Here's what each Sarasota School Board candidate had to say at Thursday's Tiger Bay forum

Three of the five candidates for August’s Sarasota School Board election participated in a public forum Thursday afternoon.

District 2 candidate Liz Barker was present, while the incumbent board chairwoman Karen Rose was absent. District 3 candidates Thomas Babicz and Tom Edwards participated, but Greg Wood was absent due to a family illness. The three faced a crowd of more than 250 people at Michaels on East armed with questions and concerns for the future of the Sarasota County School District.

The panel spanned a variety of topics from the upcoming school tax referendum vote to charter schools and political distractions at board meetings.

Here is what each candidate had to say at Thursday's Tiger Bay Forum:

If you had a magic wand, what is one thing you would do for Sarasota County Schools?

Tom Edwards: Secure funding for a family engagement specialist in every Sarasota County school to ensure that every student arrives ready to learn. He added that a large portion of the Sarasota County community is at or below the poverty line, which can impact learning due to household traumas involved with poverty.

Thomas Babicz: Send every teacher to learn how to teach phonics for literacy. He added that every Sarasota County graduate should know how to read.

Liz Barker: Get families more involved, and build meaningful relationships between families and schools. She said family empowerment in schools should mean a lot more than a pile of permission slips.

What metrics are you focused on in keeping the Sarasota County School District’s A rating?

Tom Edwards: The work of the district's teachers and administrators combined with the support of families is the reason behind the district's perennial A rating, he said. Edwards pointed to the district's financial situation, the effect of Florida HB 1 and universal vouchers, as something of concern in maintaining the A rating. As the cost of construction continues to rise and money leaves the district to private schools through vouchers, that money is lost for investing in students.

Thomas Babicz: Babicz said the best thing the district can do to maintain its A rating is to equip each student with a quality education and good self-esteem.

Liz Barker: The board needs to focus more on the achievement gap, Barker said, and by working to close the gap, the district will continue its A rating. She also said eighth-grade reading scores, and other statewide test scores, should be focused on outside of just third-grade reading being a gauge for district status.

If the Sarasota County Schools tax referendum does not pass, what are you eliminating first?

Tom Edwards: Referendum funding is intertwined into many aspects of the district's budget, so losing referendum dollars would take cuts from more than one place. However, pointing to one item specifically, Edwards said he would look into obsolete programming in the district.

Thomas Babicz: Evaluate every position in the district and see where cuts can be made. Also, Babicz said much budget cuts could be made in the savings from re-negotiating the district's contracts with outside entities,

Liz Barker: Losing referendum dollars is not an option, she said. It doesn't matter who you vote for, be sure to vote in favor of the referendum.

How do you curb distractions at Sarasota County School Board meetings?

Tom Edwards: The school board is being run by extremists, he said. Edwards asserted that everyone at the forum, on both sides of the political aisle, would vote for a safe, high-achieving academic environment for all students

Thomas Babicz: School should be free of politics, he said, adding that he'd work with both Democrats and Republicans while in office. Political activists create circuses at school board meetings, he said.

Liz Barker: The majority of Sarasota School Board members are pushing a particular political agenda, and it distracts from the real issues facing the district, she said. If a school board is doing its job, the meetings should be boring and no one should feel like they have to come, she said.

What is your position on charter schools in Sarasota County?

Tom Edwards: Edwards said he supports school choice, and said Sarasota County had several wonderful charter schools that are a good fit for the community. He said that for-profit charter schools and the district's approval of two new for-profit charters were a "blatant misuse of our tax dollars" as it puts public funds into the pockets of private businesses. He said the district needs to send a message to the Legislature in Tallahassee that they need to evaluate parts of the state's charter school legislation because it isn't a "one-size-fits-all" solution.

Thomas Babicz: Babicz said he is in total support of charter schools and the voucher program. He said the public has equal rights to the funds because they pay into it already with their tax dollars.

Liz Barker: There should be more guardrails with vouchers because, as it stands now, there is not enough accountability in private/charter schools as there is in public schools, Barker said. She said that private schools are not required to take ESE students, which is why public schools are so vital.

What is your position on the book removal process in Sarasota County schools?

Tom Edwards: The district already has a robust opt-out policy that parents can use to avoid their children seeing content they don't want them to see. Edwards said he hasn't seen any pornography in the district's schools, and said that students should be taught to think critically — something that diverse and sometimes controversial books often do.

Thomas Babicz: Emphasized that he is running for school board on the platform of eliminating pornography and critical race theory from schools. He emphasized the difference between sexual education and explicit content. Babicz supports the current book removal process but wants every new instructional material to be checked by parents.

Liz Barker: Believes the current process in Sarasota County works well and said the board hasn't banned any books. She cited personal anecdotes of teachers self-censoring and urged the board to support teachers and educators.

What are your thoughts on the Sarasota School Board candidates who weren't present at Tiger Bay?

Tom Edwards: Questioned the trustworthiness of the candidates who did not appear Thursday, adding that it showed a lack of transparency. He commended Babicz for attending and said it showed integrity.

Thomas Babicz: He said many people told him not to come because the audience could be hostile to conservative ideas, but he wanted to come.

Liz Barker: She said she couldn't comment on why Rose wasn't present, but said that she was there herself because she values truth, honesty and transparency. She said she'd always answer a question from the public, even if someone doesn't agree with her.

Do you support abolishing the federal Department of Education?

Tom Edwards: No

Thomas Babicz: Yes

Liz Barker: No

Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: What Sarasota School Board candidates said at Thursday's public forum