School Board election is the most important

Thursday, August 15, 2024

The most consequential of the local races that will be decided Tuesday – the contests that will have the most dramatic impact in shaping the future of our community – are for two School Board seats.

That’s not typically the case.

Usually, the campaign for sheriff gets top billing among local races in our presidential-election-year summer primaries, which is understandable, given that we’re choosing someone to occupy the most powerful office in the county.

We’ve also got three of the five County Commission seats up for grabs, which could produce a different majority on important and sometimes divisive issues.

None of those races, however, has the potential to alter the identity of our community, which can take tremendous pride in being the home of a school district that for two consecutive years has earned an “A” grade from the Florida Department of Education.

In this School Board election, we’ll find out what matters more to the voting adults who live here – continuing to improve the quality of our children’s education, or using our public schools as a political battlefield in trumped-up culture wars.