Shakeup At The Polls Results In More Liberal School Board

Tampa FL

20 November, 2020

11:56 AM

Description

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — Following a shakeup at the polls in which two incumbent Hillsborough County School Board members were voted out of office Nov. 3, the school district welcomed three new board members and incumbent member Lynn Gray to the dais Tuesday. The newly elected Hillsborough County School Board members were sworn into office following a controversial summer in which the school board grappled with the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic including whether to send students back to school by the Aug. 30 deadline set by the Florida Department of Education. Then, in September, Superintendent Addison Davis told the school board that the district — the 10th largest in the country — was facing a $72 million budget shortfall in its $3.2 billion budget that could result "uncomfortable adjustments." Additionally, 7,300 students did not re-enroll in public school this semester. Given the choice during the pandemic, about 3,000 opted for online learning. Davis said the district is still trying to figure out what happened to the other 4,300 students. A number of parents may have enrolled their children in private schools due to objections over the district's mandatory face mask rule. Many private schools don't require face masks. This loss of students reduced the total enrollment in the district from 222,000 students last year to 215,689 students this year. The district receives about $7,600 for every student enrolled. Davis warned the school board that this could translate into an additional $56 million shortfall. Ultimately, the board decided to make up the budget deficit by allowing hundreds of teacher vacancies to go unfilled and by cutting some temporary teaching positions. Parents expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the school district was handling the impact of the pandemic at the polls. Although the school board is nonpartisan, candidates endorsed by the teacher's union and Democratic organizations were elected over more conservative counterparts. Nadia Combs defeated incumbent District 1 school board member Steve Cona with 68,184 votes to 38,473 votes. In the District 5 race, Henry "Shake" Washington was victorious over incumbent Tammy Shamburger with 52,695 votes to 42,533 votes. In addition, first-time school board member Jessica Vaughn, a Democrat, beat out Republican Mitch Thrower, 77,226 votes to 49,056 votes, for the District 3 seat. The seat was previously held by Cindy Stuart, who was elected Hillsborough County Clerk of Court. The only incumbent member returned to her seat was Lynn Gray who defeated her more conservative opponent, former school board member Sally Harris, 330,026 to 284,363 votes. At Tuesday's meeting, all four newly elected members took the oath of office. The board elected Gray serve as chairwoman with Stacy Hahn as vice chairwoman.