Hernando School Board | District 4

Runoff: Gene Magrini and James Yant

Three candidates hope to fill the nonpartisan seat being vacated by longtime board member Jim Malcolm, and they offer sharply different solutions for a school system facing a leadership transition and deep budget cuts.

	James Yant, 61	Gene Magrini, 43	Robert Neuhausen, 40
Experience	A longtime Hernando county resident, Yant served in the Air Force before joining Hernando High as a counselor in 1973. He also worked at Pasco-Hernando Community College, and later served for eight years as a member and chairman of its board of trustees. He owns and operates the J.C. Yant Insurance Agency.	A self-employed human resources consultant, Magrini has lived in Spring Hill for 15 years. He previously directed human resources for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and served as director of administration for Sunshine Youth Services. He has served as a member and chairman of several school advisory committees.	A native Floridian, Neuhausen has lived in Brooksville for 17 years and currently works as an electrical engineer for Sparton Electronics. He has served as an advisory board member for the YMCA, and volunteered in his children’s schools as well as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
Education	A.A., Hampton Junior College; B.A. in business, Bethune Cookman College; M.A. in counseling, Florida A&M University.	B.S., business administration, California Coast University; additional coursework at Rutgers University.	B.S., electrical engineering, University of South Florida; additional coursework at Pasco-Hernando Community College.
Opinions on School Board and district performance	“I think the School Board is doing what it needs to do to a certain extent,” he said. “But nobody is looking at the economic condition of the state of Florida and the country. Everyone is assuming money is going to be there, and it’s not going to be there.” Yant said superintendent Wayne Alexander has done an “excellent job” in some areas, but spoke of widespread community dissatisfaction over the board’s decision to grant him a raise before the end of his first year on the job.	“I think we have good leadership from the board, trying to do the people’s work in a very difficult climate,” he said. The superintendent has a “good vision of where he wants to take the district,” Magrini said, but needs to improve his tact and leadership skills. He faulted the board for not taking responsibility for promising Wayne Alexander a raise if he met its benchmarks. And he said the board could do a better job of finding savings in the purchase of supplies and materials.	Neuhausen is strongly critical of the performance of the School Board and superintendent, describing a “fundamental lack of respect for how things are done” in the schools. He said the board wastes time on peripheral issues like dress codes, while spending little time on key issues like the dropout rate. He said the superintendent should not have sought a large pay raise this year, and said he leads by intimidation. “That needs to be checked,” Neuhausen said. “You cannot lead that way.”
Plans to improve the school district	Yant would launch a communitywide dialogue on ways to fund local education in light of declining tax revenues. “We have to pay for those children’s education, or we pay for their incarceration,” he said. He sees little chance for teacher salary increases this year.	Magrini said he wants the School Board to function as more of a corporate board, focusing on objectives and policies rather than minutiae. And he said he could slash administrative and other costs to find teachers a raise of 4.1 percent or more this year.	He said the School Board needs to improve community participation, perhaps by holding meetings in schools. He would urge it to focus on student success, and do a better job of forging links with local employers. He sees little chance of significant teacher raises this year.
Assets	Insurance, securities, home and properties.	Home, investments, savings, insurance.	Home, retirement accounts, savings.
Liabilities	Mortgages, loans.	Mortgages, car loan.	Mortgage, loans.
Source of income	Business, insurance, rental income, retirement.	Consulting business.	Engineer salary.
Personal	Married to Christene Cromartie; two grown children.	Married to Sharon Magrini; three children.	Married to Lynda Neuhausen; three children.
Web site	Yes	Yes	Yes
E-mail	Yes	Yes	Yes
Net worth	$740,021	$410,992	$60,170

About the job: School Board members are elected on a nonpartisan basis to four-year terms. Board members hire the superintendent, approve the district budget, set school property tax rates, make education policy and award construction contracts. The board sets its salary each November. The current pay is $32,607 a year.