Hillsborough School Board | District 7

Stephen Gorham, Carol Kurdell, Runoff

This School Board race pits a 16-year veteran against two men who have never held public office but bring some different perspectives to the campaign trail. Incumbent Carol Kurdell is well known throughout the district, but her challengers argue that it’s time for change on the School Board.

	Stephen Gorham, 29	Carol Kurdell, 63	Jason Mims, 55
Experience	He is making a first bid for the School Board, after an unsuccessful run for state Senate. He is interested in local schools as a father of two, the husband of a middle school teacher, and a technology administrator at Hillsborough Community College. He served in the Navy and is active in the National Guard. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Southern Illinois University and a master’s in information studies at Florida State University.	She is running for a fifth term on the School Board. She was first elected in 1992, making her the longest-serving official on the board. Before her first election, Kurdell was a longtime school volunteer, served on state education committees and worked for the district as a consultant. A Tampa native, Kurdell graduated from Robinson High School in South Tampa and holds a bachelor’s degree from Eckerd College.	He is seeking election to public office for the first time. In recent years, Mims has become a familiar face at School Board meetings, promoting educational opportunities for urban students, particularly minority boys. Through his MIMS Institute, he tutors individual students and tries to help them get into leading universities. Mims served 21 years in the Army. He earned bachelor’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame.
Is experience valuable on the School Board?	“Experience comes in a lot of different packages. You can have experience in business and in other sectors. You don’t necessarily need to be on the School Board. You can get to a point where you’ve become complacent in your post. I’m a big fan of term limits.”	“No matter who you are, there’s a learning curve that goes with being a School Board member. It’s going to take somebody who’s had that kind of experience in the public sector to be able to keep a steady hand as we move forward.”	“You have to have a range of experiences on the board. What’s missing is the male baby boomer perspective. That’s like almost four decades of adult experience that is not available to the board, the district, the taxpayers or the students.”
Are schools safe now?	No. There lacks consistency on how visitors are allowed onto campuses and use of surveillance cameras.	Yes. There is a student safety plan. But sometimes children are bullied, and that’s unacceptable.	Yes. There’s always room to improve, but more than 190,000 students show up daily without major incident.
Is the district spending money well?	No. The board has to quit awarding no-bid contracts and review its spending on professional consulting services.	Yes. The district has refined its business practices, and it’s doing a better job making decisions based on data.	No. Spending could better promote achievement. Many students can’t name the last good book they read.
Assets	Home, land, investments and retirement funds.	Home.	None.
Liabilities	Mortgages, car loans, student loans.	Mortgages, personal loan, student loan.	Car loan.
Net worth	$64,300.	$494,800.	$2,250.
Source of income	Hillsborough Community College administrator, National Guard.	School Board salary.	Military pension. Education consulting, has worked with district on three contracts over the last 10 years.
Personal	The Plant City resident is married to a math teacher at Mann Middle in Brandon. They have two young daughters. The oldest is starting kindergarten at Walden Lake Elementary.	She is married and lives in South Tampa. She has one son (deceased) and a grown stepson.	He is married and has two grown children, graduates of Hillsborough schools. He lives in South Tampa.
Web site	Yes	Yes	Yes
E-mail	Yes	None	Yes
Should boundaries be redrawn to relieve crowded schools and fill up empty seats elsewhere?	“We need to plan better. To lay a boundary and have to change it in three years, four years, five years is bad planning. Obviously, we need to have a goal of using maximum capacity, because that’s the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars.”	“Boundaries are probably the most emotional issue we deal with, and it has an immediate impact on a family. We have to be aggressive about boundaries, because you can’t have empty seats. It’s never easy. But sometimes, it’s essential.”	“Student assignment should be based on how the school is going to help the individual students, not just where a student lives and a line drawn on a map. But if students go to a school, the parents should be able to know that their child will come out of there at the end of the year having read a certain number of good books.”

About the job: School Board races are nonpartisan and the terms are four years. The seven-member board generally meets every other week to set policy for the district. The job pays $40,887 a year. District 7 covers the entire county, and candidates can live anywhere in Hillsborough.