Cantrell ousts Aranibar

EAST COUNTY — A tide of supporters wearing red “Cantrell for School Board” T-shirts erupted into cheers and applause as election results came in Tuesday night.

Mary Cantrell, the longtime leader of Manatee Technical Institute, ousted Julie Aranibar, who has served on the Manatee County School Board since 2010.

Cantrell received 53,406 votes, for 46.3% of the vote, compared with Aranibar’s 46,517 votes, for 40.3% of the vote.

“I’m so excited,” Cantrell said of her District 5 school board win. “I’m so grateful. I think we’re going to have a wonderful board that works together for the betterment of our schools. There are hard decisions that need to be made.”

Cantrell took the helm of a flailing MTI program in 1996 and grew it from one campus with 500 students to four campuses with more than 10,000 students, until her contract was not renewed by the district in June. Under her watch, MTI students won more SkillsUSA awards each year for the last decade than any other school in the competition.

She decided to run for the school board seat at the prompting of friends and fellow educators.

Cantrell said teachers and school board employees are dealing with an atmosphere of fear and oppression.
“We want teachers to be able to teach and feel safe and free to take chances, not be overburdened,” she said. “We want kids to excel. We want everyone to work together.”

Cantrell was joined in her election night celebration by dozens of retired and current educators, including school board members Harry Kinnan and Walter Miller and former superintendent Tim McGonegal, as well as friends and supporters at the home of former Bashaw Elementary principal Minnie King. Meanwhile, Aranibar sipped wine with about 20 supporters at Poppi’s Place in Lakewood Ranch.

Once all but 1% of the results were in, Aranibar conceded, and called Cantrell to congratulate her.
“It’s not official, but it looks like you’re going to win,” she said on the phone. “Good luck, and I wish you all the best.”

Cantrell will be sworn in to her new post Nov. 18 — on her 71st birthday.

She said she is confident the new school board can work together to accomplish change for the school district — for the betterment of students, teachers, administrators, bus drivers and all district employees.
She shakes her head at the thought of retirement.

“You have to have a purpose-driven life,” Cantrell said. “My passion is education. My passion is students. My passion is making it better.”

Also Tuesday, Manatee Country District 6 Commissioner Carol Whitmore held on to her District 6 seat with 65,202 votes, or 56.5% of the vote, compared with Terri Wonder’s 43,950 votes, for 38.1% of the vote.
In Manatee County, 115,450 votes were cast for a 54.3% voter turnout. There are 212,609 registered voters in Manatee County.

Amanda Sebastiano contributed to this report.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].