Listen to interviews with all three candidates below.
TAMPA -- Three candidates are running in Hillsborough School Board District 4 to succeed Melissa Snively.
District 4 is a sprawling district that now extends from Ruskin and Sun City Center through most of east Hillsborough to the Polk and Pasco county lines. Students range from relatively affluent areas such as Fishhawk and Bloomingdale to the children of migrant workers, and everything in between.
Patricia "Patti" Rendon has three children, two of whom graduated from Hillsborough schools. A third is currently a sophomore at Bloomingdale High. Rendon has served on parental advisory committees and PTAs. She has also been an advocate for students with developmental disabilities for three decades.
Rendon says COVID has exposed a number of issued involving the needs of students, parents and teachers.
Hillsborough starts the school year about 900 instructors short. Rendon says that the district needs to look to nearby universities. "We are very fortunate (to have) USF, Eckerd, Southeastern and Florida Southern. We need to build so that we are looking at a future of bright young teachers."
Rendon says fiscal responsibility is vital, as the superintendent works through a plan to get the district out of a hole with regard to its reserves. "We need to see our plan through and get our district in line."
The August 23rd ballot also includes a referendum on raising property taxes to cover higher teacher salaries and art and other programs. Rendon says teachers deserve to have salaries budgeted as the first item. Board members should then make hard decisions on other issues. "They should not have their income tied to a tax," Rendon says. She says the tax is not a guarantee and teachers who are also homeowners will have to pay it from their own salaries. "We should respect them enough to make sure they are the first thing we budget for." She adds that the tax puts more strain on households dealing with inflation.
On parental rights, Rendon says, "there is no more important person in a child's life than a parent. We need to make sure that whatever we do, we are informing parents and educating parents. We need to make sure parents have all the information they can."
Her first priority is expanding career based programs, giving every student a skill to fall back on.
Hunter Gambrell is Senior Coordinator of Workforce Operations for the Polk County School District. He's also a fifth generation resident of East Hillsborough.
He says what motivated him to run is what he sees as "an attack on education, an attack on teachers." Gambrell says the board needs to "stand up for our teachers." He says instructors were "assaulted" with new equipment and technology during the COVID pandemic, without much in the way of instruction. "It was a terrible time to be a teacher... and that's why we have this great resignation around the country. Teacher pay is not where it should be." He identifies teaching vacancies as the number one issue in the school district. He says the district should encourage people to "hone their craft" by paying for masters' courses for teachers.
While calling parental rights a "buzzword," Gambrell acknowledges there isn't enough communication going on with parents at the school level. He says the Hillsborough district has taken over the autonomy of local schools, leading to less communication with parents. Gambrell says he doesn't think people fully understand economic and other issues affecting their schools, and calls on the board to do a better job with parents. "We want parental involvement. We lamented parental non-involvement," Gambrell says.
Gambrell says his first priority is the teacher shortage. "We can't expect student performance to get better" until it's addressed, as well as the shortage of bus drivers and other support staff.
Danielle Smalley is born and raised in east and south Hillsborough, the daughter of a pastor and school teacher. She earned a bachelor's degree in urban planning and a master's in educational leadership, and is pursuing a doctorate. She became a teacher out of what she calls "sheer passion" and is currently the principal of a charter school. Her career started at Bryan Elementary, which has a large population of students from migrant households. She says all schools need attention, understanding, and full staffing.
On the teacher shortage, Smalley argues that many people with degrees want to enter teaching but can't because of low salaries and the cost of testing and other requirements. She wants the district to step up and pay for tests and processing for would-be teachers without an educational background. She also says the board should make teachers feel the community is behind them.
On the August 23 property tax referendum, she's a supporter but encourages people to make up their own minds. "I know teachers who work three jobs to support their families. Is the increase needed? Absolutely." She says the tax will also provide for art and technical programs, as well as training in digital media. "I believe the voter has the ability to say whether this is good or beneficial, or isn't needed right now."
On parental rights, Smalley believes that parents are our first link into education. "Making sure they have a voice and a seat at the table is key. My plan across the board is to have more community meetings and (encourage) parental volunteers. Parents have all the rights and all the power (and all the) say-so over their child. Should they be heard? Absolutely. We need to find a different way to make them heard."
Smalley says her top priority is budget accountability, along with retaining skilled and qualified educators, so children aren't spending years and years with a substitute teacher.
Listen to interviews with all three candidates below.
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