Florida School Board Reverses Decision to Reinstate Principal Who Said He Had to be Neutral on the Holocaust

The Palm Beach County School Board (PBCSD) in Florida reversed its October 7 decision to reinstate William Latson, who was fired in 2019 after saying he had to be neutral on the Holocaust.

On November 2, the board unanimously voted to rescind the October 7 decision to rehire Latson, Fox 29 reported.

“What Dr. Latson did was open the door for the students whose parents are Holocaust deniers to, for generations to come, deny the atrocity of the Holocaust,” school board member Barbara McQuinn said.

“What Dr. Latson did was open the door for the students whose parents are Holocaust deniers to, for generations to come, deny the atrocity of the Holocaust.” — Barbara McQuinn

StandWithUs Southeast Executive Director Sara Gold Rafel praised the November 2 vote.

“The board’s decision today communicates clearly the importance it places on ensuring that its employees value accuracy in history education, including the Holocaust,” Rafel said. “Antisemitism is allowed to fester when we fail to expose lies and misinformation and replace them with the truth. We respect the school board for doing its part – including the hours board members spent listening to the voices of concerned citizens – to make sure these types of situations are not tolerated within the PBCSD district.”

In 2019, the Palm Beach Post unearthed a 2018 email exchange between Latson and a student’s mother in which Latson stated, “I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as a school district employee.” Latson was suspended and then fired, in part because he didn’t respond to his supervisors about the controversy.

Judge Robert Cohen of the Division of Administrative Hearings in Tallahasee concluded in August that Latson’s actions didn’t amount to gross insubordination that Latson should have been disciplined, not fired. On October 7, the board voted 4-3 to rehire Latson for a different position in the district.

However, the board reversed their decision following backlash to the October 7 vote.

Latson apologized for his Holocaust remarks in an October 27 video, admitting that his comments were “wrong. I apologize to the Palm Beach County community, the school board and school administrators, the teachers of Palm Beach County, the parents, the students, the Jewish community and everyone offended by my mistake.

“I am not a Holocaust denier. I have never been a Holocaust denier. I am sorry that my comment caused people to think that. Palm Beach County Schools has an exemplary Holocaust education which I ensured was taught to every students while I was principal at Spanish River High School.”

When the controversy first broke, Latson had said that the reporting of the exchange was inaccurate.