Hillsborough School Board candidate Jen Flebotte calls for voters to elect conservatives following explicit book controversy

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Hillsborough County School Board Candidate for District 7 Jen Flebotte wants voters to elect “conservative” minded candidates in the upcoming election following an explicit book controversy that drew national attention.

In an interview with Florida’s Voice, Flebotte criticized the current board members for being “out of touch,” “lacking transparency” and failing to stop parents from reading explicit books during school board meetings.

Florida’s Voice reported how angry parents flooded the Hillsborough County School District’s board meeting in April to read explicit passages from books that are in school libraries.

However, board members were silent and declined to utilize the new law which would have allowed them to immediately stop the parents and pull the books from shelves.

Florida’s Voice coverage of the incident made national news and was featured on Fox News’ Hannity on April 12.

Flebotte said the current board has five “raging liberals” and believes the board should have interrupted the parents and pulled the explicit books.

“If you want to follow the letter of the law in Florida now and follow the governor, by the way, who is your boss, you pull those books, there’s no question. There’s no question! They are deemed pornographic, they follow the statute, there’s no question about it,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte said she believes the board members were likely waiting to see if “anyone’s going to do anything about it, i.e. the governor, or someone’s going to file a lawsuit.”

“I would love to see the governor physically remove [the members] and appoint – as much as I’m not about government intervention like that,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte said for almost three years, parents, including herself, have attended the meetings and read the explicit books, yet the school board has “done nothing.”

“This is a political play. This is them wanting to put their political and personal, sexual indoctrination agendas in place over the fact that these books are not appropriate and it’s against the law,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte said the solution is to “elect staunch conservatives who aren’t afraid to play the literacy game.”

She said it is “critical” to get conservatives on the board for other reasons as well, such as the economy.

“We have seen that we have had a historic rise in inflation and in families being hurt by the current state of the economy. It is so critical that we get conservative people on this board to help support the conservative presidential win that we’re going to get in November. And I hate to put the politics into it in that respect, but it’s true,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte said the “only way” to improve is for change on all levels – from presidential to school board races.

“We have to have a community of people up there that are conservative-minded, that are solely thinking of the children and not personal agendas, and push it through. That’s why this year for the school board is so critical, because it happens to fall with the general election,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte will face off against incumbent Lynn Gray, Alene D. Atkins, Karen Bendorf, Johnny Bush, and Ashley Hartfield-Viewins. 

A Tampa native and mother of three children, Flebotte returned to the state after briefly living in northern Virginia for work. She returned to Tampa a year and a half ago.

As architectural designer and project director for over two decades, Flebotte also has experience as a teacher.

“I have a strong background in project management and direction, and of course handling corporate budgets, which is key,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte’s personal experiences, such as dealing with her son’s illness and navigating the challenges of COVID-19, led her into the realm of politics.

“I also homeschooled my kids for a few years through the COVID issues and then after, because I saw during COVID, what was actually going on inside the classroom,” she said.

Flebotte said the current board is comprised of six educators, some of which “haven’t even been in the classroom for 25 years.”

“How is that effective leadership in this role, with the argument that ‘oh, we need teachers up there?’ They’re so out of touch. They don’t know. They can sit on as many committees as they want to, they are out of touch,” she said.

Flebotte said she will be in this “for another eight years,” and noted she has a 10-year old who is still in school.

“I am not going to let this go without the strongest heartfelt effort to get in there and make a change myself. There’s too many moms like me who just don’t have that time. I don’t… but I’ve been called to do it,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte said if elected, she would work with lawmakers to “make change” and “get actual legislation put in and submitted on behalf of our school system statewide.”

In the past, Flebotte has participated in the legislative sessions and “fought at the all those levels for children’s and parental rights.”

“We don’t have anyone who has that knowledge… I do. […] The school board needs a diverse group of citizens sitting on that board. They need people like Layla [Collins] who’s been in tech, and the military,” Flebotte said.

Layla Collins, the wife of Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, is also running for a seat on the school board, in District 1.

Flebotte believes it is important to have moms “like her” representing the community.

Flebotte has spoken out against raising millage rates and said the county has requested three separate tax increases in the last four years.

“What have they done? We have record low literacy rates. We do not have a transparent budget. We have teachers leaving because they aren’t safe – that’s what all the exit interviews say. Some of course, are going to leave for money. But overall, we’re not out of line with money,” Flebotte said.

Flebotte believes leaders need to “see where they can get that money first before you go to our community and our families and our parents who are struggling, which is everyone right now.”

Along with maintaining fiscal responsibility, her other priorities include giving power back to the parents, addressing transportation and infrastructure neglect, and more.

“We don’t have enough buses, good bus drivers, we don’t have enough safe sidewalks and safe roads, which also means you have to work with our county commission, and you have to work with our cities, and you have to have the knowledge to do that. So that’s another thing that I bring to the table,” Flebotte said.

She is also calling for transparency in the budget.

“It’s going to automatically help our teachers, help our staff, get our schools improved. We’re going to be able to encompass all those desires and wants and needs if we can first work on that budget and be transparent,” she said.

Flebotte praised Gov. Ron DeSantis for his recently signed legislation teaching the “accurate history” of communism in classrooms, which was carried by Sen. Jay Collins.

The legislation requires “age and developmentally appropriate” instruction on the history of communism, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.

“Clearly literacy rates are awful. Our curriculum is a mess. We need to get it all the way back to the basics, work with the governor’s office, and be sure that we’re teaching math, science, english, ‘correct’ history – Thank you, Lord, that he [DeSantis] signed that most recent bill – arithmetic, and cursive writing. Period,” Flebotte said.

The election will take place Nov. 5. For more information on the candidates in this election cycle click here.