School Board Race For District 3 Down To 2

When Mitch Thrower and Jessica Vaughn decided to run for the Hillsborough County School Board, things were a little bit different than they are now.

In fact, the job they are both vying for — the District 3 seat that includes all of New Tampa’s public schools — suddenly looks a lot harder than it once did.

In the past six months, Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on the school system, and the school’s budget situation has gone from bad to worse to downright terrible.

“I completely agree it’s become a tougher job,” says Thrower, the former chairman of the Hillsborough County Planning Commission (he resigned in June). “There are some very tough decisions that are going to need to be made.”

Vaughn, a Tampa Palms resident and substitute teacher who was elected to the Tampa Palms Community Development District (CDD) Board in 2016, doesn’t disagree. In fact, when it comes to discussing the biggest issues facing schools in the upcoming months, they both agree the budget and keeping schools safe — primarily from Covid-19 — are easily the top two issues of the campaign.

Thrower, a Carrollwood resident, was the top finisher among six candidates in the August primary, capturing 25% of the vote, while Vaughn was second with 24.5%. The difference between the two was a mere 296 votes out of 42,950 votes cast.

Now that just these two candidates remain, both feel voters will be able to draw a clearer distinction between them. The early voting period is October 19 through November 1, with Election Day scheduled for Tuesday, November 3.

Jessica Vaughn, and husband Nilesh and son Zachariah.

When it comes to fixing the $32-million shortfall in the District’s budget — much of it due to the continued loss of students due to home schooling and charter schools — a lot of belt-tightening, including potential layoffs and program cuts, is in the future for the county.

Vaughn, who has a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from the University of South Florida, says the School District needs to stem the loss of students, and an evaluation to find out why more students are choosing charter schools — and how public schools can retain those students — is vital.

“Why aren’t they choosing our public schools? That is the question that needs to be answered,” she says. “We need to fix that.”

Vaughn, who has been endorsed by the Tampa Bay Times, also says the county needs to look for alternative sources of revenue, and make sure the money it does have is being spent wisely on items like administrative salaries and contracts with vendors.

Mitch Thrower with Ally (pink bandana) and Ruby.

Thrower, who started his professional career auditing school boards at the State of Florida Auditor General’s office, thinks it is time for tough questions for those controlling the District’s purse strings. 

“I think my business experience is needed at this time,” he says. “I can go in there as an auditor and I know what questions to ask. When it to comes to experience, honestly, there’s no comparison.”

Thrower is a Certified Public Accountant and certified internal auditor, and he holds a Bachelor of Science in Management degree from Tulane University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Florida State University.

When it to comes to school safety, both candidates are in favor of mandating masks in schools to deal with the spread of Covid-19, say teacher safety is a priority and approve of the other safety precautions being taken by the District.

Both candidates said the School Board’s handling of the return to school in August, arguably one of the most important discussions it has had to make in recent memory, could have been smoother. Thrower says he will bring more communication to the position, which he thought was lacking during the controversial re-opening discussions. He also felt the School Board wasn’t “proactive and creative enough.” 

Meanwhile, Vaughn said she was extremely frustrated watching the School Board meetings, particularly the lack of planning. She said she was advocating in March and April for a plan in case the pandemic stretched into the fall, including the creation of e-Learning centers to accommodate parents who needed to return to work and didn’t have childcare.

“Nothing would have been perfect,” she says. “You can’t mitigate a pandemic perfectly. But, I would like the School Board to be more realistic and proactive about our challenges and less reactive. It undermines public confidence in the Board.”

Both candidates, who have children in public schools, say charter schools have a place in education. Thrower says charter schools provide options, “but they should be held accountable just like public schools.”

Vaughn says she is fine with not-for-profit charter schools, except when they hire for-profit management companies.

“At the end of the day, all parents really want the same thing,” Vaughn says. “They want a safe environment that’s close by, that is free, that nurtures and respects their students and offers them a good education. And, I want to see that happen in our public schools.”

Overall, Thrower had raised $58,500 but only had $6,500 cash on hand at our press time, while Vaughn had brought in $45,127, but still had nearly $28,000 cash on hand.

Vaughn has criticized Thrower for taking more than $12,000 from developers while he was chairman of the Hillsborough Planning Commission, which examines and weighs in on development projects for the county commission.

Thrower resigned from that position in June, to avoid any charges of impropriety.

Thrower says he is running a non-partisan campaign built on his experience and not as an activist. Since the primary, Vaughn has outraised Thrower $18,940 to $4,725, thanks to $12,000 in donations from the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee.

For more information about each candidate, visit VoteMitchThrower.com and JessicaVaughn.us, or search their names on Facebook.

Tampa Palms Resident Making School Board Bid

School Board candidate Jessica Vaughn

Tampa Palms resident Jessica Vaughn has spent much of her time the past few years as a community organizer and helping other candidates with various campaigns and elections.

Now, she wants to expand her horizons and run her own campaign, with the hopes of replacing Cindy Stuart in the Hillsborough County School Board’s District 3 seat. A crowded Primary Election is scheduled for Tuesday, August 18.

Stuart, who has served on the Hillsborough School Board since 2012, is running for Clerk of Circuit Court, leaving open her School Board seat, which represents the northern suburbs of the county, including New Tampa, Carrollwood, Lutz and Thonotosassa.

Vaughn, a substitute teacher who was elected to the Tampa Palms CDD in 2016, is hoping to parlay her desire to improve education throughout the District into a position where she can make a difference.

“I’ve been involved in helping other people get elected,” Vaughn says, “but I am very passionate about education, and it was a good time to put my money where my mouth was.”

Vaughn, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from USF in 2010, says she feels that many School Board members aren’t serving based on a passion for education, but rather to launch a political career.

She thinks it’s important to have experience managing a budget, being in the classroom and being a parent. “Those are the types of people we really need on the School Board,” she says. “That’s why I thought I’d be a good fit.”
With campaigning in person limited by Covid-19, Vaughn has been active on social media and has aggressively campaigned where she can. Her lengthy platform includes everything from clean water and safe buildings to catching those students falling through the cracks.

School safety in the age of coronavirus, however, has become most important.

She was in favor of students wearing masks before the county decided to make them mandatory, and says rigorous cleaning of schools has to be the top priority. Teachers and students, she says, must be taken care of, and virtual and e-learning options should be readily available.

Vaughn says she’s a strong believer in public education, and isn’t opposed to charter schools in theory, praising Pepin Academies and Learning Gate Community School in Lutz, but says many other charter schools have siphoned money from public schools and aren’t being held to the same standards as public schools.

Vaughn feels strongly that statewide testing is overutilized and far from adequate in determining a student’s academic achievement, and that the School District’s budget — which has again seen its reserves disappear and has created a $50 million deficit — is not being used wisely.

She think more money needs to be spent on evening the playing field for students who are at a disadvantage due to things many take for granted, like access to nutrition, walking to school in dangerous neighborhoods or even just having a jacket to wear to school in cold weather.

“If we’re not honestly talking about access to resources, supporting these communities and what that looks like when we’re talking about achievement, we’re not being realistic about the conversation,” she says.

Vaughn is running against five other candidates. She has endorsements from Tampa District 7 City Council member Luis Viera, and Hillsborough County commissioners Mariella Smith (countywide District 5) and Pat Kemp (countywide District 6). She received the endorsement from the Tampa Bay Times as well.

“Overall, my experience makes me the best person for this job, and I’m the person most preparing myself for it,” Vaughn says. “I’m the one watching the Board meetings and posting on social media about what’s happening….I’m the only candidate talking about anything that’s happening educationally. If you need someone who is focusing on all of these important issues and will be ready to hit the ground running, I’m it.”

For more information, visit JessicaVaughn.us, or search for “Elect Jessica Vaughn” on Facebook.