The seventh largest school district in the country may soon have an elected rather than appointed superintendent, breaking from a norm that exists across the country.
Hillsborough County voters decided the superintendent position will become elected, removing the school board’s power to hire and fire the top position that governs schools.
Election Day also brought two tight school board races to a close.
In District 2, which spans Hyde Park to Ruskin, Daniela Simic won a heated race with more than 52% of votes. Simic, a longtime educator and former assistant superintendent for curriculum, ran against Brittany Lyssy, a lawyer and past president of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans. Incumbent board member Stacy Hahn left the seat to run for county commission, and lost her race.
Lyssy led the race in campaign contributions, while Simic earned the endorsements of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association and five of the six remaining board members.
In a heated race marked by attacks, Lyssy campaigned on bringing fiscal accountability to the board and trust in public education. Simic campaigned on addressing teacher retention and dwindling enrollment.
”I am completely and totally honored and humbled,” Simic said by phone Tuesday night. “I know not everyone voted for me, but I promise to be a school board member for every single child in the district. Our kids aren’t partisan. Teaching kids how to read isn’t partisan.”
In District 6, a districtwide seat incumbent board chairperson Karen Perez won with more than 56% of votes. Perez led the race in campaign contributions and was also endorsed by the teachers’ union.
Perez’s campaign centered on addressing student mental health challenges, while Kenneth Gay, a former teacher and administrator, focused on improving the teacher training pipeline and teacher retention.
Perez said she wanted to continue to maintain the district’s A grade and improve its 93% graduation rate..
The new board members will take office this month.
The school superintendent will also become an elected partisan position after voters supported the measure with more than 58% of votes.
“Let’s see later on how we work with that,” Perez said about how it may shift the dynamics of the board. The position will go up for election in 2028.
The measure came onto the ballot after lawmakers passed a bill from sponsor Rep. Michael Owen, R-Apollo Beach, who called it a way to inject more accountability into the role. The measure received widespread criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike, including the school board, which passed a resolution encouraging voters to strike it down.
Voters also supported a measure to keep a half-cent sales tax that goes toward school repairs, security, maintenance and upgrades. More than 61% of voters were in favor of the tax. The district has a list of 1,700 projects to be supported by the tax over the next decade.
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