Carolina Amesty counters claims in Orlando Sentinel article

Florida State Rep. Carolina Amesty is calling a recent Orlando Sentinel article inaccurate and a “hit piece,” and at least one of the Sentinel’s sources agrees.

The article, which was published Tuesday, Aug. 8, online and appeared on the front page of the Sunday, Aug. 13, print edition, probes the politician’s family’s history, business dealings and financial records. 

Amesty was elected in November 2022 to represent District 45, which includes nearly all of West Orange and Southwest Orange.

The article examines details about her family’s business, Central Christian University, which offers online classes and has a campus in Pine Hills. Amesty serves as vice president of CCU; her father, Dr. Juan Carlos Amesty, is president.

The article alleges the school sent a document to the Florida Commission for Independent Education that listed falsely four educators as faculty members.

However, Dr. José Otero, of Otero Consulting Group, a Kissimmee-based organization that provides consulting services for schools, said it is common practice that schools include job candidates’ names on the forms in question.

“Most, if not all, institutions practice this method — especially when first being licensed and during the first couple of year,” he said. “When a university is in the developmental stage, they must secure potential candidates (who) have the credentials to teach the course offerings. The potential candidates must get added to the faculty list as part of the filing process. It is clearly understood that the potential faculty has not been hired, given a letter of employment or filed an l-9/W-4, etc. 

“As a result, the potential faculty can always decline any further involvement with the university without it affecting their employment with the same university in the future,” he said. “The 402 and 401 forms are non-committal to employment and express a future desire to work with the university at a later date. Even if the opportunity never materializes, they may remain listed unless they request to be removed.” 

Christopher DiSalvo, a program specialist with the Florida Department of Education, confirmed to the university that its filings did not violate any state statutes.

“Rule GE, F.A.C. and Chapter 1005 F.S. do not have a requirement that states the listed faculty must be actively employed, or that listing an individual on either Form 401, Faculty Listing, or Form 402, Instructional and Administrative Personnel, is a guarantee of employment,” DiSalvo wrote in a Tuesday, Aug. 8, email.

The Sentinel reporters interviewed one of those potential job candidates, Dr. Scot Hamilton, who said his words were taken out of context.

“On April 8, 2023, Leslie Postal of the Orlando Sentinel contacted (me) via LinkedIn requesting my comment for a story regarding Central Christian University,” Hamilton said. “In a later conversation, Ms. Postal showed me a document the school submitted to the state containing my name and that of other professors. She asked me if I was an employee of CCU, and I explained to her that while I underwent a background-check process to join the university in 2021, nothing ever came of it.

“There was nothing nefarious about this,” he said. “It was part of a legitimate approval process. I have no doubt that CCU earnestly wanted me to be a part of a nascent, licensed psychology department.

“After reading the Sentinel’s article, it’s clear to me that this report was not about education,” Hamilton said. “It was an article of a personal and political nature targeting Rep. Amesty. My presence on CCU’s form was not fraudulent; they were just trying to get their program off the ground. … I do not believe that CCU intentionally did anything wrong. They have acted in good faith in their interactions with me. I believe this article is mistaken, and I have asked the Sentinel to retract my quote from their story and hope they clarify the situation to their readers.”

Amesty noted the article probed her family’s history and finances, including her parents' home in Keene’s Pointe. Those details about her family have no bearing on her ability to serve in her elected role, she said.

“I am not the least bit surprised that the Sentinel’s deceptive article began falling apart within hours of its publication,” Amesty said. “Their story is rife with demonstrably false claims, half-truths and misleading statements attempting to confuse readers by blaming me for financial matters related to my parents and a school they started when I was a child. None of this has anything to do with my public service, and the Sentinel should be ashamed of itself.”