Campaign text gets personal, riles up Pasco school board race

LAND O’LAKES — About halfway through a recent Pasco County school board workshop, nearly everybody’s phone buzzed.

Few were surprised to get a political campaign text on a weekday afternoon in the middle of the primary election season. But this one raised some eyebrows.

It came from school board candidate Jessica Wright, a parent and teacher vying to oust 14-year incumbent Alison Crumbley. And she made some strong allegations not just against Crumbley, but at the entire board.

In the text, which was sent to thousands of registered voters, Wright said “the Pasco County school board denied my parental right” to see video of a 2022 playground incident in which her son suffered a head injury, and then “ignored court orders” for 22 months in her civil lawsuit seeking damages in excess of $30,000.

“If I didn’t know my rights, they may have gotten away with it, too,” Wright wrote. “No one should ever have to go through that. If the Pasco County School Board can do this to a dedicated teacher — what is it like for everyone else?”

The message quickly drew protest from several board members, who said they had never taken any action on the lawsuit.

“The school board never had anything to do with this case,” Crumbley said later, echoing her colleagues. “She just lied about all five of us as if we’re evil people that covered something like that up. It’s not true.”

A review of district records indicates that the board has not held any closed sessions to discuss litigation since the suit was filed, nor did it have any public debate over the case. Board chairperson Megan Harding said Wright once mentioned the situation to her privately, but she shut down conversation upon learning the matter was in court.

Superintendent Kurt Browning said the case, which has a settlement agreement pending, was handled by lawyers and the administration without board input.

Browning pointed to district policy 8710, which authorizes the superintendent’s office in consultation with the board’s attorney to settle claims less than $100,000. He added that the district is subject to at least 100 tort claims per year, and the goal is to settle them without getting the board involved in each one.

He said Wright’s accusation against the board lacked understanding about the district’s operations.

Board attorney Paul Meeker, who joined the district more than a year after the case was filed, said he reviewed the docket in light of the allegation that the board ignored court orders. He found nothing to support Wright’s argument.

The online docket shows that Judge Susan Barthle entered seven orders into the record, most of which dealt with case management such as setting mediation and hearing dates. None instructed the district to take any specific action, though one noted that the district was taking too long to respond to the plaintiff’s questions and requests for documents.

Wright said the district’s response to her texted accusations demonstrated a lack of leadership.

“Are they not responsible for the actions of the school district?” she said of the school board. “I think they hide behind policies. It’s not that hard to advocate for what is right. Their excuse for everything is, ‘Oh, that’s not my job.’”

Wright’s accusations against the full board in her effort to defeat Crumbley have turned what observers initially expected to be a low-key campaign between two candidates who agree on many issues, including improved staff retention and student achievement, into a decidedly more heated event.

While Wright is asking voters to support her as someone who will “stand up for what’s right,” Crumbley has responded by suggesting Wright is offering differing positions on issues based on which group she is speaking to.

Crumbley referred to Wright’s video interview with the conservative Pasco Watch group as an example. She suggested Wright appeared to oppose the district’s 2022 tax referendum that supports teacher pay raises, despite saying in other forums that she backed it.

Crumbley advocated for the referendum.

Wright told the Tampa Bay Times she was telling Pasco Watch she did not support future tax hikes, but did back the 2022 referendum.

On social media, meanwhile, some of Crumbley’s supporters in the nonpartisan contest have attacked Wright as a liberal Democrat who only recently registered as a no-party voter, and argued she should not be on the board. They’ve also touted Crumbley’s endorsement by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which Crumbley did not seek, saying she hoped to keep politics out of the race.

The winner of the Aug. 20 election will take the District 4 seat in November. All voters in the county may participate in this race.