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School Board Member Sets Sights Higher

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By RONNIE BLAIR rblair@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 5, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County School Board member Kathryn Starkey has announced her candidacy for the Florida House of Representatives seat that will be vacated in 2010 when term limits keep state Rep. Tom Anderson from running again.

Starkey, in her second term on the school board, says in a written announcement that many of the issues she has worked hardest on are best addressed by state government. The Legislature makes many of the decisions about education that school boards must then carry out.

House District 45 is partially in west Pasco and partially in Pinellas County.

Starkey, a Republican, first was elected to the school board in 2004. She won re-election in 2008, running unopposed. School board elections are nonpartisan, so the House race will be Starkey's first run in a partisan election.

Anderson, R-Dunedin, has served in the House since 2002.

Under Florida law, Starkey must submit her resignation from the school board to qualify as a candidate for the House of Representatives, but the resignation would not take effect immediately.

She has been an advocate of high school career academies, which are designed to prepare students for the job market.

She also favors neighborhood schools where students can walk to school. At a school board meeting this week, Starkey expressed disappointment when board members were told that all students at Wesley Chapel Elementary qualify to ride buses because traffic conditions and a lack of sidewalks make walking too dangerous.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218.

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