Taylor Hatch, left, Ron DeSantis, center, Paul Burns, right. (Photos of agency heads via agency of the leader, and DeSantis photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
There are new executives in two key positions in the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The State Board of Education on Tuesday voted unanimously to name Paul Burns as interim education commissioner. Burns’ appointment comes as Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas leaves Tallahassee and the governor’s inner circle to take a job next week as president of Polk State College.
Additionally, DeSantis Chief of Staff Jason Weida on Tuesday announced Department of Children and Families Secretary Taylor Hatch’s departure when he posted a comment on X wishing her well in her career.
The governor’s office has not responded to Phoenix’s questions about Hatch’s last day or who will head the mammoth agency in her wake.
Goodbye, hello
The departures in the agencies come as the governor enters his last six months in office before being term limited out.
Board of Education Chair Ryan Petty said the appointment of Burns is temporary. Burns has been senior chancellor for nearly two years and has been with the department since 2018.
“He has led on nearly every initiative of this administration, diligently serving side-by-side with senior leadership to keep the mission of the department in focus and keeping students first,” Petty said.
No other members of the board commented during the telephone meeting.
In a news release from the department, Burns said he is “grateful to the Board for the trust placed in me to continue the mission of prioritizing student achievement and school safety.”
“For the past eight years, Dr. Burns has played a central role in implementing and advancing Florida’s education agenda,” Kamoutsas said in the news release. “The Board made a strong and thoughtful decision in selecting him as interim commissioner. He knows this department, understands what it takes to deliver results, and I am confident he will continue building on the progress we’ve made.”
In addition to saying Burns has “fought tirelessly for parental rights and protecting children, never losing focus through some public and contentious fights,” the department credited Burns with being involved in developing the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking progress monitoring tests and teacher preparation programs.
Hatch’s departure
Weida’s comment about Hatch’s departure came in response to a late-morning post Hatch made on X regarding the 2026-27budget the governor signed Monday and how it makes “investments” that “protect the vulnerable, support families earlier, and deliver accountable data-informed services that help more Floridians achieve self sufficiency and prosperity.”
While it doesn’t have the largest budget, DCF is the largest healthcare agency in the state in terms of number of employees with nearly 12,500 positions.
The agency is responsible for determining eligibility for Medicaid, the healthcare safety net jointly funded by the state and federal government, the food assistance initiative known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and the temporary cash assistance program that helps families with children under the age of 18 (or 19 if still a full time high school student).
The agency takes the lead on child protection services.
Hatch’s departure from DCF was first flagged by Florida Politics, which sent a blast text Monday saying Hatch was “telling legislative leaders that she is resigning.”
Senate Ethics and Committee Chair and Crestview Republican Sen. Don Gaetz said he had not spoken to Hatch since the end of the 2026 session. Gaetz confirmed to the Phoenix that Hatch’s Senate confirmation as DCF secretary earlier this year wasn’t a sure bet.
Sen. Don Gaetz talks to reporters outside Senate chambers on March 10, 2026. (Photo by Christine Sexton/Florida Phoenix)
He even delayed once a hearing on Hatch’s confirmation given the number of questions he anticipated senators would have for her.
“Yes, her nomination and her time, and with the agency, were marked with many, many questions, and she was confirmed. But she was — I would say — confirmed with, with many, many questions remaining in the minds of a large number of senators,” Gaetz told the Phoenix Tuesday.
The longtime lawmaker and former Senate president said his worries with Hatch were “fairly broad-based.”
He said he is worried about Florida’s SNAP error rate which, if not brought down to less than 6% next year, could require Florida to pay as much as $1 billion toward the costs of food for SNAP recipients.
Payment error rates measure the accuracy of each state’s eligibility and benefit determinations. Error rates include overpayments and underpayments.
“And that’s something we can’t afford. That’s money we would be taking from services that would otherwise be provided to people in serious need of care, so I’m very concerned about that,” he said.
But Gaetz said his worries transcended the SNAP error rates.
“I was very concerned about the procedures, or lack thereof, in dealing with child protection services. My office was involved in cases here in northwest Florida, which showed the department in a very bad light,” Gaetz said. “And which showed the CBC [Community-based Care agency] in Northwest Florida — which is a contractor of the department, and so therefore it’s the department’s oversight responsibility — in my view, in operating in a very bad light.”
Ultimately, although, the Senate voted 33-4 to confirm Hatch.
Gaetz’s panel during the previous session refused to consider Hatch’s appointment to head the Agency for Persons with Disabilities — a position she held before being named DCF secretary — or Shevaun Harris, who was secretary of DCF at the time but was subsequently transferred out and named secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration. At the time, Gaetz insinuated the decision to not confirm the women was tied to the Hope Florida scandal.
“I wish her well. I think she’s a nice person. I think she’s sincerely committed to child welfare. But I think that she inherited a department that had troubles and, as she’s leaving, the department still has troubles.”
