State Board of Education Welcomes Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas

June 11, 2025

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State Board of Education Welcomes Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas

Tallahassee, Fla., July 16, 2025 – Today, the State Board of Education welcomed Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas to his first State Board meeting as Commissioner of Education. Unanimously selected by the Board on June 4^th, Kamoutsas’ kicks off his first week as Commissioner by hosting the 2026 Florida Teacher of the Year Roundtable. Additionally, following the end of Board Chair Ben Gibson’s second term on the Board, the Board appointed Ryan Petty to serve as the next Chair of the Board and Member Esther Byrd to serve as Vice Chair.

“I am honored and humbled to serve as Florida’s Commissioner of Education,” said Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas. “I look forward to continuing the great work of this Board and keeping the momentum moving forward to preserve Florida’s status as the top state for education. Florida has laid the blueprint for other states to follow on education, and I will continue that success by expanding workforce education, keeping our students safe, and ensuring that we are educating our students to be successful adults. I also want to thank Ben Gibson for his service to the students of Florida over the last 8 years. He has been a steadfast leader on the Board and made a meaningful difference for Florida’s children.”

In action taken today, the State Board of Education approved an update to K-12 mathematics courses to include the new Florida Advanced Course and Test (FACT) College Algebra course; approved updated concordant and comparative scores for the grade 10 English Language Arts and the Algebra 1 End-of-Course assessments which are aligned to the Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) Standards; approved revised policies that streamline the awarding of postsecondary credit to benefit students who have served in the military; and approved school safety rules to align with recently passed legislation.

Commissioner Kamoutsas also recognized Joseph Mikulski, Principal of Golden Gate High School in Collier County as the 2025 Principal of the Year; Dr. Bryan Alvaré from Yulee Middle School in Nassau County as the 2025 Assistant Principal of the Year; and Kelsie Rodriguez, a Voluntary Prekindergarten Paraprofessional from Summers Elementary School in Columbia County as the 2025 School-Related Employee of the Year.