2022 Election candidate profiles: Lee County School Board Districts 1, 4 and 6

Note to readers: The News-Press and Naples Daily News are providing Q&A's with candidates who are running for the key races being contested in Southwest Florida for the 2022 election.

Three Lee County School Board seats are still up for grabs in the general election on Nov. 8.

Armor Persons, who received 55% of the vote against incumbent Gwynetta Gittens, was the only winner decided in the primary election in August. His appointment meant the board no longer is all female and includes no minorities.

Primary: Lee School Board election produces three Nov. runoffs; one incumbent loses

Lee County School Board District 1 elections: Learn more about the candidates

Kathy Fanny (District 1)

• AGE: 71

• OCCUPATION: Retired teacher

• RESIDENCE: Cape Coral

• EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, master's degree, 60 hours of continuing education

• FAMILY: Married with two kids and three grandchildren

• PREVIOUS OFFICE(S) HELD: None

• COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Makes quilts for charity and made facemasks for people in the medical field during COVID-19.

Q: What is the biggest challenge the district faces at this time?

A: Get more students at or above grade level. We need to begin to address the issue where it happens, in kindergarten first. We need the kids to know how to test.

Q: What are your top three priorities in regards to Hurricane Ian recovery for the school district?

A: We need to reopen the community schools, we need to rebuild. The kids need to have access to their neighborhood school or school of their choice. We need repairs made in some buildings. We have children who are homeless, and we need to work with social services to make sure every kid has a place to sleep and has adequate food and clothing. We need to nurture the children who have lost so much in this hurricane.

Q: What is one policy you would like to see come before the board for approval?

A: I think the present board has done an amazing job facing all the problems we've had in the last two years. I can't say that there's one policy that I want for approval because it's constantly changing.

Q: Why do you want to be on the school board?

A: I believe you need educators on the board who know what it's like in the school. I am an experienced teacher with 30 years in the classroom. I have the skills needed and experience. I want to be on the board because I want all educators, all staff, all students to feel valued, and I want to work for the community to have school be a successful experience for every individual.

Q: What is one thing you want voters to know about you?

A: I'm a retired teacher. I don't have another job. My job would be full-time school board. My opponent is an attorney and business owner and it would not be full-time. I believe school board should be a full-time commitment.

Sam Fisher (District 1)

• AGE: 41

• OCCUPATION: Small business owner and attorney

• RESIDENCE: Cape Coral

• EDUCATION: Bachelor's and Juris Doctorate

• FAMILY: Married with three children

• PREVIOUS OFFICE(S) HELD: None

• COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:  Former City of Cape Coral Oasis Charter School Governing Board Member, Former MPO Citizen’s Advisory committee, Chamber of Commerce Leadership Graduate, supporter of Cape Coral Animal Shelter, Wolfhounds Legacy and youth soccer.

Recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Ian.  We have displaced students, staff, and teachers, school damage, and lost learning time for students among many things.

Ensuring students are safe, secure, and provided the services they need. Repairing and rebuilding our schools with a proper plan for the future. Making sure students lost learning time is accommodated so our children do not fall behind.

An itemized budget that is open and fully transparent.

As a father of three children in Lee County schools it is personal to me. After years of disruption and now Hurricane Ian our board needs strong leadership that will put our students first, empower parents, support our teachers and staff, and responsibly manage your tax dollars.

I have been endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis for this race.

Lee County School Board District 4 elections: Learn more about the candidates

Debbie Jordan (District 4)

• AGE: 64

• OCCUPATION: Hospitality management

• RESIDENCE: Fort Myers

• EDUCATION: Southern College

• FAMILY: Four children and 16  grandchildren

• PREVIOUS OFFICE(S) HELD: Lee County School Board District 4; Florida Restaurant and Lodging President Lee/Charlotte State and Local

• COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Uncommon Friends; Horizon Council; Foundation for Lee County Public Schools

Ian and getting up and running.

Evaluate all of our schools and damages, make sure they are safe for staff and students to return. Making sure that our district families and team who have been displaced have what they needed. Be ready to rebuild.

We are in the process of working and updating all of our policies. It is important to keep up with the changing of laws. That is the job of the board to make policy.

I believe that I am the right person to remain on the board based on my committee experience and proven willingness to do the work. This is full time, be ready and make sure you assess everything prior to vote. Understanding the law and following it. Putting in the time to serve.

I have shown that I have the ability to work with others. This is a board of seven and you are one. You have to be able to listen and pull out the facts in order to do your job. I am a multi-tasker ,and I have the skills needed. As one who has lived in Lee County for most of my life and with my grandchildren in a lot of our schools I will always be engaged with the Lee County School System.

Dan Severson (District 4)

• AGE: 68

• OCCUPATION: Retired state legislator and former naval aviator for the military

• RESIDENCE: Cape Coral

• EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree

• FAMILY: Married with two kids

• PREVIOUS OFFICE(S) HELD: State legislator in Minnesota

• COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Active member of the Republican Executive Committee

Parental confidence. The reason that I got involved was I began to watch what was going on with some of the mask mandates, some of the other issues, and then going to school board meetings and watching the school board's response to concerned parents.

Infrastructure, making sure we are building back safely. Getting kids back to school as soon as possible. Safety is to me the number one issue, that we aren't exposing them to mold issues.

Ultimately to me it's about empowering parents. It's about giving parents the tools that they need to ensure that they are the decision makers in the child's education.

I believe that I have the skills and talent, the experience to be able to have an impact and I want to give back to the community. We love the area. We love the people and being part of these communities.

I have integrity, experience and compassion.

Lee County School Board District 6 election: Learn more about the candidates

Jada Langford-Fleming (District 6)

• AGE: 45

• OCCUPATION: Personal Trainer

• RESIDENCE: Fort Myers

• EDUCATION: Associate's and bachelor's degrees in elementary education

• FAMILY: Married with three children

• PREVIOUS OFFICE(S) HELD: None

• COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Volunteer coach; church coordinator; working to build back community with Cajun Navy, Crisis Relief ,and Summers Project.

In the wake of Hurricane Ian, our biggest and most immediate challenge is getting students and teachers back in their schools. It is crucial that families who attended the schools affected most are able to regain a sense of normalcy and continue their education as soon as possible in their own schools. Moving forward beyond hurricane recovery (and during) is winning back the trust of the community. The current board has lost the faith of the people they were elected to serve. It is imperative that we rebuild that relationship through empowering parents and ending the constant infighting currently taking place on the board.

My top priority is getting all our children safely back in a school closest to their home. We also prioritize repairing and rebuilding the schools that were destroyed by the storm. I also want to ensure our students that have missed a significant amount of time in the classroom are provided the tools and resources necessary to get brought back up to speed as quickly as possible.

I will fight for the school district to adopt the Guardian Program while increasing the number of school resource officers on each campus, creating the safest environment for our children and staff. Student safety is always my top priority.

I am running to put education back at the forefront of our schools. It is crucial that parents and taxpayers have a voice in what is being taught to our children.

I am the only candidate in this race who was born and raised right here in Southwest Florida, and now I am raising my children here. As a mom and a former educator of 20 years, I believe that I am the most qualified candidate to reestablish trust and accountability between the district, board, and taxpayers.

Denise Nystrom (District 6)

• AGE: 61

• OCCUPATION: Retired teacher, special education administrator and assistant superintendent of schools

• RESIDENCE: Bonita Springs

• EDUCATION: Post master's in educational leadership

• FAMILY: Married with three children and eight grandchildren

• PREVIOUS OFFICE(S) HELD: None

• COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Community fundraisers for children for holidays and back to school supplies, volunteer for Florida Citizens Alliance.

The biggest challenge that the district faces at this time is helping all faculty, families, and children adjust to the devastation that hurricane Ian caused. Many people have lost their homes, their belongings, and/or their automobiles. Families have been displaced. Children have had to be relocated to other schools. With all of these challenges at hand, it is necessary to return to normalcy to the fullest extent possible and continue to provide our children with a quality education.

My top three priorities with regard to Hurricane Ian are to help faculty and families find housing, to make sure that there are grab-and-go meals because many children rely on receiving two of their three meals a day from the school district, and to offer faculty, families, and children ongoing grief counseling.

I would like to update the public participation policy to provide more time to parents and community members to express their concerns during school board meetings as I believe that parental involvement is key to the success of children. Currently, if 20 community members attend school board meetings, they can speak for 3 minutes each. If it's more than 20 community members, they can speak for two minutes each. This is barely enough time to get one's concerns across to the School Board members and the Superintendent.

Education is my passion, and I love this community. I have a vast knowledge of curriculum and student achievement on a K-12 level. I have managed a multimillion-dollar budget and was a chief negotiator for 12 separate collective bargaining units. I understand state statutes and board policy. I worked directly for Boards of Education, so I understand the role of a school board member. I want to utilize my knowledge to help all of the children in Lee County reach their fullest potential. I understand the issues because I attend the school board meetings. With my experience, I can hit the ground running.

I want the voters to know that I will work tirelessly for them. I am an overachiever and a researcher. No matter what issues I am confronted with, I will delve in to understand exactly what is going on and find solutions to their concerns.

Nikki Ross covers education for the Fort Myers News-Press and Naples Daily News. She can be reached at NRoss@gannett.com, follow her on Twitter @nikkiinreallife, Instagram @reporternikkiinreallife or TikTok @nikki.inreallife.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee County School Board candidates running in Election 2022