Physician, teacher, former candidate, CPA join group vying for Carpenter’s seat

A doctor with a district building named for him, an executive who ran for the board in 2016, a veteran fine arts teacher and a Certified Public Accountant are the latest Manatee County residents who say they want to fill a seat on the School Board of Manatee County.

The seat, which will open at the end of May when current board member Karen Carpenter steps down, will be filled by Gov. Rick Scott. Carpenter announced last week that she would be resigning and moving to Massachusetts to spend more time with her family.

Physician Richard T. Conard, former executive and board candidate Edward Viltz, Southeast High School teacher Jason Schiessl and CPA Mary Foreman are eyeing Carpenter’s seat, in addition to former board candidate Misty Servia.

The governor’s office said as of Tuesday, Schiessl and Foreman were the only two to have formally applied to fill the role. The others told the Bradenton Herald of their intent to apply.

None of the applicants are strangers to the school system.

Conard has been involved with the district since the late 1960’s when he helped establish the emergency medical services program in the county, and the medical-dental building on the East Campus of Manatee Technical College is named for him.

“I was born and raised in construction and the real estate business, and there is a lot of that going on in the school district right now,” Conard said. “I have managed some very substantial budgets. My main focus in wanting to step forward is that I want to see that we actually really return our school district to the excellence we want and demand in the community.”

Conard said observing the impasse process between the school district and the teacher’s union motivated him to run. He said the school board’s ultimate decision — which increased teacher pay steps but withheld retroactive pay — appeared to be a “cram-down of their throats” by the administration.

“It did not seem to be handled correctly,” Conard said.

Viltz, a former executive who lost in the 2016 election to current board member Gina Messenger, said he was running because of concern over district financial management.

“Fundamentally I think we need to focus on better utilization of tax payer dollars,” Viltz said. “I think we can find ways to be a lot more productive.”

Viltz also cited slipping school grades as a motivating factor.

“I am concerned about our graduation rates, although they are improving. I am concerned about the lower 25 percent of our population,” Viltz said. “I am concerned that many of our ‘A’ schools went to a ‘B’ last term and that our district went from a ‘B’ to a ‘C.’ ”

Schiessl, a fine arts teacher at Southeast, said he was willing to step down from teaching for a year to serve on the board. He also submitted his name following former board member Mary Cantrell’s death in 2015, which led to current board member John A. Colon’s appointment.

Schiessl said other candidates represent special interests, but that, as a teacher, he brings a genuine concern for the school system.

“I think there are a lot of people that maybe have some specific motives or some opinions that might not necessarily be the best to address what’s facing our district,” Schiessl said. “I’m personally and professionally invested in what’s going on here.

“Besides all of that, I have one child that has graduated from our district and another that is in the district right now.”

Foreman could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Although past appointment processes have involved local committees interviewing candidates and making a recommendation, governor spokeswoman Kerri Wyland said there would be no local selector this time and all applications would be accepted through the Appointments Office web page.

This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Physician, teacher, former candidate, CPA join group vying for Carpenter’s seat."