The League of Women Voters of Manatee County Education Issues Committee observes the Manatee County School Board meetings for items of interest to citizens and the League and notes adherence, or lack of adherence, to good governance procedures and the sunshine laws. The following are the key points from the school board meeting held on July 29, 2025.
The first of the two meetings was called to order at 5:39 p.m. by Chair Choate. Ms. Spray read the district vision statement and introduced her pastor from the West Bradenton Baptist Church, Sam Rainer, to give the invocation. Mr. Choate led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chair Choate opened the public hearing regarding the adoption of the 2025-2026 Tentative Millage Rate and the 2025-2026 Tentative Budget. No public comments were made for either item.
Ms. Sellers, Deputy Superintendent for Business Services, Ms. Maliniak, Director of Budget, and Mr. Ranaldi, Deputy Superintendent for Operations, made a presentation regarding the 2025-2026 Tentative Millage Rate and 2025-2026 Tentative Budget. School Board Members asked many questions that resulted in a lengthy discussion. The substance of this presentation can be found at these links: Budget Book and Presentation.
Ms. Sellers presented the budget information. She explained that Truth in Millage (TRIM) and state statutes regulate the process, and after tonight, the tentative millage goes to the Manatee County Property Appraiser and Tax Collector. The meeting to vote on the final millage and budget will be on September 9. Required Local Effort (RLE) is mandatory to receive state Full-Time Funding Equivalency (FEFP). If the district decided not to levy that millage, it would still have to pay it to the Charter Schools. Mr. Tatem clarified that if taxpayers pay early, they pay 96% of their assessment rather than 100%. The district submits forms to the state for its millage rate. The budget is posted on the district website.
The motions to approve 2025-2026 Tentative Millage Rate Resolution Number 2025-003 of 6.3040 broken down as follows: Required Local Effort Including Prior Period Funding Adjustment - 3.0560; Capital Outlay - 1.5000; Discretionary Operating - 0.7480; Additional Voted Millage 1.0000. Motions to approve each of these segments passed 5-0.
Link to Resolution 2025-2003 here.
The motion to approve the 2025-2026 Tentative Budget Resolution Number 2025-004 in an amount to be determined of $1,720,829,581 was passed 5-0.
Link to Resolution Number 2025-004 here.
Chair Choate adjourned the Millage/Budget meeting at 7:15 p.m. and convened the Regular Board Meeting at 7:23 p.m. (previously scheduled at 5:45 p.m.) after a short recess.
Public Comment
PP appreciated that the very next day after her last public comment regarding the federal funding freeze, the district posted its response to the federal budget cuts. There are still programs that students depend on that will not receive the necessary funding. She asked the Board to convene a public town hall to discuss the budget and they pass an updated resolution to be proactive, as she provided.
JL is a Manatee County student and thanked the board for posting the district's reaction to the federal budget cuts. They still have to cut 15.3% of the budget, and early childhood education will be defunded. He said Manatee County has time to act, post the new resolution, and hold a town hall. He asked that they prepare for changes before they arrive.
SZ thanked each for their willingness to listen and understand the months-long discussion for charter schools regarding the distribution of sales tax revenue. He stated that as they are seeking a new Superintendent, this is the opportune time to select someone who understands charter schools and include at least one charter school when taking the candidates on tours of our district. The next Superintendent must value all school students.
Consent Items – One item was approved 5-0
Public Hearing
Chair Choate closed the regular meeting and opened the public hearing regarding proposed changes to both the 2025-2026 Student Progression Plan and the 2025-2026 Student Code of Conduct. Hearing no public comments, he closed the Public Hearing and called the Regular Meeting back to order.
New Business (Non-Consent)
Approval of the 2025-26 Student Progression Plan for Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and K-812 Virtual Education (No Financial Impact). Approved 5-0.
Approval of Adopting Amendments to the Code of Student Conduct for the 2025-2026 School Year (No Financial Impact) Approved 5-0.
New Business (No Superintendent Recommendation)
Vote to approve the Semi-Finalist and/or Finalists in the 2025 Superintendent Search – Approved 5-0.
The following will receive a thorough vetting by the Florida School Board Association Team, and based on their findings, the superintendent's final finalists will be voted on at the August 12 School Board Meeting. Moving on in the process are Dr. Laurie Breslin, David Adams, Dr. Misty Mathis, and Luis Solano.
[LWV Note: To provide context for the decision to move the five semi-finalists forward, a summary of the morning workshop to determine the semi-finalists follows –
Dr. Vogel and Dr. Pace of the Florida School Board Association facilitated the discussion.
Applicant Dr. Angela Moton withdrew her application on Friday, so there were 15 applicants remaining. All applicants met the minimum requirements of a Master’s degree and 10 years of leadership experience, as counted by the FSBA. They come from various states, and 6 have some Florida experience.
The community offered 251 responses to the online survey. A new community survey will open on Thursday and will be open until August 10th, before the final list of finalists is selected on August 12th.
Internal candidate Dr. Laurie Breslin was the only applicant to receive five votes and will move on. David Adams received three votes, and while Spray had questions about his leadership years and Florida experience, he will move on. Luis Solano also received three votes. Mr. Tatem asked for reasons Board Members supported him: Mr. Choate said he had Florida experience, Ms. Felton noted his extensive classroom experience in Florida and 8 years in a very large district, Mr. Kennedy said very few candidates met all the preferred requirements and Mr. Solano was one of the strongest candidates. Solano will move on. Dr. Misty Mathis received two votes, and after some discussion, it was decided she, too, would move forward. Ms. Felton was not opposed, but her concern had been the small district she serves, which has fewer than 20,000 students.
Applicants Thomas Ahart, Andrea Roberts, and Mark Merges received 1 vote each and did not move forward. Nine of the 16 candidates received no votes. You can review the candidates' application materials here.
Superintendent’s Remarks. Mr. Chapman referenced the long day of Workshop and Board Meetings, saying there were eleven hours of great content.
Board Comments
Ms. Felton said she went to new teacher orientation and is proud one of her former students will be an English teacher in Manatee County.
Ms. Spray thanked everyone for a lot of dialogue and said she was worn out.
Mr. Kennedy congratulated the four semi-finalists, and August 12 will be the meeting to pare down the candidates to agree on the finalists to bring in for interviews. He is excited about the upcoming year and suggested they postpone any public forums until a new superintendent is here. He reminded his colleagues that days this long is every day for district staff, teachers and school personnel.
Mr. Tatem said sometimes being a little more insistent about something you think will make our district better is okay.
Mr. Choate thanked staff for everything they did today, which was a long day. He encouraged participation in the LECOM Park Back-to-School bash with the community for all our kids.
Adjourned at 7:43 p.m.
The Board Members asked probing and relevant questions about the millage and budget. We remind the Board how well served they and the district are by Ms. Sellers’ clear and concise explanations of a complex budget and taxation process, as well as her responses to their many questions.
The Budget/Millage meeting was scheduled for 15 minutes, but exceeded 90 minutes due to the discussion and questions. We question why only 15 minutes had been scheduled for such a complex topic. This affected public commenters who showed up for the 5:45 meeting. Perhaps many of the Board Members’ questions could have been answered in a Workshop. Observers question why Mr. Tatem continues to ask the same questions he has asked in the past.
Mr. Choate affably backtracked to redo an error in procedure pointed out by Mr. Kennedy in regard to the public hearing portion of the regular meeting.
The observers found Ms. Spray’s announcement of a frontrunner at this stage of the process inappropriate.
Board Members are advised to cease sidebars, including whispers, when others are speaking, as the microphones pick up all of the conversations
Comments
No comments on this item
Only paid subscribers can comment
Please log in to comment by clicking here.