Pamela Gavette hopes soon to be the only Sarasota School Board member with current teaching credentials. But more than anything, she wants to bring a new way of thinking to the district. “There’s been little diversity of thought on the School Board for the last 10 years,” she says.

Gavette first decided to run after seeing her daughter and her peers have to fight for dual enrollment opportunities during high school. But as a former full-time elementary school teacher who still substitutes, her chief concern remains younger pupils. She’s upset that 1,056 of the district 3,313 third-graders tested this year could not read proficiently at grade level. While the school district boasts its long-time A-rating, she says that’s because of a concentration of affluent, high-performing students scoring high on tests, but that means little for the bottom end. She’d like to see 95 percent of students testing as proficient. “We won’t break the cycle of poverty until we make sure students know how to read,” she says.

Gavette also strongly disagrees with the recent district decision to hire its own police force. And she says she would never support arming teachers. But she dislikes the board approach. “I feel strongly law enforcement should be left to law enforcement officers and teaching should be left to teachers,” she says.

Regarding school choice, she notes 10 of 11 charter schools in the region help boost the district’s rating. And she says vouchers can be helpful to students with certain special needs. Ideally, she says public schools will be able to handle all needs, and in Sarasota that’s largely true. But she says one size does not fit all. “Every child could need something different,” she says. 

Gavette faces three opponents—Jane Goodwin, Richard Linden and Justin Cody Willis—in an Aug. 28 election. A runoff, if needed, is scheduled for Nov. 6. 

Photo courtesy Gavette campaign: Gavette (left) poses with her family.

Science teacher Richard Linden wants to see changes in the Sarasota County schools, and sees problems with spending, security and morale with the status quo. “Overall, it has felt to me as though student education and school security have not been the top spending priorities of this superintendent,” he says.

If elected to the School Board, Linden says he would do more to retain teachers in Sarasota. A long-time substitute who served as chemistry teacher at Venice High for months, he sees a deficit in enthusiasm among faculty in the district. “Teachers are being evaluated using an illogical system that is demoralizing, especially to excellent, veteran teachers,” Linden says. “During 2017, it was decided by the school district to expand the impact of this system on teacher compensation. This will likely result in many great teachers either retiring earlier than would have otherwise happened or relocating to other districts.”

Regarding school security, he thinks the district has made a mistake creating its own police force. “Rather, the district should work with local law enforcement agencies (the sheriff's office and the police departments in Sarasota, Venice and North Port) so that they provide the trained staff and the school district pays them for it,” he says. That Superintendent Todd Bowden would want to save money with this course shows a mismanagement of priorities, Linden says.

He’s completely opposed to vouchers being issued to students that can be used to pay for private schools, he says. But in evaluating new charter applications, he would research every proposal individually, including with campus visits to facilities run by applicants when possible.

Linden faces three opponents—Pamela Gavette, Jane Goodwin and Justin Cody Willis—in the Aug. 28 election. A runoff, if needed, is scheduled for Nov. 6. 

Photo courtesy Linden campaign: Linden in the classroom.

On July 7 and 8, divers boarded their boats, plunged into the Gulf of Mexico and removed 545 invasive lionfish during the fifth annual Sarasota Lionfish Derby, which concluded yesterday, July 8, at Mote Marine Laboratory. The Sarasota derby, part of REEF’s 2018 Lionfish Derby Series, was organized by Mote and Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), which helps study and address the lionfish invasion. Non-native lionfish have invaded Atlantic waters from South America to North Carolina, including the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and lionfish derbies are part of an effort to reduce populations while monitoring and studying the invasion. The Sarasota derby drew six teams that contended to catch the most lionfish, the largest lionfish and the smallest lionfish in Gulf of Mexico waters ranging from Collier to Escambia County. On July 8, cash prizes ranging from $150 to $1,000 were awarded to teams who won or placed in each category. During the derby, top local chefs from Indigenous Restaurant, Michael's on East, Mattison's Forty-One, Modern Events and the Deep Sea Diner prepared dishes for a lionfish cooking competition. The public also enjoyed a raffle and watched lionfish be counted and measured by REEF staff and dissected by Mote scientists. Collecting data on local lionfish populations year after year helps scientists study population dynamics, behavior and adaptations over time. 

Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium

The Sarasota County Council of Neighborhood Associations (CONA) is hosting a candidate forum tonight at 7pm at the Sarasota Garden Club for candidates in the county commission district 2 race. Alexandra Coe, Ruta Maria Jouniari, and Christian Zeigler have been invited to participate in the CONA forum, as they are the candidates qualified to run in the district two race for the county commission in the August primary. The forum is free and open to the public. Written questions may be submitted in advance or at the meeting to be included, as time allows, following the questions posed by the moderator. Qualified candidates for any scheduled local race are welcome to attend the social before the meeting, even if not scheduled as a member of the panel for the forum. Representatives of organizations proposing amendments and referenda on the fall general election ballot also may attend. The forum begins at 7pm at the Sarasota Garden Club, with the social beginning a half hour before. 

CONA Sarasota

Sarasota County is hosting an open house to gauge community support for the potential purchase of a 3-acre waterfront property located at 1710 Vamo Drive, in Sarasota. The property contains a mangrove shoreline, large oaks, an open lawn area, an old dock and two historic homes; one built in 1900 and the other built in 1925. Maps and photos of the property will be available to view and county staff will on hand to answer questions about the potential land acquisition. The open house is 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11, at Grace Church, 8521 Vamo Drive, Sarasota. 

Sarasota County Government