Gabrielle Russon
An Orange County School Board race is attracting attention for the amount of fundraising and the undercurrent of deeper national political issues.
Jeni Grieger and Stephanie Vanos are running for the open District 6 seat. Current School Board member Karen Castor Dentel is throwing her hat in the ring for Orange County Supervisor of Elections. Dentel, meanwhile, is endorsing Vanos.
Florida’s School Board races are supposed to be nonpartisan. But School Boards across the state in recent years have discussed everything from mask requirements during the COVID to book censorship and diversity initiatives.
Grieger says she is concerned about the school’s literacy rates and wants to add “science-based, proven literacy programs, best-in-class that move the needle,” according to her website. She also values supporting teachers by giving them more resources.
Vanos also wants to improve kids’ reading as well as create more internships and workforce development opportunities for students who aren’t college bound, according to her campaign. She wants good STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs but also thinks the District should support arts and music for all students.
The two candidates differ greatly in their ideologies.
Vanos, who is heavily outraising her opponent, is one of 11 local candidates the Florida Democrats are backing. She also is endorsed by U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, state Rep. Anna Eskamani and other local Democrats, as well as the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is endorsing 23 School Board candidates across the state but he isn’t weighing in on any Central Florida School Board races — including this one, even though Grieger is more conservative.
Grieger denied to the Orlando Sentinel that she is involved with Moms for Liberty, the group that’s gotten involved in School Board races, pushing for more parental control over what books are in school libraries and opposing mask mandates during the pandemic.
However, Grieger said she is against mask requirements and thinks adults should be able to review school library materials to make sure they are appropriate even if they don’t have children enrolled at the school, according to an American Family Association survey.
