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Gov. Ron DeSantis didn't look far for his pick to be the new Florida commissioner of education.

On June 3, he recommended one of his top aides , deputy chief of staff Anastasios Kamoutsas, for the job to replace former commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., who was elected a week prior to be interim president of the University of West Florida.

“Stasi Kamoutsas has delivered on important issues like parental rights, school choice, and fighting back against radical ideologies in education,” DeSantis said in a release. “I am confident that he will continue to serve our state well as the next Commissioner of Education, and I thank Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. for his dedicated and productive service.”

Diaz, the latest in a line of DeSantis allies put in charge of higher education institutions in Florida, was delighted with the choice. "Great pick Governor!" he posted on X. "Stasi will be a huge advocate for students and families in Florida."

The State Board of Education is meeting Wednesday, June 4, at 10:30 a.m. to consider appointing a commissioner.

Who is Anastasios Kamoutsas?

Anastasios I. Kamoutsas, 36, has a fairly low-profile presence, but he has been involved in many of DeSantis' key initiatives and was described by Florida Politics as "one of the most feared staffers."

Kamoutsas, who holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Florida International University and his juris doctor from Regent University School of Law, a private Christian university. He joined the Florida Department of Education in 2019 to be general counsel and then chief of staff during the state's battle against mandated COVID masks in schools before he was tapped to be one of DeSantis' deputy chiefs of staff.

“Under my tenure, the Florida Department of Education will remain committed to student safety and success, empowering parents, and supporting teachers,” Kamoutsas said in DeSantis' press release. “I look forward to working with the State Board of Education to ensure that Florida remains the education state.”

While most of his work has been behind the scenes, Kamoutsas has popped up in the news.

NBC News reported in March that Kamoutsas was one of DeSantis' aides who had made calls to state lobbyists, asking them not to donate to Florida 2026 gubernatorial candidate Rep. Byron Donalds. First lady Casey DeSantis has not announced her own run, but has been rumored to be considering it for months. Kamoutsas denied NBC's allegations.

He was also named in 2023 as the person who called then-FDLE Chief of Staff Shane Desguin to deny the promotion and raise for an attorney who disagreed with DeSantis' aides about what parts of the governor's travel records were public information because she "was not on our team," according to former FDLE deputy chief of staff Patricia Carpenter.

When Desguin asked if he could give Robinson another position and salary increase, he “was told ‘no, she is lucky she even has a f—ing job,’” Carpenter said, according to The News Service of Florida. Carpenter was fired after she sought whistleblower protection.

Last October, Kamoutsas raised a stink in his homeowner's association in Tallahassee for posting signs against a proposed abortion amendment on his lawn and reportedly gaming HOA rules by removing them before a meeting, avoiding hundreds of dollars in fines, and then replacing and increasing them the next day.

Kamoutsas' wife is a lawyer for the State University System.

Diaz latest DeSantis ally to head university

Diaz was selected to replace UWF president Martha Saunders, who chose to step down after a contentious board of trustees meeting where newly appointed member Zach Smith grilled her about "diversity, equity and inclusion" issues he had identified when combing through UWF's social media. Smith had been appointed by DeSantis days earlier.

Diaz joins a growing rank of DeSantis allies to head universities and colleges in Florida as the governor continues to leave his mark on education in the Sunshine State.

Florida's House Bill 447 was signed into law late last month, but other states have made similar legislative efforts in the past. A 2024 Kansas statute, for instance, required the state board of education to develop disability history objectives and guidelines within the existing history and social studies curriculum.

Stewart points out that some states might also include disability history alongside contributions from other marginalized communities, as part of a larger effort to diversify curriculum.

An example of this includes a 2021 Nevada law that required school districts to teach K-12 students about the “history and contributions to science, the arts and humanities of certain groups of persons,” including people with disabilities and other groups like Native Americans, LGBTQ+ and immigrants.

According to the bill text, Florida's forthcoming disability history curriculum will potentially cover key events and timelines on how services for individuals with disabilities and their civil rights have evolved, as well as the contributions of specific individuals and leaders with disabilities.

The bill divides more specific learning topics by grade level groups. Kindergarten through 3rd graders will learn about bullying through conversations about the different types and what to do if they or someone they know is being bullied. The bill also requires that they learn about physical disabilities.

For grades 4 through 6, the bill stipulates that the curriculum needs to include information on autism spectrum disorder, while 7th through 9th graders will learn about hearing impairment disabilities. In grades 10 through 12, students will learn about the different types of learning and intellectual disabilities.

Stewart said he had some concerns about deferring discussions about specific types of disabilities to different ages. For one, students can have coinciding disabilities, he said, and there are also disabilities beyond those listed that students would benefit from learning about.

“The kid with a hearing impairment might also have a learning disability, and so I worry just a little bit about the categorical siloing of disabilities, because while that's true for some kids, it's not true for others,” Stewart said.

He added that some of the language in HB 447 is a bit “permissive,” which can be a double-edged sword. While on one hand, it leaves space for schools and districts to include what they think is missing, there is also the risk that not all schools abide by the suggestions.

Stewart also acknowledged that the law is still in its early stages, making it difficult to assess the actual curriculum and implementation.

He added that as these instructional materials are developed, it is essential to center the perspective of people with disabilities, which is why he commends the bill for encouraging the state education department to collaborate with the Evin B. Hartsell Foundation – a nonprofit organization working to amplify the impact of people with disabilities.

“I've been in the disability advocacy field for 25 years, and I think one thing that keeps on showing [up] is stigma and misunderstanding about people with disabilities,” said Stewart. “I hope that this type of legislation encourages kids at an early age to understand disability as being part of the natural human experience and thus not something that should be feared or mocked or treated with suspicion.”

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The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee in Florida has lowered the confirmation age to 7, the traditional 'age of reason' for children.

The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, will now administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to children at the age of 7, a change from the past diocesan custom of Confirming children in the ninth or tenth grade.

This change was announced on May 28 in a pastoral letter from Bishop William Wack, CSC, titled "Reborn, Anointed, Nourished: Faith and Formation for Life."

“It is my joy to share with you my vision for a renewal of sacramental life in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, and a renewal of faith in Jesus Christ in our families. In this Pastoral Letter, I wish to explain my decision to move the age of Confirmation for Catholic children from the ninth or tenth grade to what is called in church law 'the age of discretion,' around seven years of age," said Bishop Wack.

The move to change Confirmation is "rooted deeply in the Church's ancient tradition and the profound wisdom of her liturgical practice, seeks to administer the three sacraments of initiation in their proper sequence: Baptism, followed by Confirmation, and then First Eucharist," he said.

Now, said Bishop Wack is "a truly pivotal moment for our local Church" and is a "vibrant testament to the ceaseless activity of the Holy Spirit in our midst — the same Spirit who continually calls us to deeper holiness and impels us toward greater evangelization.”

Sacraments, said Bishop Wack, are more than just items to check off as complete as one grows older.

"Jesus instituted these sacraments as a means for human beings to access the riches of grace flowing from his saving death and resurrection. They are not merely empty symbolic actions performed by the community that is the church. Rather, sacraments contain and communicate the grace that they each uniquely signify," he explained.

While a person receives the gift of the Holy Spirit at their baptism, "it is only in Confirmation that baptismal grace is brought to completion," said the bishop.

Teenage Confirmation is relatively recent

Confirmation, he explained, is intended to prepare a person's soul for the reception of the Eucharist, yet in most dioceses in the United States, a child makes their First Communion long before they are Confirmed.

The tradition of Confirmation in a person's teenage years, after their First Communion, started in 1910, the bishop said.

"In 1910, Pope St. Pius X tried to remedy what was then a pastoral and spiritual problem. In his time, children were generally receiving Confirmation and then First Communion around the age of twelve, even though the law of the church allowed for them to receive at the age of discretion, seven years old," he said. "The Pope, realizing especially that the widespread changes in Western culture were undermining faith, wanted children to have access to the fullness of sacramental grace as early as possible. However, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the Pope, in his document lowering the age of First Communion to seven years old, only made mention of the Eucharist and was silent on Confirmation."

This, said Wack, transformed the view of the sacrament in Catholic culture as "rite of passage" or "coming of age" event.

"This misunderstanding of Confirmation eventually translated into a sacrament of adulthood, making it into what it was decidedly not: the culminating sacrament of Christian maturity – a title only to be held by the Most Holy Eucharist," he said.

"It is my desire that, in restoring Confirmation to the age of discretion, received before Holy Communion, I am giving the children in our diocese what is their sacred right in the church: to receive both Confirmation and Eucharist in those profoundly formative years of their life," said Bishop Wack.

Holy Spirit is moving us

Additionally, the current system of sacraments requires that anyone over the age of seven receive all three sacraments of initiation – Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist – at the same time, typically at the Easter Vigil. This, said Bishop Wack, creates a situation where a child who was not baptized Catholic yet is received into the Church is able to receive the graces of Confirmation long before their peers who have been faithful Catholics their entire lives.

"Why should a child who was baptized Catholic have to wait until they are older to be confirmed?"

Rather than "wringing our hands and lamenting" about young people losing their faith or leaving the Church, Bishop Wack believes "the Holy Spirit is moving us to be proactive in forming our children and families in the faith of Jesus Christ from the time they are born throughout their entire life."

Read also :More US dioceses lowering age to receive Confirmation

A growing trend in US dioceses

The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee's announcement comes about six weeks after the Archdiocese of Baltimore lowered their Confirmation age to nine.

Other dioceses have made similar changes.

In fall 2024, the Archdiocese of Boston announced a plan to transition Confirmation from 10th grade to 8th, and in December of that year, the Diocese of Baton Rouge released a plan to lower the Confirmation age to 7th grade.

Back in 2019, the Archdiocese of Seattle moved the age for the Sacrament from 11th grade to 7th.

Read also :Mark Wahlberg inspires with son’s confirmation video

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Residents of the Fort Braden community are in mourning after a hit-and-run left a local woman dead late Sunday night.

Cynthia Giddens said she knew the victim, who was identified as Teresa Stitely.

“I was devastated,” Giddens said. “For something like this to have happened, and the driver just drive off, it’s unreal.”

Giddens and several other Fort Braden residents said “Ms. Teresa” would ride her bike daily along Highway 20.

“That was how she got around,” Giddens said. “She didn’t want to ask for help.”

The Florida Highway Patrol said the crash happened near the intersection of Highway 20 and Jay Bird Lane. The suspected vehicle is a white, older-model SUV that is, possibly, a Tahoe or Yukon, according to FHP.

Residents like Giddens are struggling to understand why the driver fled the scene.

“What if it was your mom?” she said. “What if it was your sister? How would you feel, then?”

The vehicle is believed to be missing its front bumper and has heavy damage on the right front side, per FHP. Officials are asking that anyone with information on the vehicle involved contact authorities immediately. They believe it was driving towards Tallahassee after the collision.

More Tallahassee news:

Residents, including Giddens, said Ms. Teresa’s bicycle rides are a Fort Braden staple. Giddens said she has childhood memories of the woman biking around the area.

Giddens also used to live in the same neighborhood as Ms. Teresa. She described the woman as bright and generous, saying she “was willing to give you the shirt off her back.”

She said the news of her passing was shocking and awful.

“She was the type of person that, every time you met her, she always had something positive to say no matter what was going on in her world,” she said. “She always had a positive, happy demeanor about her.”

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