A majority of the Pinellas County school board\u2019s seven seats come up for election in August.<\/p>\n
Unlike two years ago, when the nonpartisan board became a takeover target for supporters of Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 education agenda, candidate interest in the posts has been slower to surface. And there\u2019s been no concerted effort to this point to \u201cflip\u201d the board to a more conservative perspective, with qualifying three months away.<\/p>\n
Three incumbents \u2014 Lisa Cane in District 2, Dawn Peters in District 3 and Caprice Edmond in District 7 \u2014 announced their reelection bids early. Cane so far has drawn no opposition, while Edmond has one hopeful in her race and Peters has two.<\/p>\n
The fourth seat, being vacated by one-term member Stephanie Meyer, initially appeared on track to be an unchallenged campaign for former board member and county commissioner Nancy Bostock. Several establishment figures, including current and former commissioners and board members, quickly endorsed Bostock in an effort to ward off other potential aspirants.<\/p>\n
In early March, a political newcomer who says she\u2019s ready to provide an alternative jumped into the race.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how the field is shaping up.<\/p>\n
District 3<\/p>\n
In District 3, an at-large seat, Peters has positioned herself as a conservative who fully supports public education. As board vice chairperson, she speaks regularly about the role the schools played in her children\u2019s lives and the importance of having local control over the system.<\/p>\n
At one point, Peters, 51, a personal trainer, talked about not seeking reelection as she dealt with the aftermath of the 2024 hurricanes. With many of those issues handled, Peters said she wants to stay on the board to continue the district\u2019s positive direction, including rising graduation rates and an A grade from the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have open discussion. Everyone can speak freely and be respectful of each other,\u201d Peters said. \u201cWe\u2019re all working really well together. I want to keep it going that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curtis Campogni, 41, an independent consultant and trainer, was the first to enter the District 3 race. He said he has worked with children, including some of the most at-risk ones, since his first job in group homes in St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
In other positions, he helped young people transition back into the community and find success, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my next step in my evolution of helping others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Among his priorities, Campogni said he will stand with teachers, listening to their concerns and striving to improve their pay and working conditions. He noted his mom is a teacher.<\/p>\n
Campogni said he would seek solutions to get ahead of the district\u2019s enrollment declines so the school system can remain competitive with other options that have grown in popularity. He also expressed interest in taking closer looks at school security and the use of artificial intelligence in schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to have an impact on the school board so when my kids are in high school, I can say I\u2019m glad we planted the seeds for this solution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Middle school teacher Dawn Douglas, 74, who has run four times for Florida House, also has pre-filed for the District 3 seat.<\/p>\n
She said she\u2019s running to provide a firsthand view of how schools operate and how district decisions affect children and classrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, Pinellas County Schools are at a turning point with declining enrollment, school consolidation decisions, and growing pressure on classroom resources,\u201d Douglas said. \u201cWe need leadership that understands those challenges from the inside and can make thoughtful, student-centered decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Douglas set her priorities as focusing on academic fundamentals, supporting teachers and expanding career-technical offerings.<\/p>\n
District 6<\/p>\n
In District 6, representing south-central Pinellas, including Seminole, Pinellas Park and the beaches, newcomer Amanda Lord announced her plan to run against Bostock, who last held public office in 2012.<\/p>\n
A senior project manager at Franklin Templeton Investments, Lord, 45, is a former PTA president at North Shore Elementary School, which one of her two children still attends. It\u2019s the same school where board member Laura Hine got her start in the district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work we accomplished at the school was so tremendous,\u201d said Lord, who also helped run the annual Turkey Trot that nets thousands of dollars for the school. \u201cI want to take this momentum and continue it at the county level.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the district is on solid footing. \u201cWe just need to stay focused on the academic excellence. … But it\u2019s really easy to fall backward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lord said she would work to ensure the district\u2019s referendum revenue continues to be spent on teachers and staff, while additionally looking for other ways to boost employee morale. She further called for greater communication with parents, and said she would bring her expertise with major projects into her scrutiny of the district budget.<\/p>\n
District 7<\/p>\n
In District 7, representing most of Pinellas south of 62nd Avenue N, incumbent Edmond has heightened her profile by serving in leadership roles on the board and on statewide organizations such as the Greater Florida Consortium of School Boards.<\/p>\n
A former district teacher, she led the Florida School Boards Association\u2019s equity committee and has regularly pushed the district to focus on the services provided to meet all students\u2019 and employees\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work is truly important,\u201d said Edmond, 38, the board chairperson. \u201cI am committed to advocating for public education. Strong schools start right here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jase Naranjo, a substitute teacher and Osceola Fundamental High athletics coach, also has pre-filed to run for the District 7 seat. Naranjo, 20, said his experience as a student in the district would give the board a more youthful perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know not necessarily what the students want, but what they need,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Naranjo said he would push for more curriculum that can help students in the real world. He did not offer any priorities, saying simply, \u201cI\u2019d really love to work with these people. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a bunch of issues we can find and work on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Candidate qualifying is the week of June 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A majority of the Pinellas County school board\u2019s seven seats come up for election in August. Unlike two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[2683,113,596,33993,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-215278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-desantis","tag-education","tag-pinellas-county","tag-pinellas-county-school-board","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}