School Board hopefuls call for quick action on teacher pay and overcrowding but have little else in common.
By MARY SPICUZZA
Published October 28, 2004
In the primary election, there were four.
Now there are two.
Pat Fagan and Linda Prescott, who edged out former board member Stephen Galaydick and bus driver Lewis Jones, are now in a runoff to replace retiring Hernando School Board member Gail David.
Fagan led the four-person Aug. 31 contest with about one-third of the vote, with Prescott close behind.
Overcrowding of school facilities, student performance and teacher salaries have emerged as the top issues in the District 2 race, which will be decided in Tuesday's general election.
Fagan, Hernando County's longtime parks and recreation director, and Linda Prescott, a teacher with 35 years of experience, agree on the basics. Both say Hernando needs to act quickly to relieve overcrowding and pay district teachers more money.
Other than that, they have remarkably little in common.
Fagan was born in Brooksville and has been working as the county's parks and recreation director since 1978. He grew up in Pasco County, but has been living in Hernando County since 1969.
Prescott has taught in six different states during her long teaching tenure. She said that teaching at the middle school, high school and university levels has brought her into contact with students from about 40 different countries. She also spent one year teaching women prisoners in Nashville.
Fagan, 55, is a Spring Hill resident who has spent decades in the county. He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Saint Leo College, now Saint Leo University, in 1971. From 1971 to 1978, he taught physical education in Hernando County schools and coached baseball and football teams.
While working as parks director, he was also on the Brooksville City Council from 1983 through 1986, serving as mayor during his last year.
"I learned the ways of life, of being a politician," Fagan said of his City Council term. "It made a better person out of me, and I learned the dos and don'ts of life."
He also served as interim county administrator during 1985.
Prescott, 56, has never run for public office before, but has years of experience in both education and community organizing.
The longtime teacher, a New Orleans native, earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Florida and a master's degree in business education from Middle Tennessee State University. She has spent the past 35 years teaching accounting, business and computers.
Prescott moved to Hernando Beach four years ago, and is now an instructor at the Ybor City campus of Hillsborough Community College in Tampa.
"Education is my career and has been my passion all my life," she wrote in a St. Petersburg Times questionnaire.
She said her years of experience teaching have deepened her understanding of student performance in the classrooms, which she believes "should be learning centers, not testing centers."
"I do believe we need tests," Prescott said. "But I believe the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) is overkill."
Prescott is also a devoted environmentalist. She is president of the local Coalition for Anti-Urban Sprawl and the Environment, and has twice sued Hernando County over development issues. She has fought to prevent Wal-Mart from expanding in the county, and has been monitoring development near the Weekiwachee Preserve.
Prescott's commitment to conservation has not won her many contributions from local Realtors or developers, unlike her opponent. As of Wednesday, her total contributions were $3,775, primarily in small amounts, while Fagan had received $8,250, according to the county's election Web site.
Seven Hills Inc., based in Tarpon Springs, has contributed $1,000 to Fagan's campaign, as has the Realtors Political Action Committee. Tri County Development Inc. has contributed $500, and other Realtors have donated varying amounts of funding, records show.
Fagan said the contributions were the result of "just friendships throughout the years."
Fagan added that he will always vote for his "own convictions," which he said include a greater emphasis on student performance, the "basics" and an increase in the number of magnet schools.
He dismissed the notion that he might have a conflict of interest if a situation arises where his county bosses want an outcome on the School Board that he does not feel represents the public interest.
Fagan said his past experience working with engineers and architects would make him an asset to the School Board as it plans to build new schools.
"I have the knowledge of what they're saying," he said. "Whenever they bring up a facilities issue, I have a pretty good understanding of it."
Still, Fagan, who has been attending School Board meetings since he announced his candidacy two years ago, said he would focus at first on being a "consensus builder and team player."
"It takes an individual a good year to understand," he said. "I'm going to plan on sitting back and listening to the issues. I don't have any special issues that I'm going to bring up right away."
He added that he would "depend on the superintendent and her staff" to update him on the current issues facing county schools.
But, he said, he hopes the board can work with teachers to bring up test scores in the district, especially at the middle school level.
Prescott, who has won the endorsement of the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association, also said that she would work to relieve overcrowding in the schools while increasing student performance.
Prescott, who has taught in both a portable classroom and a cafeteria, said that she knows how important it is to have a good learning environment. She added that increasing educators' pay would help, too.
"I'd like to find a way to pay our teachers and staff competitive salaries," she said. "I know we are losing teachers because I've talked to some of them."
Prescott said that, if elected, she would work to increase student participation in advanced placement, vocational education and community college dual enrollment classes.
She said her experience teaching students from diverse backgrounds would be an asset to the board, and her training in accounting would help with School Board budget decisions.
"I am seeking this office because I think I can make a difference for the future of the schools and education in Hernando County," she said.
PERSONAL: Born Aug. 19, 1949, in Brooksville. Married to his wife, Patricia, since 1993. Twin 9-year-old daughters are in fourth grade at Chocachatti Elementary School. Fagan also has two adult sons from a previous marriage. Lives in Spring Hill.
EDUCATION: Saint Leo College.
POLITICAL: Fagan served one term on the Brooksville City Council from 1983 through 1986. He was Brooksville's mayor in 1986. He is also on the Chocachatti Elementary School Advisory Committee.
PROFESSIONAL: He has served as the Hernando County parks and recreation director since 1978. He worked as a physical education teacher and coach in Hernando County schools from 1971 to 1978.
HIGHLIGHTS OF FAGAN'S PLATFORM:
* Build new schools to relieve overcrowding. He says that by building "smart," using architectural standardization, the school district could reduce construction costs.
* Increase teacher salaries.
* Improve student performance and raise FCAT scores, especially at middle schools.
* Encourage more magnet schools and charter schools, which he believes will increase educational choice and innovation in the public school system.
LINDA K. PRESCOTT
ux0 PERSONAL: Born in New Orleans. Moved to Hernando County in 2000. Married to her husband, Michael, and has no children. Lives in Hernando Beach.
EDUCATION: University of Florida, Middle Tennessee State University, Utah State University.
POLITICAL: This is her first try for office, but Prescott has been active in grass roots and community organizing. She is president of the local Coalition for Anti-Urban Sprawl and the Environment, and served for two years as secretary of the Hernando Beach South Property Owners Association.
PROFESSIONAL: Prescott has been a teacher for 35 years. She has taught at the middle school, high school, community college and university levels. She also spent one year teaching at the Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville.
HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESCOTT'S PLATFORM:
* Research solutions to lessen school overcrowding.
* Increase student performance.
* Increase teacher salaries to make wages more competitive with other districts.
* Increase student participation in advanced placement and dual enrollment classes and vocational education.
* Research starting a parent-child-home program in the county.
