Alachua County School Board (SBAC) Vice Chair Tina Certain is facing backlash from members of the Republican Party about a comment she made on social media regarding the late Charlie Kirk.
Kirk, a conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on Sept. 10 while speaking at an event on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
In the days after his death, prayer vigils were held throughout the country to remember Kirk, including on college campuses such as the University of Florida.
On Sunday, thousands of people filed into State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, for a memorial service honoring Kirk.
In commenting on a Facebook post about Sunday’s memorial, Certain wrote: “I didn’t watch any of that Drump Rally! I went to see an elder bcs the weight of it all – how a 31yr old uneducated white boy has been glorified. He has a organization bcs a millionaire gave him money & connections to start it. To see the feds & state elevate him angers me. It is heavy but I know I can’t stay home. Gotta fight despite being tired of it all.”
The Alachua County Republican Party shared a screenshot of Certain’s comment on its Facebook page Monday, with a text caption: “We’ll let this sit here. Alachua County Vice Chair School Board member.”
U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Gainesville, also shared a screenshot of Certain’s comment on her personal Facebook page Tuesday morning. Cammack accused Certain of “promoting division and hate” and called for her resignation.
“Instead of prioritizing our children, the Alachua County School board members seem to be teaching a master class in hate,” Cammack wrote. “I wonder what the parents of the ‘white boys’ you are supposed to represent think of your deplorable comments – comments, I should add, that you made about the memorial service of a murdered husband and father, which you called a ‘Drump rally.’”
Certain did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment, but she issued a statement that circulated online and in local news outlets.
“While my personal Facebook comment was poorly worded it does not change the reality of his rhetoric,” she wrote. “Charlie Kirk repeatedly insulted and attacked educated women, specifically Black women. His rhetoric was intended to demean through racism. His death is now being cynically used by some on the other side to push an agenda that looks a lot like more hatred, more divisiveness, and more exclusion. We should be able to condemn violence without rewriting history or silencing critiques of his rhetoric.”
Certain also said she has “no plans to resign.”
“My commitment remains to the students, families, and educators I was elected to serve,” she wrote.
Certain is the second school board member to face criticism from Republican leaders over the last several months.
In July, SBAC Chair Sarah Rockwell came under fire for comments she made on social media about the death of pro wrestler Hulk Hogan.
“Oh did Hulk die? I didn’t even know. Good. One less MAGA in the world,” Rockwell wrote in a since-deleted comment on her personal Facebook account.
After her comments went viral on social media, Rockwell issued an apology on her personal Facebook account.
Rockwell issued another public apology at the next school board meeting on July 31, saying the mistake “was mine alone.”
“… And I regret that it has distracted [us] from the important work we are doing in this district,” she said while giving remarks. “As a public official, I know that I am held to a higher standard, and I should have been more thoughtful. I’m not perfect, and I know that. And I know that I can – and I will – do better.”
More than 30 public commentators spoke at the July 31 meeting, with many voicing their support for Rockwell. However, there were a few people – including a man by the name of Jeremy Clepper – who had different feelings.
Clepper, who has a history of making antisemetic statements, said Rockwell, who is Jewish, should resign if she has “a shred of integrity.” He concluded his remarks by calling her a “disgusting vile, human being.”
Certain, who was moderating the meeting at the time, called for Clepper to be removed from the meeting after his comments caused an uproar from the audience. However, SBAC Attorney David Delaney recommended that Clepper not be removed from the meeting room.
Clepper ultimately left on his own accord with Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) deputies around him.
One day after the meeting, Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas issued a letter to Rockwell, saying the school board violated state law.
During a regular meeting on Aug. 20, the State Board of Education agreed with Kamoutsas in finding probable cause that the school board violated a parent’s First Amendment rights, as well as Florida law, at the July 31 meeting.
The state board unanimously approved a recommendation by Kamoutsas that required school board members to undergo training on free-speech policies and follow these guidelines for the rest of the 2025-26 school year, according to the order issued by the state board.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include more of Certain’s statement and context about Jeremy Clepper.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.
Bring the defenders back out about why it’s good Tina Certain – vice chair of a board overseeing thousands of employees, the education of tens of thousands of students, and half a billion dollars in tax money – spends her free time doing this. Let’s hear from the people who agree with Sarah Rockwell that it is a good thing when conservatives die. Keep defending your people, be loud and proud about it. This is what you believe too, right? This is who you are! These are the fighters you elect and keep standing up for, right? Let’s hear y’all about how great this is. Come on out to the party
The hypocrisy of your comment is staggering.
The Commissioner of Education or Governor needs to remove her from the School Board.
This is intimidating all the “white boys” here.
There is a community who is indeed, glorifying a guy who was killed in a way that is more than a bit over the top. One might even think they are using him. Hmmmmm?
The School Board was elected as NON-partisan. These types of comments by Tina and Sarah do nothing but stir division.
Saw a video recently where a young white woman explains how many white folks today feel unfulfilled, barren, devoid of fulfillment in their lives.
Perhaps lofting Charlie Kirk, a political pundit who didn’t do much besides see and seize an opportunity to stir the pot and make money doing it at the expense of everybody he criticized, from the late George Floyd to Democrats to liberals to former President Joe Biden (whom he suggested on the record be executed, by the way) into a white equivalent of the late MLK Jr., a savior of white culture and white Christian ideology, makes for a cultural participation trophy in the face of, well, not much else.
In the absence of true heroism, if desperate enough I get the yearning to manufacture it. It’s lame and disingenuous and cries out for criticism, but a cry for help nonetheless.
When you are in a position of authority, especially one over the lives of children (and therefore their families), you should make every effort to avoid any suspicion of favoritism or racism. You should respect the rights of all people, and give honor to all for whom honor is due; you should oppose evil and support what is good, and what is true and what is beautiful
All of us are fallible. When we make a failure, when our character is found insufficient, the best response is to quickly admit it, point to our error directly, and purpose to do better in the future. Those who point out true failures are valuable to our own growth.
Its offensive that Rep. Cammack calls for Mrs. Certain to resign over a post on her personal FB page – which, by the way, is protected free speech per the U.S. Constitution.
I call for Cammack to resign for her complicity in protecting child rapists since she refuses to demand the release of the full Epstein files.
Cammack should be ashamed that while she has the power to act to find justice for the hundreds (some say thousands) of victims of Epstein and his rich, influential friends she refuses to do so.
Protecting child rapists will be Cammack’s legacy long after she is out of office, and a horrid legacy her daughter will need to live with.
Trump is brash, rude, insulting. There are many that say he brings out the worst in people. He does. Trump is a mirror. The evil hate is already inside those that respond to Trump in such negative ways. Sometimes much worse than the President. They will never own it. They will never change that part of themselves that is not Good and Truthful. I am a registered Democrat. I voted Trump this past election because Trump’s brash, rude, insulting, demeaning character has opened my eyes to what’s wrong with me and more importantly, the Democrat party.