Third candidate enters race for Miner’s seat on Manatee County School Board

Three people are now vying for Dave Miner’s seat on the School Board of Manatee County, while the incumbent had yet to file for re-election as of Wednesday afternoon.

Mary Foreman, a certified public accountant from 1977 to 2019, filed to run for the school board’s District 3 seat this week. Foreman also chairs the school district’s independent Audit Committee, a group of volunteer experts who oversee district spending.

The school board’s primary election is Aug. 18, and if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, there would be a runoff in November. Miner said he was focused on current issues and would make a decision in the coming months.

“I believe, particularly during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, that the people of Manatee County prefer, at least until early June, that I give priority of my time and energy to bettering our schools instead of going around as a candidate, knocking on doors and asking for votes and campaign money,” he said.

In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, Foreman said she would bring some unique experience to the board.

“I think it’s apparent the board lacks financial acumen,” Foreman said. “They would do well to have a finance person on the board.”

Foreman volunteered to serve on the Audit Committee during its inception in 2013, after the school district unveiled a budget deficit of more than $3 million. The committee, which she now chairs, is responsible for reviewing audits and providing recommendations to the school board.

The district faced an uphill battle after its financial crisis, and its newfound stability is threatened by COVID-19, a respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Like all government organizations, the school district’s budget is deeply tied to property values and sales taxes, Foreman said.

“You can count on both taking a big hit,” she continued. “I think we’re going to see a lot less revenue from the state and from the local millage. They’ll probably have to make some real serious decisions, and I’d like to be part of that.”

As part of her campaign, Foreman said she hoped to prevent the school district from taking on new debt. She also supported less spending for district administrators and more spending for teachers and student services.

Citing an annual financial report, Foreman said the district increased its administrative positions from 210 to 362 between 2013 and 2019, an increase of 72 percent.

In the same time frame, Manatee increased its instructional positions from 2,861 to 3,545, an increase of about 24 percent.

“I think it gives you an idea of where they are willing to spend money,” she said. “I think it’s a bad move.”

Foreman said she supported less screen time and less test-driven instruction in local classrooms. She also decried the school board’s recent decision to move general public comment to the end of its meetings.

“It discourages input and, you know, they’re elected by the community,” she said. “They need to make community input a priority.”

Two other candidates — Shaun Lehoe and Scott Boyes — are also running for the District 3 seat.

Lehoe, a full-time father and concerned citizen, filed to run last November. Lehoe said he was frustrated, citing a state investigation of Manatee’s superintendent, Cynthia Saunders, and the district takeover of Lincoln Memorial Academy charter school.

Boyes, the former principal at Jessie P. Miller Elementary School, announced his retirement and filed as a candidate in early February. Boyes said he operated a bill paying service and worked as a financial planner for more than a decade, before his tenure as an educator and principal.

He said local frustration with the board and the school district stemmed from a breakdown in communication with residents. Boyes vowed to repair community relations and bring the experience of a businessman, teacher and school administrator.

Foreman shared many of the same interests: transparency, financial responsibility and a greater investment in teachers.

The school board approves a budget worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year. As a longtime CPA and Audit Committee member, Foreman said she was an asset to the board and the taxpayers.

To learn more or to contact Foreman, visit mary-foreman.com.

“It would be good to have somebody who could dive deeply into the details,” she said.

This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.