Manatee School Board Map Changes Effective Dec. 1

MANATEE COUNTY — Beginning Sunday, Dec. 1, the Manatee County School District Member map will change to align with the Manatee County Commission District map. The change will not impact the schools that students are districted to attend but will revise the residency representation of the elected school board members.

Voters approved a ballot referendum in 2018 that changed the school board from county-wide seat representation to single-district representation. 

By state statute, district representation maps must be updated with each census year, and following the 2020 census, school board members adopted its first single-district map on Dec. 14, 2021. 

Districting—and re-districting—are conducted based on population data to balance the resident population as evenly as possible across districts.

Roughly two years after adopting its first single-district map, school board members considered a proposal by Manatee School Board Member Cindy Spray to revise its district map to match—or align—with the Manatee County Commission's 2021 redistricting map. 

The county commission had approached its redistricting process differently than the school board. Under the leadership of former county administrator Scott Hopes, the county hired a redistricting consultant to advise commissioners during the process. 

Despite the consultant's efforts, the commissioners struggled to work in a transparent and consistent process, and they submitted multiple last-minute draft maps.

By Nov. 2021, county commissioners had settled on two possible district maps for adoption, one submitted by former county commissioner Vanessa Baugh—who claimed to have drafted the map herself—and the other a proposed map created by the redistricting consultant hired by the county.

When it was determined that Baugh’s map failed to equitably balance the resident population across the districts, Commissioner George Kruse entered another commissioner-proposed map into the process.

Commissioners ultimately adopted the last-minute entry over the map drafted by the redistricting consultant. Still, public record emails later raised questioned when they revealed that someone by the name of “Anthony” may have been assisting commissioners behind the scenes with the redistricting process.

Information gathered from the emails also appeared to show that Baugh had not been honest about having personally created the maps she submitted to the county’s redistricting process.

On Nov. 9, 2023, during a school board workshop meeting, School Board Member Spray told her colleagues that she believed that the maps adopted by the school district were confusing to voters because the district lines did not match those adopted by the county.

Spray—with the support of School Board Member Richard Tatem—motioned that the school board consider revising the map it adopted in 2021 so that the school board districts would be identical to those adopted by the county commission.

During the workshop discussion, former school board members Mary Foreman and Gina Messenger strongly opposed Spray's motion.

Foreman questioned whether her fellow board members had followed the county’s redistricting process. She also questioned whether any errors were identified in the map the school board adopted in 2021 or whether there were changes in the district populations to warrant revising the map.

The answer was the same to each of Foreman’s questions, “no.”

“First of all,” Foreman said, “the county maps and process compared to ours was night and day. Their process was very political.”

Foreman advised that the county’s redistricting process deviated from the recommendations of the redistricting consultant it had hired, including considering maps introduced late in the process and possibly with the assistance of an outside political consultant.

Former member Messenger pointed out that by adopting the county’s redistricting map to replace the one the school board had adopted two years earlier, the board would exchange its more “balanced” population-deviated map for a less balanced one.

“When you look at the map the school board created,” said Messenger, “the deviation for that map is only 4%. So the deviation in our map is less than the county’s map—meaning we are more balanced than the county’s map.”

Messenger added that if the school board approved revising its map to match that of the county, it would be taking action that was “contrary” to the goal of balancing the resident population. In fact, argued Messenger, by adopting the county’s redistricting map, the school board would be making their districts less balanced.

Messenger also stated that the maps approved through the school board’s process were created transparently, with changes proposed and made during the meetings, and “all the district lines” were moved and approved within the public’s view. 

“We talked about every single piece of the redistricting right here in this room with the cameras on,” Messenger said. 

“I would have a hard time supporting the adoption of the county maps when I watched their process and I know ours,” she added. “Ours was transparent, it was honest, it was fair, it wasn’t politically driven. I would have a very hard time adopting a map that was created through all the things I abhor about politics.”  

Foreman and Messenger were outvoted despite of their objections to adopting the county’s map. School Board members Richard Tatem, Cindy Spray, and Chad Choate formed the majority needed to carry the measure.

A resolution was approved on Jan. 16, 2024, revising the school district map to align with the county commission districts effective Dec. 1, 2024.

In November, two new school board members were elected to serve in Districts 1 and 3.

New-comer Heather Felton was elected to the District 1 seat, while former two-term member Charlie Kennedy was elected as the school board’s District 3 representative.

Kennedy previously served as the Manatee School Board’s District 2 representative from 2014 until 2022. The revised redistricting now places Kennedy in District 3.

However, with the revised maps not going into effect until Dec. 1, this left Kennedy campaigning while still residing in his former District 2.

Kennedy publicly addressed the issue while on the campaign trail, explaining that while state statutes allowed him to run for the District 3 seat while being a resident of District 2 if he should win the election, he would be forced to temporarily move to District 3 before being sworn into office before he could move back to his former residence which would move into District 3 when the revised maps became effective. 

According to state statutes, a candidate who has won an election must be a resident of the district they were elected to by the time of assuming office. Assuming office occurs upon being sworn in, not at the time of being elected.

Florida Statutes, Chapter 1001.361,  includes, "Each elected candidate for district school board member must, by the date she or he assumes office, be a resident of the district school board member residence area from which she or he was elected."

Following Felton and Kennedy’s swearing-in on Nov. 19, the newly created board convened for its first meeting.

Near the close of the meeting, School Board Member Tatem—who the governor had just reappointed to the seat he had resigned from weeks earlier to run for a state seat—questioned Kennedy about whether he was in compliance with state statute regarding residency requirements for school board members.

“Some constituents have brought to my attention that they’re concerned that you’re not currently residing in the district,” Tatem told Kennedy. “Would it be possible to provide some proof to the public that you are residing in the district?... Just so constituents can understand that we are all following the law and that you’re following the law.”

Kennedy responded by confirming he does have a short-term rental lease to verify that he was a resident of District 3 at the time of being sworn into office.

TBT reached out to Kennedy to comment on the question Tatem proposed regarding his residency qualifications.

Speaking by phone, Kennedy shared that he was aware of the rule before filing to run for the seat.  Because the board had revised its district maps to be effective on Dec. 1, there was a 13-day window in which Kennedy's then-residence would still be outside of District 3. 

“I consulted the elections office and an attorney to confirm that I only needed to establish residence in the district if I was to win,” he explained. “Once I won, I secured a one-month lease in District 3 to fulfill my statutory residence obligation beyond Dec. 1 when the school board's new member districts take effect.”

Kennedy was able to verify his lease agreement by providing a copy signed by the landlord for our review. The one-month lease began on Nov. 19 and expires on Dec. 19. It is for a furnished apartment within District 3.

The copy of the lease reviewed by TBT  was a standard lease form and included Kennedy’s information, the apartment's address, and the landlord’s information. It also stated that the unit's utilities were included in the lease agreement. 

Kennedy told TBT that he is looking forward to the opportunity to return to serving on the school board.   

“My goals are to continue the forward progress that the school district and board have made over the past 12 years and to see us become an 'A' district that continues to have rock-solid underlying financials,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy added that he hopes to see the district bring energy efficiencies and technology to its facilities over the coming years while continuing to build a culture of customer service and facilitating schools that provide inclusivity and student success.

To view PDF versions of the Manatee County School District Member maps or to review how the districts have changed, visit www.manateeschools.net, or click here.