MEDIA RELEASE
Brooksville - At Tuesday’s organizational board meeting, the Hernando School Board elected Linda Prescott as the Board’s Chairperson and Susan Duval was renamed as Vice Chair. The board also welcomed its new School Board General Counsel, Attorney Ayanna Hypolite, to her seat at the dais.
The school board began a search for a new attorney after general counsel Dennis Alfonso passed away earlier this year. His wife and law partner Nancy Alfonso assumed his duties with the school board through October. Following interviews with a number of firms, the School Board hired law firm Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, P.L. as the School Board General Counsel. The firm has represented districts and educators in more than 10 Florida counties, including Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Collier, Desoto, Lee, Levy, Miami-Dade, Sarasota and Walton counties. Hypolite will serve as the primary attorney to the board, with David Delaney available as an alternate.
“My firm and I have a long history of supporting the Hernando School Board and we are pleased to be able to continue that relationship,” Hypolite said in her opening message. Hypolite's practice focuses on K-12 education law, with significant knowledge of tort and civil rights laws. “It’s good to be here and I appreciate being part of the community.”
Prescott had previously served as board chair in 2020. “I look forward to serving alongside each of our board members in tackling the wide variety of issues confronting public education today, “ said the new chair. “I am so proud of our school district and so honored to serve our community in this way.”
