- September 11, 2024
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Photo by Ian Swaby
As the Aug. 20 primary election approaches, the Sarasota County School Board finds itself in a unique position.
At the same time the district is set to lose $19 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding, there is optimism surrounding rising test scores — and there are proposals for how to continue that trajectory.
It's also a time in which many of the discussions taking place in the wider political arena are entering the realm of the school district.
Although candidates bring differing visions, many of them call the election a significant moment, part of a time when the School Board has increasingly drawn the attention of the community.
The School Board race will see seats contested for District 2 and District 3.
In District 2, Karen Rose, current board chair and former principal and educator, who has Republican backing, runs against Liz Barker, a former school psychologist and current PTO member who has Democrat backing.
In District 3, incumbent board member Tom Edwards, who has Democrat backing, runs against Gregory Wood, the former executive director of Sarasota Scullers, and Thomas Babicz, a longtime IT manager, both of whom identify as conservative.
The current board makeup includes four conservative members — Rose, Bridget Ziegler, Robyn Marinelli and Tim Enos, with Edwards as the dissenting voice.
A candidate who receives 50% or more of the vote will win the seat in the primary election. Otherwise, the top two finishers will face off in the November general election.
All five candidates responded to the Observer's candidate survey in July. Their complete questionnaires can be found here.
Third grade reading scores have been a frequent topic of discussion within the district.
The standardized testing data for the 2023-24 school year shows scores in English Language Arts ranking second highest in the state for the third grade, moving up from fourth in 2023 and rising 7%, up from 14% excluding charter schools.
Candidates have each discussed how to continue the trend.
One goal Barker has emphasized is teacher morale and retention. She says with the recent change in leadership, there is room for growth in teacher morale.
She also spotlights a desire for the involvement of parents in education beyond “stacks of permission slips” and for more community involvement.
Rose has often noted her credentials as a former educator, including a principal and executive director of middle schools, stating that she is able to provide the guidance needed to close the achievement gap and ensure literacy for all students.
She has highlighted the importance of early learning, and of raising teacher and staff salaries.
Wood and Babicz have both focused largely on the topics of literacy, and teacher retention and pay.
“Our schools are making strides on reading improvement, but there’s more work to do,” Wood said in an Observer candidate survey response, also stating that exceptional student education programs require significant attention.
Babicz has specifically highlighted the importance of phonics, and believes its decline in prevalence in U.S. schools has reduced literacy.
During a July 15 candidate forum at Tiger Bay Club, he also said he would do "whatever it takes" to raise teachers' salaries, calling their roles "one of the most important jobs on earth."
Edwards said in a survey response that all issues can begin to be solved through attention to the issue of school vouchers, which he said he foresaw as "one of the hottest issues affecting the longevity and sanctity of public schools."
"I spend a great deal of my time finding ways to make our schools more competitive, more sought after and more appealing to diverse interests," he said in the survey.
In July, the district passed its new budget of $1.35 billion, a decrease from last year’s $1.5 billion.
Many of the candidates support some type of modification to the management of the district’s tax dollars.
Barker has highlighted numerous concerns around funding.
These include the sunsetting of federal COVID-19 relief funds, what she called “unrestrained spending" in her survey response, loss of state funding which the district has attributed to a new state voucher program, construction and cuts to instructional positions that she said are not publicly discussed.
Rose has stood by the current state of the district's financial leadership.
“With changes initiated by the majority board, this area has improved during my tenure,” Rose said in the questionnaire. “Currently, I would give the School Board an 'A' for initiating change and increased accountability.”
Wood has been somewhat approving of the district's finances.
"Do you think you spend every single dollar effectively in your own house? Probably not," he said. "We can always be better shepherds of tax dollars, and I'm not one to suggest that the county is wasting piles and piles of money."
Babicz has listed eliminating wasteful spending as a priority, having noted his suspicions surrounding an $18 million payment for a renovation.
“I would start a criminal investigation about it after my election if I will not find a serious documented justification for it," he said in a survey response.
He has said he would review contracts to prevent overpayments and revise maintenance policies to increase equipment repair.
Edwards has also highlighted concerns around spending, including those noted by Barker.
He said in the questionnaire that despite being “enormously grateful” for Superintendent Connor, the district lost $500,000 due to the superintendent reset and $50,000 to an effort initiated by Rose to redraw district boundaries.
In recent years, the culture wars have come to the forefront of issues within the school district.
Events such as the termination of Superintendent Brennan Asplen in 2022, the redrawing of district boundaries in 2023 and a scandal surrounding board member Bridget Ziegler in late 2023 have increasingly drawn attention from the public.
Meetings have repeatedly seen organized opposition to the board's leadership, with most speakers highlighting concerns around the well-being of populations including LGBTQ+ students.
"The current Sarasota County School Board has ignored and disrespected the vast majority of students, parents and teachers, who have tried to speak with the board, have tried to receive help from the board," said Zander Moricz of SEE Alliance. "Unfortunately, the current Sarasota County School Board does not represent, does not listen to, does not care about all of Sarasota's families, students and teachers."
Barker said at the candidate forum at Tiger Bay Club that she would "love for the School Board to be boring again" and free of politics.
"My children have access to fewer materials than they did in the past, fewer opportunities than they did in the past," Barker said.
She also called for the district to focus on different topics.
"We're so busy talking about who uses what bathroom and whether to sign a permission slip for someone to be called by their nickname," she said. "We're talking about all these culture war issues, and we're not talking about what's really impacting families and teachers and schools right now."
"Who isn't going to say that diversity isn't great, or that equity isn't or that inclusion isn't?" Rose said. "That would be silly. However, when you start to prioritize those things in a school system, it tends to become aligned to political ideologies, and it starts to become divisive."
She also pushed back at speakers' description of the board as "conservative."
"It's there, and it causes a lot of chaos and divisiveness, and what they generate in rhetoric is this is a conservative board. It's not. We have stayed focused on academic achievement," Rose said.
Babicz and Wood both emphasize a focus on academic disciplines rather than on issues advanced by those critical of the current board.
Both candidates oppose the federal Title IX guidance allowing transgender students to use pronouns and bathrooms aligning with their gender identity.
Wood said in the questionnaire that "we need to get politics and distractions out of the classroom and boardroom."
"We want calm. We want peace. That's what I want as a parent. Focus on education. No nonsense. Focus on the kids," he also said.
Babicz said during the candidate forum, “The students should not be able to determine if the teacher is Republican or Democrat. School should be free of politics, and we propose to just teach English and math and other subjects.”
Edwards says he has not raised issues on the board, but has only had to respond to ones raised by other board members.
"People are exhausted by extremist views, particularly around the culture wars," he said. "I believe that Sarasota is a moderate community, and they have great roots in respect, kindness, civility and dignity for all, and the vitriol that's come from the extremists in our community doesn't represent that."
