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Schools

Schools race: 1 in, 1 out

A retired educator seeks a School Board seat while another candidate gives up her District 3 race.

By THOMAS C. TOBIN
Published July 19, 2006

A former Pinellas school administrator has joined the School Board race, and another candidate who once served on the board has withdrawn.

Ray Tampa, who was a teacher, assistant principal and principal in Pinellas schools, will run for the District 7 seat. Four other candidates, including School Board member Mary Brown, were running for that seat as of Tuesday.

The deadline to qualify for the Sept. 5 election is Friday.

Tampa, 54, retired from the district two years ago to work in Atlanta for Community Education Partners, a company that contracts with Pinellas to operate a school for troubled students in Pinellas Park. He said he returned to St. Petersburg in February and is working as a real estate agent.

"I am interested in putting my 33 years of experience as an educator to work in a different capacity," Tampa said Tuesday. "I truly believe I can be an asset to the board."

Meanwhile, Janice Starling, who was running for the District 3 seat, withdrew from that race and threw her support to fellow candidate Lewis Williams.

Starling served on the school board briefly in 2002 after Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her to replace board member Thomas Todd, who died in office. She sought her own term but lost to Brown in the primary election.

Starling said she came to her decision as she pondered "the direction of my campaign and my personal life."

Tampa said the issues in the campaign will include the achievement gap between white and minority students, the dropout rate, employee morale, the district budget and the possible resegregation of some schools when the choice plan's race ratios expire next year.

He said he also wants to highlight the district's strong points, which he said include an engaged community, good school facilities, excellent staff, talented students and superintendent Clayton Wilcox.

"We have issues," he said of the district, "but we're free of major strife, I feel."

Tampa worked for 21 years as a teacher and assistant principal at Meadowlawn Middle School. He also was an assistant principal at Fitzgerald Middle School and Shore Acres Elementary before moving to North Shore Elementary as principal. He retired as principal at Lakewood Elementary.

[Last modified July 19, 2006, 05:53:19]