Flagler School Board Reaches 2 Six-Figure Settlements with Ex-Employees

The Flagler School Board has settled legal disputes with two former district employees after multiple years of strife. Former Board Attorney Kristy Gavin and former school principal Paul Peacock have both reached six-figure settlements with the School Board over disputes about the way they were dismissed. The settlement with Gavin, the 14-year Board Attorney who ran afoul of recent conservative-minded Board members, occurred in July for an amount of $160,000. Peacock’s settlement garnered him $100,000. A third wrongful termination case, brought forth by former ESE director Martha von Mering, settled in October for $19,500. The settlements were first reported by FlaglerLive. The long-anticipated and contentious firing of Kristy Gavin by the Flagler School Board occurred in January 2024, 18 months short of the end of her contract. The majority vote to fire her was formed by Will Furry, Christy Chong, and now-former Board member Sally Hunt. The Board at another point attempted to part with Gavin, when Janet McDonald and Jill Woolbright pushed for a non-renewal of her contract in 2021. They were outvoted by Colleen Conklin, Cheryl Massaro, and Trevor Tucker. All five members involved in that vote are now out of office. Paul Peacock, the former principal of Wadsworth Elementary School, became one of the district’s more controversial employees when a series of text messages showed he coached Sally Hunt to initiate the firing of former Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt amidst a dispute between the two. Peacock was placed on administrative leave in May 2023 before being informed the following month he would not be back with the school district. Records show Peacock was issued a check for $100,000 from the school district on November 12th. A payment of $10,500 was written to von Mering on November 1st, plus another transfer of $9,500 to her attorneys the same day. The payments were approved by the School Board grouped in with vendor payments as part of a consent agenda, a portion of Board meetings in which members vote on multiple items without individual discussion for any one of them. Since her firing from the Flagler School Board, Gavin has since been hired as Asst. General Counsel for the City of Jacksonville, a post she’s held since February last year.