New Path Academy students grill Manatee candidates

From the mouths of babes came hard-hitting questions Tuesday at New Path Academy and for many local candidates it was a strange change.

Zack Schwab and Devin Giles, two New Path Academy students, kicked off the debate with a series of rapid-fire questions, only asking for one-word answers.

The topics? Abortion, term limits and early release Wednesdays at Manatee County schools.

The format threw off many candidates, includingManatee County School Board member Dave Miner, who is seeking his second term for the school board.

"The questions are not designed to educate the community," he said. "The questions are really disrespectful to the candidates."

The students spent hours studying how government works, watching local government meetings, reading news stories on major issues and crafting the questions posed Tuesday night, according to the students.

“I think some of them were a bit extreme. We’re kind of pushing the limits of current events and hot topics,” Schwab said of the questions. “I think it was important because it’s things that need to be answered or things that are current events.”

Although the debate covered a number of topics, there were more to ask.

"If it was up to them, we'd be here all night," said Jennifer Radebach, CEO of New Path.

After the rapid-fire questions, students had open-ended questions for candidates based on which race they were in.

School board hopefuls were asked about testing. City candidates were asked about balancing tourism and economic development. Manatee County Commission candidates were quizzed on how they would have handled the recent #BoycottBradenton issue.

Manatee County Sheriff Candidate Rick Wells and attorney Fred Moore, a finalist for the 12th Circuit County judge appointment, were also asked pointed questions.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 9:40 PM with the headline "New Path Academy students grill Manatee candidates."