Three of the Flagler County School Board’s five seats were to be contested in the run-up to Tuesday’s election (or earlier voting for some). Candidates run from a particular district, but all Flagler County’s registered voters are eligible to cast a vote in all school board races, regardless of district or party affiliation. The races are ostensibly non-partisan. School board members serve for four years. They’re paid $30,260 a year.
Click On:
- School Board Candidates Tread Gulf Between Ideal and Reality in Chamber Forum
- School Board Candidate Peter Peligian’s Impersonation (and Tax and Claims) Problems
- Shellenberger, Steadying Voice for 8 Years, Will Not Run Again for School Board
- Rachael Kopec Withdraws from School Board Race
- Flagler County 2010 Elections Guide
One-term incumbent Andy Dance in District 1 drew no opponent. In District 3, incumbent Trevor Tucker, a governor appointee since January, filling out the term of the late Peter Palmer, is being challenged by Marc Ray. Tucker owns his own pest control company. Ray is an executive at Hammock Dunes Club in Palm Coast.
The District 5 seat is being vacated by Board Chairwoman Evie Shellenberger, who is retiring after two terms. The seat drew three candidates: John Fischer, a Knights of Columbus field agent who ran against Shellenberger four years ago; Peter Peligian, a retail district manager; and Raven Sword, an attorney.
With the exception of Tucker’s brief tenure on the board, none of the candidates has held elected office before. Remarkably, not one of the candidates is a professional educator.
FlaglerLive submitted written questions to every candidate. The intention of the Q&A was not to enable another campaign brochure but to challenge the candidates to clearly state their positions on some–and by no means all–of the issues relevant to the position and responsibility they’re seeking. The candidates were asked to avoid generalities and the usual campaign clichés and answer as specifically as possible. They received follow-up questions where necessary. Some answered more directly than others. Answers not relevant to the given question were edited. Incomplete or lacking answers were noted as such.
Click on each candidate’s name in the table below to read the resulting Q&A.
Flagler County School Board Candidates: The Live Interviews
Liana G says
Sorry Mr. Tucker but I do not share your extreme view of ‘zero tolerance’ and that’s comming from a parent whose children (3 girls, 1 boy) were all victims of bullying. Children need guidance and yes discipline too; But putting them in an institution and subjecting them to unimaginable experiences that does more harm than good is not the solution. Children’s Campaign – an advocacy group representing childrens’s issues here in FL has the stark facts, and they are not pretty. Also, the PEW foundation recently released new research regarding America’s prison population. 1 out of every 100 men are in prison today, and it gets even worse when broken down by age. Zero Tolerance is not the solution!