But now he has been named Executive Director of Project Pride SRQ, which consistently pushes ideas far outside the mainstream. "In his new role, Tom Edwards will have overt conflicts of interest. The press release announcing this new job said Edwards will work to establish multiple programs in the schools and after school to further this radical ideology rejected by the vast majority of Americans. "Tom Edwards can do whatever that he wants in his private life. But this position leverages him as a [Text abruptly cuts off.]](https://wslr.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/GOP-press-release-Tom-Edwards.jpg)
Rod Thomson: The reason we put it out, I think, is clear in the statement: We think it’s an obvious conflict of interest for him to hold a position as executive director to push Project Pride SRQ programs into the public schools that he’s also a school board member of. So, he’s being paid by an outside group to do things on the inside. He said that he wants to get them in afterschool programs and in anti-bullying programs in the schools. That’s his goal. Read the press release and see if what he says he wants to do—because if you’re doing after school but it’s at the school still, it’s at the school. If it’s being promoted in the schools for after school, it’s still being promoted in the schools.
JW: There is no mention in the Project Pride press release of establishing an anti-bullying program in schools.
In their press release, the Republican Party calls Edwards a “supporter of radical LGBTQ beliefs,” and describes Project Pride as completely outside the mainstream.
Tom Edwards sees no reason to resign from either of his two jobs. He said he is baffled by the conflict of interest accusation, because none of the youth outreach programs he will be implementing for Project Pride are within schools.
Tom Edwards
Tom Edwards: I will be doing programs for students but not on school property and not interacting with the schools in any way. The kids get bullied all the time for being overweight, for wearing the wrong clothes, for coming from a poor neighborhood, not speaking English and, of course, being gay or transgender. There’s a million reasons why that happens, and it affects students’ mental health. I’m not singling out the LGBTQ+ students. I’ve never done that as a school board member. I support all students and want great educational outcomes for all students, and I will continue to do that work outside of the school district to make sure that those programs get built for all, not just the ones that Tallahassee thinks should be supported.
JW: Edwards believes he is being bullied just because of who he is.
TE: I’m actually baffled by the [conflict of interest accusation], but I recognize bullying behavior when I see it, and this falls into that category. I don’t see any other elected officials being called to resign from their jobs while they’re serving as an elected official. Just me. So the only thing I can assume is that it’s because I’m gay and I’m working for an organization that has a lane of LGBTQ+ issues.
JW: Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.
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