School Board — District 3: Dave “Watchdog” Miner

Age: 70

Occupation: Attorney

Hometown: Bradenton

About: David Miner is an attorney and Vietnam veteran, who has served on the school board since 2012. He currently also serves as president of the Anna Maria Island Kiwanis Club and as vice chairman of the Central Florida Public School Boards Coalition, which represents the families of more than 1 million students.

Several schools are at or over capacity. How can you as a board member have an impact?

To address the over-capacity, as a board member, I continue to support Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene’s long-range plan which includes first building a new high school in the Parrish area and then a new elementary and middle school in west Manatee County. Her plan also includes rebuilding obsolete schools — e.g. Oneco Elementary — and combining some schools under-capacity on the elementary level.

As a board member, I was instrumental in requiring that use of funds from sales tax and impact fees be subject to review by the District’s audit committee, consisting exclusively of C.P.A.’s who are already drafting checks and balance procedures regarding use and receipt of the funds.

Do you think elementary schools need school resource officers or should staff handle that? Why/not?

I continue to support the presence of law enforcement officers in our elementary school to provide education, good role modeling, and safety.

Manatee County Schools got a mixed bag for grades this year. How do you think Manatee County Schools are performing academically?

We are progressing. Dr. Greene is leading us on the right path. Our graduation rate has climbed significantly over the past five years, and a large majority of our Title 1 schools increased a grade this past year. We have the best technical college in the nation – award winning Manatee Technical College. The biggest story about our academics is our “Reading on Grade Level” Campaign, which the District has partnered with the United Way and other agencies for preparing students for entering school, providingsummer educational activities for students to reduce or eliminate the “education slide” that significantly affects students in Title I schools and making every effort to have students daily attend their classes — the “Every Day Counts” campaign.

Our District’s “Reading on Grade Level” Campaign has garnered nationwide attention and applause.