Tampabay.com
MARCH 09, 2010

Gov. Crist appoints three to State Board of Ed, two to USF trustees

Gov. Charlie Crist has returned one former Jeb Bush chief of staff to the Florida State Board of Education and appointed another to the board, as well. 

Crist reappointed Kathleen Shanahan, Bush's top aide from 2001-03, to the state's education policy-making board for a second term. Shanahan, a key Crist adviser, is CEO of WRSCompass in Tampa. He also named Mark Kaplan, chief of staff to Bush and Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings from 2004-07, to replace Peter Boulware on the State Board. Kaplan, vice president of Mosaic Fertilizer, served on Crist's action team on energy and climate change, and was executive director of the Florida Housing Finance Corp. 

His third appointee to the Board of Ed is Susan Story of Pensacola, CEO of Gulf Power. Story is chair of the Florida Council of 100 and immediate past chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

All three have terms that expire in 2013.

To the USF Board of Trustees, Crist has named Jordan B. Zimmerman of Boca Raton, CEO of Zimmerman Advertising, to replace Kiran Patel, and Byron Shinn of Bradenton, president of Shinn & Co. accounting, to succeed Sonja Garcia.

Their terms end in 2015.

All appointments require Senate confirmation.

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Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going in on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.

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THE TEAM

Rebecca Catalanello covers Pinellas County schools. E-mail her: rcatalanello@tampabay.com.

Tony Marrero covers Hernando County schools. E-mail him: tmarrero@tampabay.com.

Marlene Sokol covers Hillsborough County schools. E-mail her: sokol@tampabay.com.

Ron Matus covers Pinellas County schools. E-mail him: matus@tampabay.com.

Jeffrey S. Solochek covers Pasco County schools. E-mail him: solochek@tampabay.com.

Kim Wilmath covers the University of South Florida. E-mail her: kwilmath@tampabay.com.

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