Seven up?

The Manatee County School District is struggling with this riddle: Is seven a greater number than five?

In terms of arithmetic, the answer is obvious. But the question the school board grapples with is whether it should grow the five-member board to seven members, to help establish a more diverse board that mor closely mirrors the county’s commission board.

Nearly four months ago, Manatee County Commissioner Charles Smith brought the idea before the commission and discussed it with the school board.

“We don’t have turmoil on our board, and you won’t if there’s seven of you,” Smith said to the school board at its June 23 meeting. “More members means no one or two members can hijack board meetings.”

Voters could decide how their school board is elected and how many members it will have. Board members are vetting possibilities to present to the community during the 2016 election. Should voters opt to change the number of school board members, changes wouldn't take effect until the 2018 school board elections, school board Vice Chairman Dave Miner said.

At its meeting last week, the board voted 4-1 to have board attorney Jim Dye review the legality of a proposal to put the issue on the General Election ballot in 2016.

Chairman Bob Gause cast the only dissenting vote. Gause said he voted against moving on to the next step in the process, because he doesn't know if the change is necessary as the district works on other pressing issues.

So far, it has discussed two options to present to the state Supervisor of Elections office to potentially offer voters.

Seven single-member districts

Although one of the newest members on the school board, Charlie Kennedy already has ideas on how the district can better represent its county.

He thinks seven districts, rather than the five, might be a better way to solve problems such as inequality among voter numbers.

Charts Kennedy created from information he pulled from the county's Supervisor of Elections website reflected gaps in voter numbers. For example District 5, which encompasses East County, has 24,365 more voters than his District 2.

"There's an imbalance in the number of registered voters the way our current districts are divided.We are supposed to be equal members of board, but we aren't representing equal portions of the county. So our constituents aren't getting equal representation" — Charlie Kennedy, school board

Adding two districts would help equalize the number of voters each board member represents, Kennedy added.

But, he doesn't want two current board members to acquire an extra district. He thinks two extra members should come on board to oversee those districts.

Currently, all five school board members are elected countywide, although they are required to live in a certain district. 

Instead of five members who are chosen by individuals who live in different areas of the county, Kennedy wants residents of each district to vote on the one candidate who lives in their neighborhood.

"I'm OK with things staying how they are," Kennedy said. "But, if we are going to change, we should be elected by people from where we each live, and by adding two districts. These options mean better representation of the county as a whole."

A risk associated with single-member districts, though, is board members advocating more for their own district than for the betterment of the entire school district, which is its ultimate goal, said Andrea Messina, of the Florida School Boards Association.

Adding two at-large members

Miner supports a structure that mirrors county commission's layout of five members, who are each elected by their district, and two members who are elected countywide, or at-large.

He believes reflecting the commission's setup will provide more consistency across governing groups. 

But, Miner believes that allowing the community to make the five-versus-seven decision will improve the district's reputation with residents, he said.

"I can't think of better way to build trust than to allow residents to make this decision," Miner said. 

Having fewer members elected through a countywide campaign process would also be more cost effective for candidates, too, Miner said.

Although they have disagreeing opinions on whether to add at-large members, Miner and Kennedy agree having the majority of members elected by the district he or she represents is more effective than the current system.

"This discussion is step one of many," Kennedy said. "We need to represent our constituents and the school district as best we can — whatever that looks like."

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].