Partisan involvement on the rise in Duval’s School Board races

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local school board race in Duval County is generating statewide interest, with Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Democratic Party each endorsing a candidate.

In District 7, DeSantis-endorsed Melody Ann Bolduc is facing off against Sarah Ann Mannion, who has earned the endorsement of the Florida Democratic Party.

Florida voters will get to decide whether they want to see partisan school board races in November, and given the endorsements in District 7, some local races will essentially get to test run that policy on Aug. 20.

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Another district race has also garnered some partisan attention.

In District 1, DeSantis-backed Tony Ricardo is up against Dr. Nadine Ebri, who has received donations from prominent local Democrats and at least one moderate Republican councilman.

Ricardo, a former teacher in Duval and current owner of a local graphic design business, told Action News Jax he’s running to fix issues like inappropriate material in schools and rising student discipline problems.

“I believe they’re going to get some transparency hopefully and some commonsense values. Again, that’s the platform, making decisions as though, you know, you have a vested interest in the outcome,” said Ricardo.

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Ebri, who also taught in Duval County schools and now works as a Global Education Community Manager for Microsoft, said she’s running to solve the exodus of students leaving public schools and also, in part, to depoliticize local schools.

“I want to ensure that we have people in place who truly care about all of our students regardless of their demographic, sexual orientation, their religion, their race, anything,” said Ebri. “Like, we need to ensure that we have school board members who are advocating for all of our students.”

While Republicans have a solid registration advantage in District 7, District 1 is likely to be a closer race, according to the Duval Supervisor of Elections’ registration stats.

UNF political science professor Dr. Michael Binder argued District 1 could go either way, which may explain the interest from partisan figures.

“And we’re seeing more and more of this as statewide parties are wanting to get involved,” said Binder.

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And Binder argued we’re likely to see even more partisan involvement in these nonpartisan races moving forward.

“Because they understand how important local school boards are to determining a direction of the education systems in these large cities,” said Binder.

Read: ‘We refuse to comply:’ Florida scores win in fight over new Title IX rules after week of court rulings

While the trend may be more partisan involvement in school board races, recent polling suggests Florida voters want to keep them nonpartisan.

Only 37% say they support Amendment 1, which would make the races openly partisan.

CLARIFICATION: A PREVIOUS VERSION OF THIS STORY INCORRECTLY STATED DR. EBRI HAD THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY. WHILE EBRI HAS RECEIVED DONATIONS FROM LOCAL DEMOCRATIC ELECTED OFFICIALS, SHE DOES NOT HAVE THE FORMAL ENDORSEMENT OF THE PARTY. THE FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS ONLY OFFERED AN ENDORSEMENT FOR SARAH ANN MANNION IN SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 7.

Read: Jacksonville sheriff holds town hall, discusses Duval Connect program, new transparency portal

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