3 Pinellas candidates want to flip the school board. What would that mean?

With three of seven seats on the ballot this year, the Pinellas County school board has become a takeover target for supporters of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “anti-woke” agenda.

Three candidates backed by Moms for Liberty, Florida Faith Foundations and other conservative groups have stepped forward saying they’d like to create a more right-leaning board majority. Their opponents worry what that could mean, given the recent history of other Florida counties that have flipped their boards.

Private school operator Danielle Marolf is seeking to upend incumbent Laura Hine, guidance counselor Erika Picard aims to oust incumbent Eileen Long, and cabinet contractor Stacy Geier is vying for the seat of retiring board member Carol Cook.

They don’t agree on every issue, but they frequently campaign together. If at least two of them win, they’d join Stephanie Meyer and Dawn Peters, who took office two years ago, to create a new tilt on the board.

Toward that end, DeSantis has called on voters to replace Hine and Long.

Control of the board has in many ways become a defining issue in this year’s Pinellas board election. The district’s direction and priorities hang in the balance.

That’s not lost on the candidates.

“Pray, pray, pray,” Marolf told an audience gathered for a forum at Calvary Church in Clearwater. “We could flip the school board.”

Not everyone sees the need for a dramatic political shift, though. Others in the races said they worry that such a move could create upheaval that the school district and its students, families and employees don’t need. They’ve got examples.

Katie Blaxberg, who’s also seeking to replace Cook, pointed to Sarasota County.

Two years ago, a newly elected Sarasota board majority fired its superintendent, who criticized his former bosses for unnecessarily politicizing education. A revamped Brevard County board similarly dismissed its superintendent, and the interim superintendent who followed, and proceeded to revise its policies on book challenges, bathroom access and student discipline.

After the Miami-Dade County board flipped to a majority backed by DeSantis, its members began offering new rules on subjects such as limiting the types of flags allowed on campuses, initially seen as a dig against the Pride flag and LGBTQ+ students. The new-look Duval County board ended the district’s long-standing contract with the Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network and drove out the superintendent.

“It puts the district in chaos,” said Blaxberg, a onetime legislative aide to Republican former state Rep. Chris Latvala who’s positioned herself as a moderate in support of the district’s direction. “When Moms for Liberty extremists take over boards, that’s what they do.”

Marolf, Geier and Picard did not respond to questions about what they mean when they speak of flipping the board. In public forums where they’ve appeared together, they have spoken about instilling conservative and religious values in the schools and scrubbing ideas they consider indoctrination.

Geier, for example, has frequently called for ending the use of teacher training materials she says rely too heavily on messages about privilege and representation. Marolf has spoken about removing library books she considers pornographic without holding public reviews. Picard has emphasized the “basics,” saying at one forum, “I don’t think we need to be teaching all of the things of the rainbow.”

They have discussed other goals, as well, such as improving student discipline and employee morale, adding career and technical offerings and enhancing reading instruction at the youngest grades.

Retired teacher Brad DeCorte, also running for Cook’s seat, said the effort to flip the board should worry the general public. He cited the aligned candidates’ comments on books and the “basics” — often code for eliminating social issues from classrooms — among his concerns.

“Flipping it all one way is not what we need,” DeCorte said. “We need different voices, different ideas.”

Cook initially resisted endorsing anyone in the race for her seat. But after assessing the situation, she changed her mind. The board needs diverse viewpoints, Cook said, but it does not need to be overturned.

She backed Blaxberg, Hine and Long.

“They’re looking to make sure the students and our employees are treated well,” Cook said.

Marolf and Geier have said they do not support the district’s tax referendum, though they do back the underlying goal of paying employee bonuses and expanding arts and technology programs. They said the district should look for other ways to afford the expense, which was about $66 million this year.

Picard is supporting the November ballot question, which would double the tax rate to $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. Though Picard has appeared frequently with Marolf and Geier during the campaign, she’s distanced herself from them on some of the issues, including the tax and book challenges.

Hine, seeking a second term, chided the notion that the board requires flipping. The Pinellas Republican Party is supporting her opponent, saying it’s time to flip seats on the nonpartisan board.

“What does that mean?” she said. “Flip the board from what to what?”

She contended that the board should maintain its focus on providing strong educational opportunities for all children. She cited recent state test results as evidence the district is headed in the right direction. Partisan politics should play no role in the debate, she said.

“That whole idea, it just doesn’t work and it’s destabilizing for our schools,” said Hine, previously executive director of the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art, who switched from Republican to no-party when first seeking election in 2020.

Long, a retired teacher seeking a third term, called the idea of a board dominated by Moms for Liberty supporters “frightening.” Like Hine, she said education should not be political.

“I fight for all children,” Long said. “I think that this is the biggest fight this election season.”