A Florida Senate panel on Tuesday moved closer to changing residency requirements for school board candidates.
Under current law, school-board candidates are required to live in the districts they seek to represent at the time they qualify to run.
But the Senate Education Pre-K-12 Committee approved a measure (SB 444) that would change that to require candidates to live in the districts at the time they take office.
In the news: Report: Florida Surpasses New York Again, This Time On Jobs
The House passed an identical bill (HB 411) last week. Senate sponsor Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, told the committee that the measure is designed to bring school-board races more in line with election rules for various other offices.
But the measure got pushback from Sen. Rosalind Osgood, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat and former Broward County School Board member.
“I do see school board members a little differently, because you deal in a real intimate way with students and families, and I think it’s critically important that you have a sense of the district area. That you know what’s going on,” Osgood said.
In the news: Florida Woman Wins $1 Million On $5 Scratch-Off Lottery Ticket
Ingoglia defended the measure from such criticism. “Living in the community, living in a district doesn’t necessarily mean that the person has less of, or more of, a grasp of what’s going on in the district or the community as a whole,” Ingoglia said.
The Legislature this year also is considering other changes related to school-board elections, with the House last week passing a measure (HJR 31) that would make the contests partisan.
Android Users, Click To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter . Signup for our free newsletter .
We can’t do this without your help; visit our GiveSendGo page and donate any dollar amount; every penny helps.