This story was produced in partnership with nonpartisan news organizations and universities across the state working to provide information about the 2026 elections. Learn more about the Florida Elections Reporting Partnership at floridaelections.org. This is one of two stories on the District 1 race in Lee County.

Jenn McDaigle faces off against encumbent Sam Fisher in the District 1 race for the school board for the School District of Lee County. The same 11 questions were posed of each candidate. The questions and their answers, edited for brevity and clarity, follow.

Q. Why do you want to be a school board member?

A. I'm running for office because I don't believe our students, our teachers, students, and the staff are receiving the resources and support that they need to be truly successful in the world that they're actually inheriting. And I want to make sure I change that.

And then the other reason is because I have two children on opposite sides of the spectrum. My oldest daughter being born with a really rare neurodegenerative disease and having to fight on her behalf to get the things that she needed was really difficult, almost unbearable. And I don't want to see parents continue to have to do that while they're continuing to fight all the health battles that they have to face.

And then my 4-year-old is starting kindergarten and, you know, our elementary students are not reading at grade level and even our high school kids are not able to do math. So I just want to make sure that we have schools that are preparing them for the future.

Q. What are your qualifications for the office?

A. I spent over a decade working with middle school, high school and college students all across Florida. My degree is actually in interdisciplinary studies with a focus on youth psychology. So the first 12 years or so of my career I spent working directly with students, on everything from bullying to classroom challenges to struggles they were having with their parents.

And then the last decade I've spent working as an executive leading teams inside technology and AI companies that are rapidly changing the world that we're living in, so I feel like that the two of those together make a really great combination for ensuring that we are having a really thoughtful use of technology and AI that benefits the students rather than harming them like it currently is.

And I also have experience managing multimillion dollar budgets, which we we seem to be struggling to do right now in the current school board.

Q. How will you stay in touch with your constituents?

A. Well, a really great way to do that is having more than one school board meeting a month so that they have an opportunity to come in and speak directly to us together so that I can hear all of the issues in Lee County. Because even though I represent District 1, we all kind of vote together on the things for all of Lee County, really. So that way I'm able to hear from everybody and really understand the needs as a whole.

I think also just having an open door policy so I will be accessible for people to come in and and meet with me.

I also plan to be in the schools regularly meeting with the teachers as well as the support staff.

I think also it's really important to maintain a connection with the teachers union, TALC and SPALC so that we can really understand what their concerns are and what their needs are and make sure their needs are being met because if the teachers and staff don't feel uplifted and respected and are having to work multiple jobs, our students are going to be suffering as well.

Q. The superintendent of Lee schools is now an elected, partisan official who no longer reports to nor is selected by the school board. How has that been working out? As a school board member elected to a nonpartisan office, what is your role in relation to the superintendent?

A. I don't think it's been working out great.It's a really difficult situation to manage from from what I've seen and from what I've heard. From those on the board, as well as those experiencing the decisions that are are being made, there really doesn't seem to be any oversight at all for the superintendent, so she's kind of able to do really whatever she wants.

The school board obviously approves the budget and it definitely seems like they vote just as she wishes all the time.

But my job as a school board representative is to make sure that the decisions being made with the budget are actually benefiting the children and voting against anything that's put forth, like additional attorneys, friends of theirs being brought in for no really apparent reason, lobbyists, all of that, making sure that we're voting for budgets that are actually going to benefit the children and being able to show the measured results of how they're positively impacting them.

And if the superintendent is making decisions on her own that I don't have control over that are negatively impacting the students then I will have to just publicly make that known.

I don't have an opportunity to change it, but I can make sure the public is aware so that when they have a chance, they can make a decision based on what's actually happening.

Q. What do you see as the biggest problem or challenge facing the district?

A. Oh, that's a that's a tough one because there's so many.

I think the overarching problem that amplifies every other problem is the mismanagement of the budget. They're spending too much money at the top on things that are not benefiting the children.

They're not being transparent with the public about how that money is being used.

They're giving money to schools, extra money to schools that don't need it, and the schools that do need it are not getting the money that they need.

And now , we're in upwards of a $92 million deficit.

If we do a forensic audit to understand what's happened and how it's been used and really cut it in a way that actually benefits the students, there should be more money available to pay the pay the teachers and staff what they deserve to give the exceptional students the locations that they need, the schools that they need without making parents of those exceptional students have to drive over an hour just to get their kids to school or clustering them together in schools where they don't belong.

I mean, these are big complex problems, but I think it would start, it's a big start to putting us in the right direction to solving a lot of the other problems.

Q. Explain your position on extending the 1/2 penny sales tax when it expires in 2028.

A. I do think it should be extended because we're already struggling and cutting teachers and doing all the things that we're doing.

I don't think cutting sales tax and money that would be coming in to help in particular our public schools, which are struggling so much and over half our students can't read.

Every amount of money that we can get, I think would be beneficial and we need to continue that.

Q. Although gains have been made, Lee County teachers' beginning salaries are barely above what is considered a livable wage. Should salaries be higher? How can this be accomplished if so?

A. Salaries should definitely be higher. We are 50th in the nation, last I checked, on teacher salary, I think even starting teacher salary.

And I know we just made a decision to raise the starting teacher salary, but we really need to also address veteran teachers, teachers that are certified, that are specialists.

We're not giving enough incentivization for teachers to put the extra money, extra time and resources into getting those certifications that would really benefit our students.

Q. What can Lee schools do to solve the budget crisis?

A. They need a forensic audit to see exactly where that money is going, what it's being used on, where we're spending the most money. Is that money actually benefiting the students where we're spending it? And that means every student, including the exceptional needs, students, medically complex, behavioral issues, as well as a neurotypical child. They all deserve the same level of dignity and respect and opportunity to learn in the way that suits them best.

Q. Not many school districts have hired federal lobbying firms, but Lee County did so in March. Has this had benefits so far? Judging by public comment at the board meetings, this was not a popular decision. Are you in favor continuing that expenditure? Why or why not?

A. No, I'm not in favor of that expenditure. If you want to have some of it, maybe a small amount, but I don't really think it's necessary.

I think that's our job as school board members too, and the superintendent, to be aware of what's happening and what those needs are and to be fighting on behalf of our constituents. And even when that means going to Tallahassee.

So I'm not in favor of extending that expenditure, especially as it is with that high dollar item with the deficits that we have, it can't be a priority. The students have to be a priority.

Q. How do you feel about the voucher system as it exists now? Is it harming public education?

A. Absolutely, it's harming public education. The voucher system was obviously put in place to give parents a choice, but what it's really doing is giving some parents a choice, not all parents a choice.

And then the rest of the families are being basically stuck with whatever is left in terms of the budget because we've got $8,000 going to wealthy families that homeschool their kids and travel all over the world, and there's nothing wrong with doing that, but they don't necessarily need that $8,000. Or the wealthy families are putting their kids in private school.

I think there should be a limit on it. If you're making a certain amount of money, then you don't need that $8,000 in order to be able to do it, then we should leave those resources available to those in public schools who don't have that same option to make those choices because they don't have transportation to get to these other schools or the resources they need to make sure that they get in the applications and pay the application fees and get all the forms to make sure they're reaching the deadline two years in advance to get into a charter school.

Q. Do you agree with the current Schools of Hope co-location legislation?

A. I don't think so. I think I need to look into that a little bit more, to be honest, to make sure. I'm inclined to lean against it if it's taking from the public schools that are already struggling and giving it to other resources.

Q. Anything else you'd like to add?

A. It's very, very important to me that we are not ignoring technology and AI, but recognizing the benefit of it, but also the dangers of it and how the screens and technology have been harming our kids.

So thoughtfully educating them on that and making sure they're proficient in it, but also really prioritizing that human connection and getting them doing hands-on learning, off the screens, interacting with each other so that we can really help the epidemic of anxiety and mental illness that's happening in our schools right now with depression and all of that from all the screen times.

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