Challenger enters Manatee County School Board race. ‘I know what questions to ask’
Susan Agruso, a former New York superintendent and a longtime financial watchdog for Manatee County schools, has entered the District 2 school board race.
She spent decades as a teacher and administrator in South Carolina and New York before she moved to Bradenton and volunteered her time on the Manatee County School District’s Audit Committee. Now, Agruso said she hopes to bring her passion for education, transparency and fiscal responsibility to the school board.
Agruso will face off with Harold Byrd Jr. during the August election, competing for the District 2 seat currently held by Charlie Kennedy, who has no plans to file for re-election.
Byrd, a former Bradenton City Council member whose family has deep roots in local education, entered the race earlier this month. Agruso filed to run on Wednesday morning, announcing her candidacy in a news release.
“Every decision made by a Board member must be based on what is best for students,” she said in the prepared statement. “We need to ensure that students in every ZIP code have opportunities for success, and then we have to build in the supports they need to take advantage of those opportunities.”
After starting her career as a high school physics and earth science teacher, Agruso joined the New York State Education Department as a science specialist. She worked with teachers across the state to create assessments and curriculum.
Agruso, who holds a doctoral degree from the University at Albany, also worked as an assessment director for the South Carolina Department of Education, and then as assistant superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
She then returned to New York to work as superintendent of South Country Central Schools and later Kings Park Central Schools, before retiring in July 2014 and moving to Manatee County with her husband.
But she never completely left the education field. For the past six years, including at least one as the chairperson, Agruso has worked on the Audit Committee, an independent group of volunteers that review internal audits of the school district.
“Financial management in the district has improved over the last few years, but there is more to do,” Agruso said. “We need well-funded schools if our students are to be successful. But wasting taxpayers’ money is not acceptable. People should be confident that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.”
“We must ask the right questions and make sure every dollar counts,” she continued. “I know what questions to ask.”
If she were elected to the school board, Agruso said she would focus not only on the district budget, but also on transparency and student success.
When the school district falls short, she said, the board should ensure that administrators take responsibility, inform the public, prepare a solution and then follow up with results.
And students — regardless of their zip code or individual challenges — should have the resources to excel, Agruso said, underscoring the need for more reading support among K-3 students, and highlighting the positive impact that education had on her life.
“Children should dream and know their dreams can come true because we provide them with an education to make that happen,” she said.