Endorsement: Local school boards need experience, focus — not politicized distractions

Across Florida, school board meeting rooms have become battlegrounds, with the warfare spilling over into classrooms and communities. The far-distant commanders of this conflict — Gov. Ron DeSantis and his legislative majors — act as if public schools are little more than cannon fodder in their culture wars. The ensuing chaos and disruption for children and their education seem like acceptable losses for some, so long as DeSantis gets to pose with a backdrop of children and a catchy slogan that touts freedom or family.

That puts local school board races in a harsh and important light. Despite the barrage of partisan, race-and-sex-baiting distractions, board members’ priorities should always focus first on making sure that local students get high-quality educations and plenty of opportunities to flourish — instead of being considered collateral damage.

Both Orange and Seminole counties have district races on the ballot. Here are the candidates we think have the most to offer.

Orange County District 4

In the primary for this race, all three candidates seemed appealing and committed to public service. Since then, however, we’ve learned a lot more about the top two vote-getters, who will be moving forward to the Nov. 5 general election.

And the choice is clear: Veteran educator Anne Douglas, whose 25 years of public school teaching experience have revealed her to be a dedicated, innovative educator. Her experience should be particularly valuable in meeting one of Orange County’s biggest challenges: Recruiting and retaining teachers. She understands that this struggle reaches past the issues of money,though she understands the difficulty the district faces in allocating enough funding to keep teachers paid a fair and competitive wage. School board leaders also have to do their best to create an atmosphere of academic freedom and safety — no small challenge during a time when lawmakers are trying to roll the clocks back by restricting curriculum to smother discussion of racism and homophobia.

During his interview with the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board, Kyle Roger Goudy seemed mostly moderate on many of the challenges facing schools, even telling us he’s “really against politicizing schools.” But since then, we’ve come to doubt that assurance. In questionnaires and forums, Goudy has offered answers that suggest his views are more closely aligned with far-right groups like Moms for Liberty than he originally let on. For example, in a questionnaire by a group aimed at erasing boundaries between church and state, Goudy said he believed teachers should carry guns on campus; claimed the U.S. Department of Education should be abolished and spoke against same-sex marriage.

If he were to be elected, he’d join like-minded School Board member Alicia Farrant — and while their less mainstream ideas would rarely prevail among Orange County’s sensible school board majority, he could provide a parliamentary second that would force the board to waste time discussing culture-war nonsense rather than dealing with the big challenges facing Orange County schools.

Seminole School Board District 3

Voters in this race got lucky. The District 3 general election pits a seasoned, level-headed veteran educator and leader — School Board Chairman Abby Sanchez — against Stephanie Arguello, a promising newcomer with a background in community health and health education and a drive to serve local students that shines through. With their characteristic good sense, Seminole County voters weeded out a candidate affiliated with extremist ideology that could have been highly disruptive, sending these two forward to November.

Voters’ choice should be clear: Keep Sanchez on the job. Seminole County schools need her to help them weather the coming storms, including a potential drop in per-pupil funding and the never-ending struggle of maintaining the county’s status as one of Florida’s best-rated school districts. They can have confidence in her leadership, because they’ve watched her and other board members weather big challenges before — including the sudden, wrenching changes needed to deal with the onslaught of a global pandemic, and the highly successful effort to expand Seminole County’s career and technical opportunities.

Arguello has all the makings of an excellent school board member, and she’s got the backing of some of Central Florida’s most insightful judges of character (including . But she hasn’t made the case that Sanchez should be replaced, and Sanchez has proven she is ready to keep fighting, ensuring bright futures and high-quality education for Seminole students.

We urge voters to not rely solely on our opinions in deciding how to cast a vote. Voters should check the candidates’ campaign websites and social media accounts (if they don’t have either, that should be a red flag). Ask friends and neighbors what they think. Google the candidates and check out their campaign finances. In addition, we’ve recorded our interviews and posted them in full at OrlandoSentinel.com/opinion .

Election endorsements are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, which consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Insight Editor Jay Reddick and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Send emails to insight@orlandosentinel.com .