Sarasota Speaks

This year’s primary elections are less than four weeks away, and in an election season the mainstream media is dubbing the year of the anti-incumbent, the ideological rivals are squaring off at all levels. One Hillsborough County School Board race in particular is a sign of the times.In following the race for the Hillsborough School Board’s District Six, a county-wide seat, it’s clear that religion and politics are as inseparable from education as economics. The school board faces a startling $42 million budget gap, and all four candidates say funding is their biggest concern. Yet they differ on what should go on in the classroom. Take evolution. Incumbent April Griffin says science classes should teach science, and science only.Griffin’s most well-known challenger is Terry Kemple, an outspoken evangelical Christian activist who is in favor of abstinence-only sex education. In 2006 he unsuccessfully lobbied the school board to require students to seek their parents’ permission if they want to join a gay-straight alliance. Kemple fought the state Board of Education’s inclusion of evolution in its science standards in 2008.The two other candidates have more of a middle of the road stance. Sally Harris, who has worked as an occupational specialist and founded a preschool, said religious views should stay home.Benjamin Fink, who has a background in technology consulting, says things like abstinence-only and creationism shouldn’t be excluded from classroom discussions.Unless one of the four candidates in the race wins over more than half the electorate in the August 24 primary, the two with the most votes will face off on the November ballot. Also on that ballot will be a number of proposed amendments to the state constitution, including one that softens the class size amendment voters adopted in 2002. The final phase of that amendment is rolling out this year, and many involved in education, including all of the District Six hopefuls, think strict limits on class size could be troublesome. Terry Kemple says the amendment will lead to unforeseen headaches for schools.Sally Harris says the limits could hurt the range of subjects available to students.Incumbent April Griffin said schools will be forced to choose between hiring core subject teachers and those teaching more engaging topics.She added that schools that are at capacity could have the unintended effects on families.Benjamin Fink said the class-size amendment, though well-meaning, makes no sense in such troubled economic times.Harris and Kemple also said their other big concern was the communication line between the Hillsborough County School System and the people whose kids attend its facilities every day. All four candidates will be on the August 24 ballot.