VOTE411 Voter Guide

Being a teacher having just completed my 12th year in the classroom, and a former two-term school board member here in Manatee County, I was alarmed by the lack of qualified, experienced candidates in the District 3 school board race. My first priority as a returning school board member is to not fix things that aren't broken. For the past 10 years, the district has made incredible progress with academic standing and financial stability. My second priority would be to make sure that District 3 taxpayers don't see their tax dollars being used for projects that are a result of growth in other parts of the county. The way to ensure this fairness is for the board to charge 100% of allowable impact fees on new home construction. My third priority is to support Supt. Wysong and my new board colleagues in leading with positivity, consensus building and supporting the work of the board as a group, not myself as an individual.

I have 12 years of teaching experience in Manatee County and 8 years of experience as a former school board member from 2014-2022. I have spent the last two years at Daughtrey Elementary expanding my inside knowledge of the school district, this time with K-5 kids. This knowledge of what it means to be an educator combined with two terms as a school board member makes me an experienced and uniquely qualified candidate in the District 3 school board election.

The most important challenges this new school board will face are financial (the post-covid stimulus era is behind us) and the new board will face budgeting challenges in classroom staffing and pay. This is in addition to the financial challenge of attempting to build multiple schools simultaneously due to explosive population growth in Parrish and North Palmetto. The second challenge will be staffing our schools. Florida already has a shortage of teachers and support staff. Manatee has been saved from the worst of that shortage through excellent retention of teachers and staff through our one-mill supported pay increases for staff who work directly with kids. Renewing the one-mill, with our YES votes in the November election, is crucial to continuing the incredible achievements made by the district and our students since its inception in 2018.

Please vote YES on the one-mill renewal. The district's independent, citizen-oversight committee recently issued its annual report praising the district for sticking to the promise made to voters on how the money would be spent and for showing positive, measurable outcomes from those efforts. (More time in the school day, STEM options, Arts programs and, incredibly, teacher retention is at 99% from this time last year.) Renewing the one-mill is crucial to continuing our success. Without it, teacher pay would drop by $9,000 per year and we would see an exodus of employees to counties with better pay. In addition, our students would lose STEM, Music, Arts and Athletic enrichments and, most crucially for our kids and their success, a half hour of every school day would be lost. If we want to remain a district with nearly the highest pay in the state and on the cusp of being an A-rated district, we must renew the one-mill for schools. Please vote YES on the one-mill renewal.

The most honest answer I can give as to why am I running is, Charlie Kennedy. I thought at the time he was going to run un-opposed. I did not care for the way he trampled parental rights during his last term on the School Board. I want to provide the best possible experience for my two daughters and every other child in Manatee County. After qualifying, I learned that another contender signed up for District three. I am all but certain that she won't have what it takes to beat Charlie in our District. District three is a pretty connected community. For someone who is relatively new to the area and who has a pretty vocal stance against contact sports, I don't believe she will be a good fit at this time. If elected, I hope to offer a realistic and conservative point of view to the board. It is easy to serve the community with the basic principles of "do the right thing" and "never compromise your integrity for profits". Increasing teacher salaries is a top priority for me as well.

Common-sense business practices. The School Board is a business, a giant business. With a budget over $1.6B and over 6000 employees. Obviously, it is much larger than my company, but the same principles apply. The taxpayers are your customer just as much as the parents and students. I plan to contribute in a way that provides a better work environment for teachers, thus creating a better product for the students and parents. We can not continue to keep losing great teachers to higher paying counties. And we can't keep charging the taxpayer more to cover the difference. Better planning could have likely avoided the debate on the millage.

Fortunately, right now we don't have near the challenges we faced in 2020. I feel we are still unprepared to tackle long term wage issues. The cost of living in Manatee County has gone way up in recent years and the pay scale hasn't followed it. In one of my past positions, I was in charge of several million dollars in assets and overseeing multiple employees. I find it is easier to see what's going on in your company by working in your work, not on your work. Often times you can't see the problems from the desk behind the computer. It's not always spreadsheets and numbers. I was able to course correct that company on several big issues by actually being in the field and working with the staff. I was able to find the deficiencies from within and make the corrections needed. The result was a better work environment and happier customers. Resulting in much greater profits.

This question is easy, who am I to decide? Put it on the ballot and let the voters decide. That being said, I think it shouldn't be necessary in due time with better planning.