9 Investigates Orange County school board member facing ethics complaint

APOPKA, Fla. — 9 Investigates uncovered more claims of a conflict of interest for an Orange County School Board member who doubles as a campaign manager in Apopka’s City Council race.

Former Chief Judge and WFTV Legal Analyst Belvin Perry filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics against District 7 School Board representative Christine Moore on behalf of Apopka resident Leroy Bell.

Bell is a longtime South Apopka resident who has gone door to door to help politicians reach voters there in the past, but he claims when he refused to support Commissioner Sam Ruth’s bid for re-election at a recent forum, Ruth’s campaign manager Christine Moore turned the conversation away from politics, to his son’s school.

“She said I know you care about your son and I believe you're going to do the right thing, and she just walked off.”

Bell’s son is enrolled in a special program for children with disabilities at Prairie Lake Elementary, which Moore oversees as the District 7 School Board representative.  Bell’s family is not currently zoned for that school.

“I knew exactly what she meant,” Bell told WFTV.  “She meant I was going to do the right thing about my son staying at the elementary school, I was going to support Sammy Ruth, so he could stay there.”

That’s the basis behind a Florida Commission on Ethics complaint, filed on Bell’s behalf by Perry.

“I don’t like to see anybody intimidated by anyone,” Perry said.

Moore denied the allegations and told Eyewitness News in a statement that "Bell mistook a conversation."

9 Investigates exposed other questions about Moore’s dual roles.  A teacher was given a day off without pay after the school board member complained about a campaign ad that appeared in a program for a school play.

The ad featured one of Ruth’s opponents.

“If she was a woman who could separate the two it would be fine but to me it doesn't seem like she can separate it,” Bell said.

Moore provided Channel 9 the following statement:

"Mr. Bell apparently mistook a conversation. Since I was elected I have been a fierce advocate for Phillis Wheatley ES.  Here’s what I have done: accelerated  the construction process to get the school completed one year early, created a history display in the main entrance to honor Phillis Wheatley, assisted with the correct spelling of her name on the new building and advocated for an extra hour of daily instruction. It has been my goal for every family to be pleased with the services offered by their neighborhood school."

The Orange County School District told us there are no plans for any rezones out of Praire Lake Elementary School for next year, but Bell emphasized that is not the school for which his family is currently zoned.

Cox Media Group