Tough road ahead for the School Board
Challenges include class sizes and the possible revival of Senate Bill 6.
Last Modified: Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 12:20 a.m.
The new Alachua County School Board members have their work cut out for them.
Challenges abound for the five-person board: the class-size amendment, growing budget concerns and the revival of Senate Bill 6, which proposed to tie teachers' pay to student test scores.
But first the group has to get past the election season, in which two of them campaigned against two others.
The two sitting board members — Eileen Roy and Barbara Sharpe — will be joined by the newly elected April Griffin, Carol Oyenarte and Gunnar Paulson.
These are perilous times, Roy said. "I feel that public education is really under attack," she said.
The failed class-size amendment would have eased the burden on local school districts. Since the measure failed, schools must continue to abide by student caps in each classroom: 18 in grades kindergarten to 3; 22 students in grades 4 to 8; and 25 students in high school.
State legislators budgeted more than $80 million for the measure, although the costs were estimated at well over $300 million. Alachua County Public Schools spent $5 million this year hiring new teachers to come into compliance.
"We need for them to fund it and get out of the way," Sharpe said. "Being penalized if you get one student over — that is ridiculous."
During the election season, candidates vowed to cut waste and protect students. "I do not want budget cuts to affect the classroom," Oyenarte said.
It might be hard to do so with changes on the state level.
Gov.-elect Rick Scott supports a voucher program, which board members say would drain the district's already depleted budget.
"We have to have very committed, active people that are willing to go out and be the buffer between the state Legislature and the children," Roy said.
Senate Bill 6, which tied teacher pay to test performance, was vetoed by Gov. Charlie Crist. Under the law, teachers would have to show their students made learning gains on tests such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to earn salary increases or face losing their certification.
"It is the worst thing I've ever seen come down," Paulson said. "They don't want big government, but they don't mind shoving it down our throat."
Republicans have vowed to bring the measure back. According to Scott's campaign website, he supports eliminating tenure for new teachers and merit pay.
The bill is punitive to already-underpaid teachers, Sharpe said. "We will just have to take those things as they come up," she said.
The leadership of Superintendent Dan Boyd will be invaluable while navigating these obstacles, Oyenarte said.
"He has experience in dealing with the state-level superintendents and knowledge," she said. "I think in these economic times that his knowledge is very valuable."
Griffin said she has been impressed with Boyd's suggestions — but she insisted she won't be a rubber stamp.
"I will be voting and expressing my opinion on everything," she said.
Sharpe said Boyd is well thought of in the community because he earned it.
Roy declined to comment on Boyd's performance, but the pair have had public run-ins in the past.
Paulson said he credits both Boyd's leadership and Roy's tenacity as assets to the school system. "They both have good ideas, and they both do the job," he said. "That's how I see it."
After the recent election cycle, Griffin said, the board members need to put things aside.
For example, Roy and Paulson both campaigned for candidates running against Griffin and Oyenarte.
Paulson said he looks forward to working with all of the members.
"Just because I preferred one candidate over another, I didn't think the other candidate was bad," he said.
It's in the past, Roy said.
"The election is over, and the public has spoken," she said. "We have to put all that behind us and work together for the sake of the schools."
That might be easier said then done, Sharpe said. A lone ranger on the board is "ineffective," she said.
"What good is it to be a School Board member and be against everything?" she said. "You'll never get anything done."
The current and upcoming members will meet Tuesday for an orientation, including ethics and duties.
There are strong personalities in any group, Griffin said.
"I went into this for children, and it's going to always be about the children," Oyenarte said.
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