While the District 2 incumbent and challenger found few areas of agreement, the superintendent hopefuls often agreed in their debate.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published October 13, 2004
HUDSON - Marge Whaley and Ryan O'Reilly stood only about a foot from one another throughout their hourlong School Board District 2 debate Tuesday night. But it was clear from the outset that the two candidates couldn't be further apart when it comes to most issues of Pasco County public education.
Prekindergarten in schools?
It's a waste of money, O'Reilly said. It's an important investment, Whaley countered.
Appointing a superintendent instead of electing one?
Pasco's voters, Whaley said, should get another opportunity to decide whether their district - the largest in the country to still elect its school chief - ought to start conducting national searches for qualified leaders.
The issue, O'Reilly countered, doesn't deserve another ride on a ballot in 2006 as planned: "The voters have already told us what their preference is many times before. They don't want an appointed superintendent."
Student discipline?
Not enough is being done, O'Reilly said. Students need tougher rules - a year's suspension for bringing a weapon to school, for example.
A lot is being done, Whaley countered. The School Board is firm in its punishment and supports the administration.
The two went round and round during the first of four nights of public debates being sponsored by the West Pasco Chamber of Commerce.
Similar forums are scheduled beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday at Pasco-Hernando Community College for the supervisor of elections, state House District 46 and the Pasco sheriff's races. The series continues Oct. 25 and 28.
Whaley, 63, of Land O'Lakes is hoping to retain the seat she has held representing central Pasco voters for the past 12 years. The former student services administrator worked in Pasco County schools for 17 years before being elected to the School Board.
O'Reilly, 23, of Wesley Chapel, said he has never attended a School Board meeting, but is making his first bid for public office because he feels Pasco's schools are operating with a "cookie cutter" approach to learning. The onetime Penny for Pasco sales tax opponent said he believes voca
tional programs need to be bulked up in high schools. And on Tuesday he said for the first time that he would advocate uniforms in the elementary schools.
A former Pasco County substitute teacher, O'Reilly now works with his family's business, S&L Property Development.
Whaley and O'Reilly did agree on a few things Tuesday.
Whaley, who called herself the "Queen of the Dress Code," said she shares O'Reilly's preference for uniforms, but that the district's attorney has said the district would need to provide uniforms to students who can't afford them or else such a rule would be unconstitutional.
Also, she said she'd love to create the kind of vocational program O'Reilly is advocating - as soon as someone shows her the money to make it possible.
School Board members earn $32,906 annually, serve four-year terms and are required to set policy, approve the budget and vote on the superintendent's personnel and spending recommendations.
Schools superintendent: Also Tuesday at the same forum, state Rep. Heather Fiorentino, R-New Port Richey, faced fellow schools superintendent candidate Alice Delgardo for the first time in a public debate. Fiorentino is a former Pasco County Teacher of the Year who was first elected to the state Legislature in 1998. Delgardo is a licensed practical nurse who moved to Pasco County two years ago after years of political involvement in Boston.
In contrast to the O'Reilly-Whaley session, Delgardo and Fiorentino, 46, tended to agree on most issues, even patting each other on the back and excusing themselves when they were about to say something that might cast their opponent in a bad light. With schools superintendent John Long retiring from the $145,869-a-year seat, they both said that if elected, their changes would not be sweeping.
"You've got to keep the institutional knowledge," said Fiorentino, who has said she would like to see former primary opponent Chuck Rushe keep his post as the district's chief financial officer if she wins.
Delgardo, 52, agreed: "Leadership 101 - you look at the team who is there," she said. Delgardo emphasized her master's degree in education and her experience in management but shied away from answering questions that might end up in an attack on her opponent. Fiorentino apologetically suggested that Delgardo doesn't know the east side of Pasco County from the west.
Pasco County's schools superintendent serves a four-year term and oversees 7,500 employees, 57,000 students, 59 schools and a $664-million annual budget.
Rebecca Catalanello covers education in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6241 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6241. Her e-mail address is rcatalanello@sptimes.com
