The League of Women Voters of Lee County in partnership with WGCU and the News-Press, were the hosts for this candidate forum for Lee County School Board Districts 1, 4, 5, 6 on Thursday, July 9 at FGCU's Water School.
Six of the 11 candidates attended the forum; just one incumbent of four — Debbie Jordan, who represents District 4, the northernmost district — was there. Incumbents Jada Langford-Fleming, Armor Persons and Sam Fisher did not participate. Challengers Tony Beougher and Gisele Gentile also were absent. Among them, the three incumbents and also Tony Beougher claim conservative leanings on their websites.
Moderators John Davis of WGCU and Amy Bennett Williams of The News-Press served up nine questions ranging from declining enrollment to the role of technology, parental rights, lobbying, achievement gaps in schools and citizen and parental involvement. Each candidate had 90 seconds to answer each question, as well as a timed introduction and closing statement each.
Four seats on the Board of Education are up for a vote. The occupants of two of those seats will be determined in the primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 18. That's because there are just two candidates running in those districts. The other two positions will be determined if one of the candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote. If that doesn’t happen, the top two vote-getters will face off in the Nov. 3 general election.
Vying to represent District 1, the westernmost school district including the islands, are incumbent Sam Fisher and challenger Jenn McDaigle. Both have websites: See votesamfisher.com and jennforeverychild.com. Fisher has raised $54,200, with in-kind donations of $620; McDaigle has raised $7,474.14. The outcome of the Aug. 18 race will determine who’s in this seat.
Running to represent District 4, the northernmost district, are incumbent Debbie Jordan and challengers Carl Baxter, Tony Beougher and Gisele “Gigi” Gentile. Websites exist for all four candidates: see electtonyb.com, www.votecarl.com, gigi4schoolboard.com and debbiejordan2026.com. The email address for Baxter is cargofast@gmail.com. respectively. Baxter has raised $3,050 in his election bid. Beougher has raised $51,535 and $250 in in-kind donations. Gentile has raised $16,008. Jordan has raised $22,111.20 with an additional $1,197.33 in-kind donations.
Seeking to represent District 5, including much of east Lee County, is incumbent Armor Persons, plus challengers Crystal Johnson and Carline Saintilus. Persons’ website is armorpersons.com. Saintilus’ website is votesaintilussbd5.com. Johnson can be reached at crystaljohnsonsbd5@gmail.com. Johnson has raised $2,685.41. Persons has raised $53,359. Saintilus has raised $17,955.28, with in-kind donations of $2,2725 as well.
The District 6 school board member is an at-large representative for the entire school district. Running for that seat are incumbent Jada Langford-Fleming and challenger India Palencia. Langford-Fleming’s website is votejada.com; Palencia’s is palenciaforus.com. Langford-Fleming has raised the most of all school board candidates – $67,510 with $500 additional in-kind donations; Palencia has raised $39,675.43 plus in-kind donations of $1,630.83. The outcome of the Aug. 18 race will determine who’s in this seat.
At the forum, all candidates present were asked about the most important characteristics of an effective school board.
"They listen," said Palencia. "That is the main motivating factor that pushed me to decide to run for the school board ... because I found myself at a podium speaking to a board, and I was being ignored.
"And it wasn't just me. It was everyone else in that room that was walking up to that podium.
"So we have to have people who listen, who are active participants in the listening process and who comment on what they heard and take action on what they heard."
"So for me, an effective school board is actually a board that one is able to have conversations because the only time that we can actually speak to one another is when we're at that dais because of [Florida's] sunshine [laws]," said Jordan.
"And we have to be able to have the hard conversations. So we need to make sure that we can converse about topics that not necessarily we want to have a discussion on, but we have to do it with respect as well."
"You have to be able to be accountable," answered Saintilus. "If something goes wrong, you have to be able to stand in front of your bosses (the electorate), for lack of a better term, and answer to them.
"Every question that you ask has to be in the benefit of the classroom. How is it going to benefit the students in the classroom? How is it going to support the teachers? How is it going to support school staff? How is it going to overall benefit the community?
"You have to be able to listen and maybe even have empathy," said McDaigle. "If you can't have empathy, at least maybe try to have some sympathy for what the parents and the teachers and the support staff and the students are facing and they're enduring.
"They need to spend time in the classrooms and with these students."
"Be approachable," said Baxter. "When I say approachable, you just don't come into a set, into a meeting and hold your head down, like some of our counterparts have said, but be approachable. Not only being approachable but be honest."
"The board should reflect this community that it serves," said Johnson. "It should not be a one-size-fits-all type of thing, because as we all know, Lee County is a very diverse community, and the board should reflect that.
"I need the board to be relatable. I need them to be able to understand where I'm coming from as a parent, as an advocate, as a person who is here speaking up for something I need or want in my district."
Candidates will appear by district on the primary election ballot Aug. 18.
