John Legg for Pasco schools superintendent in the Republican primary | Recommendation

Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board, Tampa Bay Times
Updated ·3 min read

Pasco County is one of 41 of the state’s 67 county school districts that elects its superintendent. Kurt Browning is retiring after more than a decade at the helm. The superintendent runs the district, which is the 10th largest in the state. The job pays $172,928 annually. The winner of the Republican primary faces No Party Affiliation candidate Chris Dunning in the Nov. 5 general election.

Pasco School Superintendent Republicans — John Legg

John Legg, 49, was born and raised in Pasco County. He earned an associate’s degree from Pasco-Hernando State College and three degrees from the University of South Florida — a bachelor’s in social work, a master’s in public administration and a doctorate in education. In 2004, voters elected Legg to the Florida House, where he eventually became chairperson of the House Education Committee. In 2012, he won a seat in the Florida Senate, where he chaired the Senate’s Education Committee.

Legg is the co-founder and the chief financial officer of Dayspring Academy Charter School, a highly rated school with six campuses in Pasco. The academy has kids prekindergarten through 12th grade. If elected to superintendent, he will need to avoid even the appearance of any conflict between his duties as superintendent and the charter school he helped found.

Legg has a significant funding advantage over his opponent, and much of the county’s Republican establishment has lined up behind him, including Sheriff Chris Nocco, Tax Collector Mike Fasano, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis and Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson.

Legg favors accountability but doesn’t want to over-test students. He emphasizes that education is not one size fits all and that students need options like early college, trade and technical schools, arts and teacher academies and STEM programs. He said he would push to increase school and classroom autonomy. He also told the Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board he wants to focus on the things that matter to students. “We can do this without drama,” he said.

His opponent in the primary is Michelle Mandarin, a first-time candidate who works in marketing and describes herself as an outsider who has “a vision of a district that can work together to solve the many problems that keep getting swept under the rug.”

Mandarin, 34, hasn’t raised much money, and her campaign has been comparatively quiet. She told the Times she would focus on auditing the district budget to root out waste and programs or materials that aren’t needed. Her other priorities include recruiting and retaining teachers by creating a welcoming workplace and ensuring the district enforces the written rules on discipline so that teachers spend more time teaching and less time handling disciplinary issues.

Running a school district is a big job, one of the most important in any county. Legg has the education and experience to take the reins.

For Pasco County School Superintendent in the Republican primary, the Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board recommends John Legg.

The recommendation process

Before making a recommendation, the Times Editorial Board asks candidates to fill out questionnaires and sit for an interview. The process can also include running criminal and civil background checks, interviewing candidates’ colleagues and employers, reviewing voting records and financial disclosures and examining their past and current positions on relevant issues.