Retired from military intelligence and FBI, he’s been inside Sagemont Prep: No signs of anything nefarious

Chris Eddy has a unique perspective on Sagemont Preparatory, the school that found itself engulfed in controversy for a week, accused by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office of having “direct ties” to the Chinese Communist Party and “connections (that) constitute an imminent threat to the health, safety and welfare” of students and the public.

Eddy is a retired brigadier general in the Air Force Reserves and had a civilian career in military intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.

And he has been in the Weston school. His son is a high school senior at Sagemont and he has been an occasional substitute teacher there. He said he has never had an indication of anything untoward at Sagemont Prep.

“No nefarious outsiders are coming in and saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you teach this instead of that.’ It just happens in the movies,” Eddy said in a telephone interview. He said he has seen nothing that appears to be a threat to anyone’s health, safety or welfare. “No, no, no, no — health, safety — none of that.”

DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, sees something different.

“The Chinese Communist Party is not welcome in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in the statement in which his office announced state action against Sagemont.  “We will not put up with any attempt to influence students with a communist ideology or allow Floridians’ tax dollars to go to schools that are connected to our foreign adversaries.”

Stepped up security

One thing that has apparently happened on school days since DeSantis’ office announced he was taking action against Sagemont’s two schools in Weston — the Lower School, grades 3-5, and the Upper School, grades 6-12 — is an enhanced law enforcement presence.

A parent of students in the upper school said there were three law enforcement patrol cars present when parents dropped off their children mornings at the Upper School this week. Normally there is one patrol car in the area involved in traffic control for multiple schools in the area, said the parent who declined to be named so as not to draw attention to their children who attend classes there.

Sagemont and its owner, Spring Education Group, headquartered in Campbell, Calif., have issued limited statements to media questions since the Governor’s Office took action against it on Sept. 22.

Spring Education Group did not respond to a request for comment Friday about the increased police presence, and if it was something the school requested and why.

Gerty St. Louis, a spokesperson for the Broward Sheriff’s Office, which provides police services in Weston, said via email that the “Weston District is monitoring the situation. Premise checks are being conducted as a precaution. There have been no incident reports regarding this matter.”

Praise for Sagemont

Sagemont has an A+ rating, according to the school search website Niche, which said it was the 14th best K-12 private school in Florida out of 309 schools.

Eddy, whose daughter attends Cypress Bay High School, praised the education his son receives at Sagemont.

“It’s a great school” that delivers a “top-notch education,” he said.

He said there was nothing indicating “any outside influence,” and he didn’t find the ownership of the school in and of itself unique. “I know there’s other schools out there that have foreign investors.”

Eddy has a bachelor’s, two master’s and a doctoral degree, and said in recent years he was a substitute teacher there sporadically — “I wouldn’t even say regularly” — and hasn’t done so in 2023 because of other time commitments.

“I’m the last resort,” he said. “I didn’t really need the money or the position or anything. Sometimes it’s nice to stay close to the teachers.”

He said he is still sometimes at the school for his son’s basketball games.

He said the state would have to explain what it saw as a threat. “You’d have to ask them what they meant by that,” he said. “There certainly was no physical threat, no educational threat.”

Eddy, 58, spent five years on active duty and served as a Reservist for extended periods every year while he worked in civilian jobs for the Department of the Army and the Department of Homeland Security. He later ran the intelligence program for the FBI’s Miami office. His wife, Anne, is a retired FBI agent.

Politics

Getting tough on China has been a hallmark of DeSantis’ candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. Emails to supporters from DeSantis’ presidential campaign frequently mention China, saying he’ll be “taking back control of our economy from China,” and “take on the Chinese Communist Party,” and a promise to “prevent China from spying on our citizens and stealing our technology.”

The first words of his economic policy plan are: “Taking back control of our economy from China.”

Eddy, a Weston city commissioner who is seeking the Republican nomination to run for Congress and challenge U.S. Rep. Debbie  Wasserman Schultz, said he didn’t have an assessment of the politics of the situation. “I’d like to assume that people are doing things for the right reasons. I hate to see the kids get in the middle of anything.”

He said he doesn’t have a preference between the two Florida candidates — DeSantis or former President Donald Trump — in the contest for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“Obviously I’ll support whatever Republican candidate comes out (of the nominating process). President Trump seems to be in the lead right now. I have nothing to say about any of them.”

Wasserman Schultz said in a statement that DeSantis acted recklessly in making his claims about the school.

“Gov. DeSantis, yet again, needlessly puts our children in danger. His inflammatory claims of foreign influence at locally-run and regulated schools — with zero evidence — is reckless and appalling. Instead of focusing on the three Rs, these schools must now worry about increased security and MAGA fanatics targeting them.

“DeSantis always puts his own failing political ambitions over the safety and education of Florida’s children. This is yet another of his cruel, craven political stunts. I feel for the innocent children, parents, and educators he’s harmed,” she said.

Wasserman Schulz has had some experience with Sagemont Prep, when it was under previous ownership. Her three children, now adults, attended Sagemont schools in their younger years before finishing at public schools.

Vouchers

The Sept. 22 action by DeSantis removes Sagemont and two Orange County schools — Park Maitland School and Parke House Academy, both with the same ownership as Sagemont — from eligibility for state vouchers that provide money to help parents pay private-school tuition.

The state scholarships on average cover about $10,000 for a child with disabilities and about $8,000 for others. Florida recently expanded eligibility in its voucher programs so that scholarships once targeted to low-income youngsters or those with disabilities are now open to all students.

At least 229 students were receiving taxpayer-funded scholarships at the two Sagemont Preparatory School campuses in Weston. The school’s website said the total enrollment is 384, with the majority — 221 — at the Upper School. Tuition runs $21,000 to $26,000 a year, not including transportation.

(Eddy said his family was not participating in the scholarship program.)

DeSantis’ office said the state Department of Education was “working” to “assist impacted students in finding and enrolling in nearby schools.”

Sagemont told parents in a message the morning after the state acted that, “We do not want any of our students or families to have their education interrupted by these changes, and will be working directly with our families to ensure they can remain enrolled in our school.”

Evidence

The DeSantis news release in which he announced the action against Sagemont said the state Education Department found ties to the Chinese Community Party “through a thorough investigation.”

The extent of the evidence behind the state’s allegations is unclear.

DeSantis’ office referred questions on Monday to the Department of Education. In its answer, the agency’s communications director, Cailey Myers, said the “department investigated these four schools that have ties to the CCP and China and verified their connections.”

She cited this statement on their websites: “Spring Education Group is controlled by Primavera Holdings Limited, an investment firm (together with its affiliates) principally based in Hong Kong with operations in China, Singapore, and the United States, that is itself owned by Chinese persons residing in Hong Kong.”

In a Sept. 23 message to parents the morning after the state acted, Sagemont said: “Despite the recent claims, Sagemont Preparatory School does not have ties to the Communist Party of China or any other government. As you all know, our school fosters a learning environment where students thrive. We place the well-being, safety, and learning of our students above all else.”

A Spring Education representative said Thursday via email that, “Our schools are locally run, abide by local, state and federal laws, and do not have ties to any government or political party, either foreign or domestic. Our curriculum is accredited, standards-based and academically rigorous.”

The state, in DeSantis’ Sept. 23 announcement and in a Department of Education statement on Monday, said Sagemont had 15 days to appeal the decision. The Education Department didn’t respond to an email Thursday or a voice message Friday about whether the school has appealed and how the appeal process works.

Sagemont and Spring Education also did not respond to emailed questions Thursday and Friday about whether it had appealed, or if it planned to do so.

“We have received notice from the State that our eligibility for Florida Choice school funds has been suspended. We were not contacted in advance and are seeking more information regarding the basis for this decision,”  a Spring Education representative said Thursday via email.

Legislators’ concerns

The two state legislators — both Democrats — whose districts include the school, said they are waiting for more information but are skeptical of the governor’s action.

“Our children and their education should not fall victim to these kinds of political games, nor blatant mismanagement by the state — but that’s exactly what’s happening,” Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book said in a statement. “Now, school children and families in our community are left scrambling because the state couldn’t get its act together to make these notifications before the school year began.”

State Rep. Robin Bartleman, a former member of the Broward School Board who lives in Weston, said Democrats’ attempts to get information about why the DeSantis administration acted haven’t been, so far, successful.

“Everyone is speculating. We’re all waiting. And children’s and families’ lives have been disrupted,” she said. “The governor has yet to provide facts or details about these allegations, and I hope this isn’t yet another case of political theater.”

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Facebook, Threads.net and Post.news.