School board incumbent hopes 'passion with a purpose' gets her reelected

When Cindy Spray looks at many students within the School District of Manatee County, she sees herself: an angry foster kid who didn’t have any sort of direction. 

“I can see the sad sadness in some of these students' eyes in all levels — elementary, middle and high school,” Spray said. “I often wonder what's going on inside them that they may not want to share. Sometimes that's all they need is somebody to stop and listen.”

Spray, the District 2 representative and chair for the School District of Manatee County, is running for reelection. She began her first term on the school board in 2022. Spray said she has been a huge advocate for mentorship programs for teens, especially foster kids.

“They're the hardest to place and they're the hardest to break through to get them into a positive thinking atmosphere,” Spray said. “Not only at school, but in their own home environment. Once we get them, it's almost like they start seeing the light. They can see the better versions of themselves that they didn't see before.”

Spray said there has been a lot of change since she first ran for the school board, but her “passion with a purpose” remains the same. She wants to help students. She said she wants to build on the momentum and achievements, such as higher graduation rates, achieved within the three years she has been on the board. 

She believes it all starts with early learning. She said putting more preparation into children’s development early on — which might include providing extra help to those lagging behind — is like a “reverse snowball.” 

“We’ve got to focus on reading coaches, math support and peer-to-peer help and all of those things to get our students across the finish line,” Spray said. “It's not just about graduation, it’'s about sending these students into their next chapter of their adult life.”

Spray, who worked her entire career in the business world, said she has a great respect for those teaching in the classroom.

“They choose to do this, and it's not easy,” Spray said. “Some get burnout and they're gone in a year or so, but the ones who have it in their souls to do this stay. They see and feel the rewards once they get their student to the level they need to be.” 

Spray also said she has more of an understanding of what the district staff, including Superintendent Laurie Breslin, do in their roles. 

“They're out in the district at the schools, working with principals, working with reading coaches, giving them guidance and more,” Spray said.

Photo by Madison Bierl

She said she didn’t initially realize how technical education data tracking is, but now regularly looks through data and budgets. This includes information on what programs and projects do or do not work. If programs aren’t effective, she has no problem voting against them.

“When we see the agenda and it's got all of those millions of dollars on there, understand that during my briefing, I'm saying ‘There's no way I'm jumping from $150,000 to $250,000 in spending in one year,’” Spray said. “There's got to be a reason for that.” 

Spray said a justified reason to spend more money would be to manage new sites and schools, such as Veterans Elementary School and Rye Ranch Elementary School, which opened this year. 

When building new schools, she is all for reusing architectural designs in order to save money.

Spray was following the happenings of the school district for many years prior to running for school board. She said it would take a new school board member between six months to a year to figure out what is going on in the district.

“People that don't know the education world, they can't see the other side,” Spray said. “If you do know both sides, then you have a whole lot more to offer, and that's where I'm at.”

When it comes to sports in middle schools, Spray thinks there could be more time and energy into implementing more. She said there are lots of courts, fields and recreation spaces that aren’t used to their full potential, sometimes only for recess. Her goal is to move along the process of getting more sports programs in place, including tennis.

Spray is also a supporter of charter schools. She said there are 11,267 students in Manatee County charter schools right now. 

“If we didn't have partnerships with our charter schools, where would we put those 11,000 students?” Spray said. “Charter schools are essential under our district. It gives the parents the choice.”

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Spray was elected as chair of the board on Nov. 18 and she believes they have a very strong leadership team. Spray believes it in her soul that she is meant to serve on the board longer alongside Breslin, who has exceeded her expectations.

“My thoughts on where things need to change are well received and then just her (Breslin’s) dedication and her experience has changed the dynamic of our district in a very positive manner,” Spray said. “The board we have now and the district leadership that we have, I see us just excelling in everything.” 

Spray said she did not create a campaign website this time around, as she is focused on the task at hand: being an active school board member and campaigning out in the heat with the community. She said she will not "get ugly" or burn bridges in order to get ahead.

“It's never about who's holding the gavel,” Spray said. “it's about what we do as a district. That's what counts to me.”