Sarasota School Board District 4 race preview: Lauren Kurnov v. Robyn Marinelli

After 24 years in public office, including a stint in the Florida Legislature, followed by four terms on the Sarasota County School Board, Shirley Brown opted not to seek re-election.

Brown's decision set off an intense competition to replace her on the School Board. Not only was the staunch Democrat a rare member of her party to hold a countywide office in Sarasota, but she was also a liberal on a board that has grown more conservative since she was first elected in 2006.

Though school board seats are nonpartisan in Florida, debates over issues ranging from charter schools to bathrooms for transgender students have become highly charged. This year, both the local Democratic and Republican parties have publicized candidate endorsements, and campaign contributions have poured in at unprecedented levels, as both sides seek to influence control of education policy in a county with over 45,000 students and almost 5,400 employees.

The District 4 seat is one of three up for a vote this year on Aug. 23, as Robyn Marinelli, a retired Sarasota educator, school counselor and administrator, faces Lauren Kurnov, a former higher education administrator. In District 1, incumbent Bridget Ziegler is seeking re-election against Dawnyelle Singleton; and in District 5, Tim Enos faces Nora Cietek to replace the retiring Board Chair Jane Goodwin.

ICYMI: School Board candidate decides against attending campaign event hosted by local Proud Boys activist

Know your candidates: Who is running for local, state and federal offices in the Sarasota-Manatee area?

District 1: Sarasota School Board District 1 race overview: Bridget Ziegler vs. Dawnyelle Singleton

School Board members are elected to four year terms, and despite representing geographic districts, they are elected countywide. Their salary is $43,043 annually.

Kurnov has raised over $200,000 in campaign contributions, more than any candidate for any race in the area. Marinelli has raised just over $70,000.

Both candidates have accumulated notable endorsements from different interest groups, including partisan politicians. Kurnov is endorsed by the local Democratic Party and the Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association, the local teachers' union. Marinelli is endorsed by the local Republican Party as well as Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Lauren Kurnov

Kurnov, 43, was previously an assistant vice president and director of student success at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, and an educational consultant at New College of Florida. She has a master's degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in education from USF.

She said her past experience, her Sarasota roots and having children in district schools, make her the best candidate for the seat. Her campaign fundraising record proves this, Kurnov said.

She boiled her campaign down to a few key points focused on maintaining the district's A rating from the state: ensuring students' career readiness, supporting teachers and making sure students have the necessary reading skills as they being advancing in elementary school.

To ensure student career readiness, Kurnov said she wants to partner with local businesses to provide mentors for students. She also said she wants to see more interaction between students and advisors to help them make post-graduation plans.

Kurnov said recruiting and supporting teachers can help alleviate some of the other issues facing the district.

"If we can recruit more teachers so that we can shrink our classroom sizes, teachers are then able to offer more personalized instruction," Kurnov said. "That's really going to go a long way to getting our students caught up and reading on grade level."

Though it's not on her resume, opponents have pointed out that she once worked for Planned Parenthood. She said she worked there about 20 years ago, but decided to move her career in another direction. Her job there has no bearing on pursuit of a School Board seat, she said.

"There's really no connection, no tie-in between, between the work of that organization and what they do and my purview as a School Board Member," Kurnov said.

More coverage: Lauren Kurnov qualifies for District 4 Sarasota County School Board election

By the way: Florida schools told they can ignore Biden administration on LGBTQ discrimination rules

Robyn Marinelli

Marinelli, 69, worked as a teacher for five years, a school counselor at Southside Elementary for 20 years, and was a district-level administrator overseeing student services for Sarasota County for 15 years.

She said her campaign boils down to three points: keeping students first, ensuring parental rights, and keeping the School Board accountable and transparent.

Marinelli said she wants to see civility return to the School Board. Meetings can get out of hand, she said, and board members need to treat one another with respect.

"I know as a classroom teacher, I didn't allow some of that kind of behavior that I see at board meetings," Marinelli said. "That does not instill competence and trust."

Trust can be built by making the School Board budget more transparent, she said. As a board member, Marinelli said she would seek a more user-friendly district website for the public to see where money is being spent, rather than in a PDF that is about 130 pages long.

Marinelli said she would move to change School Board public comment policy back to how it was before the board split it into comments on meeting agenda items and general issues. She said she understands the rationale behind the move, but said delaying general comments until the end of meetings can deter parents with younger children from participating in meetings.

Board meetings usually start at 6 p.m. on Tuesday nights and can last for hours.

Marinelli drew scrutiny in June when she was scheduled to participate in a meet and greet campaign event for which a Venice resident appearing to be associated with the Proud Boys was listed as a contact. She said then she had no idea who the man was, and later decided not to attend the event.

More coverage: Here's what School Board candidates had to say at recent forum

On the issues

Critical race theory

Critical race theory is a graduate-level academic framework that asserts racism is more than prejudice, but is also systemic in the U.S.'s laws and institutions.

Kurnov: Critical race theory is not taught in Sarasota County Public Schools. It is a theory that is taught in graduate level courses, she said. The job of School Board members is to ensure students receive a well-rounded education so they are prepared for their future and equipped to be productive members of society. This means making sure students are reading at grade level, can perform math, understand social studies, and increasingly have an understanding of how to build and use science and technology, she said.

Marinelli: History should be taught in all its aspects: the good, bad and ugly, she said. CRT is something that is taught in higher education, but is not a huge issue in Sarasota County thanks to the action of parents and the state government, she said. Teachers should feel comfortable teaching how they do, they just need to be cautious.

Parental Rights in Education Act

The Parental Rights in Education Act (HB 1557) dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill by critics, is a seven-page law signed by DeSantis this year. The law states, “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Kurnov: House Bill 1557 is a bill that is written in such a way that it is open to a variety of interpretations, she said. School Board members need to work directly with parents to set standards about when and how to introduce concepts around sexual education, identity, and orientation that make sense for the community and kids. Schools should be spaces where all students feel safe, accepted, and supported.

Marinelli: She contended the bill only pertains to kindergarten through third-grade classrooms, and said she supports age-appropriate material. Students should feel like they can trust teachers, and in a majority of instances where a student needs to talk to a teacher there is parental involvement, she said. When there's not, there are outside agencies that can help.

Textbooks and library book content

There has been increased attention on curriculum content in textbooks and library books, as the Florida Department of Education rejected more than 50 math textbooks for allegedly including critical race theory. As of publication, there was an active lawsuit against the School Board over alleged obscene library books in district schools. Legal counsel for the district said it is likely to be thrown out.

Kurnov: In terms of library content, parents with kids in Sarasota County Schools currently have the right to determine what books their children can access, she said. This is an appropriate policy that makes sense for our community and one she said she would like to keep in place.

Marinelli: Said she does not believe in book bans. The content in schools should be age appropriate, however. There needs to be common sense around what books are in schools, she said.

How the district handled COVID-19

The School Board took several steps to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 to students, including a temporary mask mandate with an opt-out.

Kurnov: In the early days of the pandemic, when the information was unclear, they erred on the side of keeping kids safe, she said. They made smart decisions to balance safety concerns when we did not fully understand COVID that supported the transition back into the classrooms.

Marinelli: Said the district did the best it could early on, but the mask mandate could have been handled better. The 3-2 vote essentially told those who disagree that it was "my way or the highway" from the majority, Marinelli said.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Who is running for Sarasota School Board District 4? Kurnov v. Marinelli