Candidate: Kells Hetherington

I'm running for the Escambia County school board, freely able to tell you that I am "a lifelong Republican," thanks to the actions of a federal judge right here in Pensacola.

Last summer, the Hon. Margaret Catherine Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida granted a preliminary injunction, barring the state bureaucrats in Tallahassee from again fining me for exercising my constitutionally protected right to free speech.

No candidate running for the school board ought to be fined for sharing with voters his political affiliation, but that's exactly what happened to me in 2018. When I told voters I am a "lifelong Republican," a "conservative," and a believer in the Christian faith, the bureaucrats in Tallahassee said, "you owe us $500," and "shame on you" for sharing your political affiliation in a school board race.

As I’ve shared this story with literally thousands of people thus far in my campaign for the Escambia County school board, many have reacted with disbelief, asking, "how can that happen in America, in one of the most conservative congressional districts in the United States that went solidly for Pres. Donald J. Trump."

If you're struggling to believe what I'm saying, I encourage you to check it out for yourself by going online to the Institute for Free Speech website and clicking on Hetherington v Madden. There you will find all the latest details on the case.

My three priorities if I'm elected to represent Escambia County's second district on the Escambia County school board are as follows:

1. To crack down on out-of-control behavior that is too often disrupting our schools and to give administrators and faculty members more tools to respond to bullies. Whether they be online or in person, bullying behaviors will not be tolerated, and those who engage in them will be held to account.
2. I want to see us get back to basics and focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic. I'm not going to allow the school system to be hijacked by those who want to teach critical race theory with a heavy dose of woke liberal politics mixed in for good measure.
3. And finally, we are going to help those students who face academic challenges to secure the accommodations that they require to succeed in the classroom. Too often parents are telling me that they are waiting years before a child struggling academically is assessed, and shockingly, one school district employee tells me that individualized educational programs are being ignored by district employees who find them too difficult to implement, which is a violation of federal and state law.

I'm running because just like you and my friends and neighbors, I want good things for our schools and because my wife and I have a two-year-old daughter who will be shortly a student in the Escambia County schools district for years to come.

I have a tough primary coming up in August, but together with your help, we can bring about real change and stop a not-so-thinly veiled liberal agenda.