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Board Member Backs Superintendent's Foe

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By RONNIE BLAIR

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 30, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Longtime school board member Marge Whaley has endorsed Steve Donaldson, the Democrat and Gulf High School social studies teacher who is trying to unseat Superintendent Heather Fiorentino.

Whaley, who is retiring when her term ends in November, said in an open letter to "friends and supporters of Pasco schools" that Donaldson will "help bring positive change to our schools."

"He brings a fresh blend of experience, leadership and caring to the classroom," Whaley wrote. "Steve has seen first-hand the issues and challenges our schools are facing every day and this knowledge enables him to bring innovative and new ideas to the office of superintendent."

Fiorentino was unsurprised by the announcement, noting that Whaley didn't support her four years ago and hasn't been supportive of many of her initiatives since then.

Donaldson e-mailed Whaley's letter to members of the media Thursday evening.

Whaley is a registered Democrat, although school board members are elected in nonpartisan races. She has served on the board for 16 years.

Whaley said her upcoming retirement made it easier to go public with her views on the race for superintendent.

"I'm not going to be here," she said. "I have perhaps more freedom than other school board members."

Whaley has two grandchildren in Pasco schools and said that influenced her decision as well. Before she made her decision, she met with Donaldson and asked him a number of questions.

The answer that may have sealed the deal came when Whaley asked Donaldson what, should he win, he would do in the two weeks between Election Day and his swearing in. She anticipated some typical transition-to-office answer.

"He said, 'I would make sure my kids students would be OK, because many of them took my class because of me,'

" Whaley said. "I thought that was a great answer."

Whaley and Fiorentino, a Republican who is in her first term as superintendent, have often clashed over such issues as the teacher dress code, a Fiorentino memo that called for employees to be on call for hurricane duty during summer break and the firing of a teacher who tried to commit suicide. Whaley also has been somewhat critical of Fiorentino's implementation of Learning Focused Strategies, a new teaching method introduced in the schools.

Although some teachers have praised Learning Focused Strategies, others have cited it as reason for low morale.

In 2004, Whaley supported Chuck Rushe, who was Fiorentino's opponent for the Republican nomination.

Whaley also was the person who suggested a referendum two years ago that would have given the school board the power to appoint the superintendent, as is done in Hillsborough, Pinellas and many other Florida counties. Voters decided to keep the position an elected one.

Fiorentino said the school district has accomplished a lot under her watch.

"I am extremely proud of what our district has done and the strides we have made," she said.

Among the accomplishments she cited: Pasco received districtwide accreditation, built more than a dozen schools, added classroom wings to several other schools and, for the first time, was an A district in the state's grading system.

"I want to build on that in the next four years," Fiorentino said.

The superintendent's race has been relatively quiet until now because Fiorentino and Donaldson were unopposed in their party primaries.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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