- December 21, 2024
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Parrish's Heather Felton, a newly elected member to the School Board of Manatee County, said she already has started her training by meeting with various district administrators, touring facilities, and seeing all that it takes to run a district that is responsible for educating more than 50,000 students.
On Nov. 19, the work for Felton, who represents District 1, and newly elected District 3 representative Charlie Kennedy, officially began as they were sworn in and joined sitting board members Chad Choate and Cindy Spray on the dias.
Richard Tatem, who had resigned his seat to run for the Florida House of Representatives but was not elected to the post, was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to retain his seat. He also was sworn in to complete the last two years of his former term.
"My constituents in District 5 elected me, so now I need to fulfill the mandate that they elected me for, so that's a good thing," Tatem said.
In a unanimous vote, Choate was named chair of the board. In a 3-2 vote, with Choate and Tatem dissenting, Spray was named vice chair.
Choate said getting "new blood" on the board will bring new perspectives.
"You never want to get caught in a rut and do the same old, same old," Choate said. "Any time you bring in new board members, you're going to get some fresh ideas."
Tatem said Kennedy's corporate knowledge and previous experience on the board and Felton's experience as a former teacher will be beneficial to the board.
With eight years previously serving on the board, Kennedy hopes to bring his institutional knowledge and expertise to the board. He helped the board and the district during difficult financial times starting in 2014. He served on the board during the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in superintendents and other challenges.
Felton said her first mission on the board is getting to know her fellow board members followed by getting to know more district employees, students and their families.
"If you get to know somebody, where they're coming from, even in their personal lives, it helps you understand where they're coming from when you're trying to work together as a group," Felton said.
Felton said learning each others' strengths and weaknesses will allow the board members to see what each one can bring to the table.
Spray hopes new board members will rely on existing board members to take the lead. She said the new members, will have to be caught up with the district's current state and learn the district's direction moving forward.
Despite any challenges or disagreements board members might face, they all expressed a desire to "stay boring," as former board member Mary Foreman said at her last board meeting Nov. 12, by treating each other with respect and kindness.
"I hope we work well together and present a professional attitude to the public," Tatem said.
School board members have ideas on the areas they'd like to see the board address as they begin working together.
All board members said the board will need to address growth, especially as communities boom in the eastern and northeastern portions of Manatee County.
In 2025, the district and board will have to look at rezoning with three new schools opening in August.
Besides addressing growth, Felton said the board needs to ensure employees continue to be paid competitive salaries, especially focusing on non-union employees. She said she wants the employees to have everything they need to do their jobs without having to worry about their salaries and how they will care for their families.
"Anything we can do to make their lives easier and show them our support is important to me," Felton said.
Spray and Choate want a continued focus on early learning, which has been a priority for the School Board of Manatee County for two years.
Choate said the earlier students start in the school district, the better they will be by the time they graduate high school.
Spray would like to see the gains the district has made in reading, math and writing continue. She has been advocating for continued progress to make certain more students are reading on grade level.
Choate also would like to see the board look into ensuring students know all their options after graduation, whether it's higher education, going into the workforce, entering the military or something else.
"I want to make sure we are showing our students every option for their future, whether it's internships, apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, whatever it is," he said. "I want to be able to make sure we're doing everything in our power to provide every option, opportunity to our students in Manatee County."
Kennedy would like the board to address the substitute teacher shortage, which he said is a challenge for every school in the district. He said support employees at school are being pulled away from their regular responsibilities to serve as substitute teachers.
Tatem wants the board to continue to focus on maintaining "fiscal responsibility while providing a high quality school system and fulfilling our constitutional requirements." He said he also wants to earn the trust of the community to show that the board and district are good stewards of its resources.
