Manatee County School Board taps Karen Carpenter as new leader over Dave Miner

BRADENTON -- Although four members of the public spoke on his behalf, Manatee County School Board vice chairman Dave Miner again failed to control the gavel at the annual reorganization meeting Tuesday.

"From the community, we're looking and we support this fine man over here based on his service as vice chair," said resident Tom Whitaker, adding the board had enough confidence to vote Miner in as vice chairman two years in a row so it should be confident enough to vote him in as chairman.

Robyn Kinkopf, president of the Anna Maria Island Kiwanis Club, also advocated on behalf of Miner.

"He led with praise. He praised us. He led with care. He led by letting us talk and listening to us. He led by example," she said.

Superintendent Diana Greene, acting chairwoman until a new leader was chosen, called for board members to nominate a fellow member. Her suggestion was met initially with silence.

"Maybe I'll repeat that again," she said. "Nominations are now open and in order for the position of chair."

Board member Charlie Kennedy then nominated Karen Carpenter. Outgoing Chairman Bob Gause seconded the motion and Carpenter was elected unanimously.

"We are going to be doing some very heavy lifting this year," Carpenter said. "We have a lot of work before us and we know that staff is working very hard and this board is working very hard and I'm very grateful for that."

Kennedy was then unanimously voted in as vice chairman after being nominated by Carpenter.

At the end of the meeting, Miner said he looked forward to the coming year.

"I'm very proud to be a member of this board and to be with these people up here," he said.

In other business, the newly reorganized board approved the unaudited annual financial report detailing board finances from the past fiscal year, which ended June 30 with more than $17 million in the general fund balance and $11 million in the unrestricted fund balance. The balance is above the state-required minimum unrestricted district fund balance.

It's the second year in a row the district reached the state requirement after missing the mark a few years in a row.

The unassigned fund balance as of June 30 was about $1 million more than the unassigned fund balance as of June 30, 2014. The more the unassigned fund balance grows, the better district credit ratings will look, which will help secure better interest rates if the board wants to borrow money to finance new schools.

One issue arose from the annual financials because the state Florida Retirement System-reported district numbers and the numbers sent to the district by FRS did not match, said Rebecca Roberts, district chief financial officer. The unreconciled figures are why the annual financial report came to the board later than normal, Roberts said.

The district is using the FRS report in the annual financial report because it must, even though FRS numbers don't match the district contributions report or the amount the Florida Retirement System website says the district contributed, Roberts said.

What the district says it contributed and what the website says the district contributed match, Roberts said. The discrepancy comes in the official report sent to the district from the FRS, Roberts said.

Manatee County is not the only district with this problem, Roberts said.

"We're thinking it's a timing issue, that they included something on the tail end that should be included in the front end," Roberts said. "This is extremely complex."

Don Hall, deputy superintendent of operations, said this is not an issue created by the school district.

"This is external to us," Hall said. "We will continue to work with FRS once they figure out what they're doing."

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Manatee County School Board taps Karen Carpenter as new leader over Dave Miner ."