INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Five of the six candidates running for Indian River County School Board presented their cases to a joint dinner of two Republican clubs Tuesday evening.
One candidate, Daniel Anthony Federici, who is running against appointed School Board member Dale Simchick for the District 2 seat, has filed as a No Party Affiliated candidate. Under the Republican clubs’ rules, only those registered as Republican were allowed to participate. His name was not mentioned during the candidate forum.
The North County Republican Club and the Republican Club of Indian River County hosted the candidate forum in the Tiffany Room at Capt. Hiram’s in Sebastian.
Three seats are up for election on the five-member School Board dais, including those held by Simchick, School Board member Karen Disney-Brombach, who is seeking re-election, and School Board Chair Carol Johnson, who has decided not to seek a third consecutive term.
Johnson, who attended the dinner meeting and forum, said she is ready for a change. She is finishing her 12th year on the Board, having served one four-year term in the 1980s and two consecutive terms beginning in 2006.
Representing District 1 on the School Board currently is Disney-Brombach. Her challenger is Shawn R. Frost.
Simchick, representing District 2, was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to fill the remainder of then-School Board member Jeff Pegler’s term. Pegler resigned last year to take a job in the Tampa area. Federici has also filed for the District 2 seat.
Johnson currently represents District 4 on the School Board. Without her filing for re-election, the seat is open and is being sought by former School Board member Charles Searcy, who served on the board from 1996 to 2000, and by Randy Heimler.
The official qualifying period for School Board candidates is next week and more candidates could file to run. As it is, several people initially filed to run for the various School Board seats but, ultimately, withdrew.
The five candidates permitted to participate in the forum fielded four questions – each given the same question to answer.
Though each expressed different views and opinions on the variety of issues raised, to a one, they agreed they do not support Common Core Standards – or, in Florida’s case, the Sunshine State Standards. The system is meant to be a national standard for college and career preparedness.
Heimler said the standards would prevent teachers from having the flexibility they need to be creative. “We have to let our teachers teach,” he said.
“I’m against socialism, and I think that’s where we’re headed,” Searcy said, later adding, “Common Core is not for me.”
Disney-Brombach said she couldn’t support it as it had turned out, explaining that the intent was good but the process became corrupted. “We’re on the right course,” she said of having the Sunshine State Standards, which is a modified version of Common Core.
“I know it’s bad” for the students, the teachers, and the taxpayers, Frost said, explaining that he, too, believes creativity would be lost.
Simchick told the audience that during her in-person interview with Gov. Scott during his appointment selection process, she didn’t know what his feeling was on Common Core but told him that she wants to raise the bar on the standards but not through the federal government mandate. She added that she, too, believes it to be a “socialistic approach” and would result in a one-size-fits-all education.
School Board candidates also fielded questions regarding funding for charter schools and supporting technical and vocational programs.
