BROOKSVILLE — Outgoing Hernando County School Board member Mark Johnson used his farewell remarks Oct. 20 to warn that the district isn’t ready for the wave of students headed its way.
“We are not prepared,” Johnson said of the coming enrollment growth. “We have to be prepared.”
New housing developments, including Sunrise Hills in the eastern part of the county, are expected to put heavy pressure on the district to add classroom space in an area projected to see major growth in the coming years.
That puts Hernando at odds with its neighbors. While Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties have weighed closing schools as enrollment declines, Hernando’s public schools expect more students, even as new private and charter schools open.
Johnson lost his reelection bid in the August primary to Dana Pearce, a former Springstead High School principal. He has said he won’t run for the board again and plans to return to his private investigation business.
It was the second time Johnson lost a reelection bid. He served on the board from 2014 to 2018, lost in 2018 and won a seat again in 2022.
The board presented him with a plaque honoring his service.
Johnson said he pushed for a middle school and a high school in the east end of the county and is pleased that Eastside Academy of Leadership and Innovation is now a K-8 school. He said he hopes another school will be built there so students won’t have to travel up to an hour and a half to get to class.
Looking back on his term, Johnson said that when he and board member Shannon Rodriguez were elected, teachers were getting a $2,600 raise, while noninstructional staff were set to receive $60 more per pay period — and then give $35 of it back through a higher share of their health insurance costs.
He said he fought the health insurance increase and got it reversed, “and it stayed that way for the past four years.”
Johnson recalled one board meeting that started at 6 p.m. and ran until 2:30 a.m. He said Hernando “should be an ‘A’ district and it’s not,” adding that while there is excellence throughout the system, friction between teachers and administrators persists.
“They don’t work together to solve the problems the district has,” he said. “My point is very simple: The teachers want more money and we don’t have it.”
He said teachers should help the district find savings, such as replacing i-Ready, which costs $1.4 million a year, with a less expensive program and putting the difference toward salaries.
Johnson said he has always put students first, which he called the board’s purpose.
Rodriguez said it was a pleasure serving alongside him.
“Thank you for the times that we’ve had,” she said, adding that some were difficult and others easy.
In her closing comments, Rodriguez said she understands that holding office means facing scrutiny and that she welcomes “legitimate questions and accountability.” But she said there is a difference between questioning someone’s judgment and making “serious, unfounded accusations about their character and intentions.”
She said those who “make a mockery and love to berate the elected officials” should run for office themselves if they think they can do better.
“I think that it would give you a newfound respect of what it’s like, even if you could get through the process of running for office and campaigning,” she said. “I think it’s way harder than you could ever imagine.”
Board members serve because they want to make a difference in the county, she said.
“We do it because we care.”
On the ballot
Board member Susan Duval faces Kara Champion in the Nov. 3 general election. Rodriguez won reelection in the August primary.
The board also introduced its new student delegate, Chrisandra Rogers, 17, a Springstead High senior who won the districtwide student delegate election.
In other action
Students from Eastside Academy of Leadership and Innovation led the Pledge of Allegiance, and Principal Mike Lastra highlighted the school’s accomplishments. Superintendent Ray Pinder congratulated three Eastside staff members for their long service to the school and the district.
Rodriguez recognized Suncoast Elementary School Principal Daisy Hughes for her career and for leading the school to an “A” rating. Pinder recalled that when he first met Hughes, he mistook her for a student.
Pinder announced that applications for a new citizens academy will open Nov. 9.
Duval recognized the academic achievements of the district’s student-athletes.
Field trips
The board approved several overnight trips to the Florida Music Educators Association conference in Tampa in January: Central High School’s band director and two students, Jan. 14-16, for the All-State Honor Band; Nature Coast Technical High School students, Jan. 13-16; Powell Middle School chorus students, Jan. 14-16; D.S. Parrott Middle School band and chorus students, Jan. 14-16; Hernando High School band director Joseph Harrin and one student, Jan. 14-16; a Challenger K-8 student, Jan. 14-16, for the All-State Honor Band; and Winding Waters K-8 students, Jan. 14-15.
Also approved on the consent agenda were an overnight trip for Central High Beta Club sponsors Kim Worden and Zachary Leonard and 13 students to the Beta Club State Convention in Orlando on Jan. 8, where they will compete for a spot at nationals; a trip for a Central High HVAC instructor to the AHR Expo in Chicago, Jan. 25-28; and a trip for Hernando High girls wrestling coach David Pritz to the 2026 Women of Ironman tournament in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Dec. 11-14.