Laura Hine, a former Republican, hasn’t taught school, but the 45-year-old U.S. Naval Academy and USF album founded Friends of North Shore Elementary, which helped improve the struggling school in northeast St. Pete. Her opponent, Stephanie Meyer, is an alum of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and teacher at St. Pete’s private Keswick Christian School who favors school choice (also important to Hine) but the Times points out that her website also says Meyer wants to end teaching of what she called “revisionist history” in public schools. That’s a hard no, Meyer—Hines all the way.
District 7: Caprice Edmond
For nearly 20 years, the District 7 seat on the School Board has been occupied by a Black board member. Not if Karl Nurse wins. The 65-year-old “outsider” and businessman lacks teaching experience, and while critics of his opponent Caprice Edmond say she’s too close with unions who “protect sacred cows” (uh, unions stand up to powers working against smaller voices), a Nurse win over the 33-year-old elementary school science coach means that Black representation on the Pinellas School Board will be kaput. We’re not OK with that, especially when Edmond—who’s worked as a guardian ad litem—has been outspoken about the board devoting more resources towards mental health and wrap-around services.
See all of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s 2020 recommendations here.
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This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2020.