Seven candidates have lined up in races for three seats open on the Hernando County School Board, including incumbents Mark Johnson and Susan Duval.
Johnson, who was elected to the board's District 1 seat in 2014, faces challenger Catherine "Kay"Hatch. Retired from a career in nursing, Hatch moved to Spring Hill about three years ago from Ohio.
Also elected to the board in 2014 and running for reelection is Duval, who currently holds the District 5 seat. She will face off with Joseph Santerelli, pastor of Hillside Community Baptist Church in Brooksville, who filed for the seat this week.
Santerelli recently became part of an effort to get former Hernando schools Superintendent Lori Romano her job back after she was fired by the School Board on June 12. Duval voiced one of the five-member board's three votes to terminate the contract with Romano.
Three candidates will battle for the board’s District 3 seat — to be vacated by Beth Narverud as she makes a run for a seat on the County Commission — including two names familiar in Hernando’s political world.
One is Jimmy Lodato, who in 2015 was one of the loudest voices behind the successful effort to revive the county's half-cent sales tax for school capital improvement projects. The initiative passed by an overwhelming margin.
This is his fourth run for local office after three failed attempts to win a seat on the County Commission with school issues at the forefront of his campaign.
Another is Diane Rowden, a longtime area resident and former county commissioner for three terms. She sat on the School Board for one term in 1990, but was removed by the governor for a Sunshine Law violation.
The wife of Jay Rowden, who currently heads the county's chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Rowden said mental health services for students will be a main focus should she be elected.
Also gunning for the District 3 seat is Julius Blazys, who moved to the county about three years ago and is retired from a career in medical lab testing. He says he is a "big believer" in education practices that teach real-life skills.
School Board races are nonpartisan. Members set policy and approve budgets for the school district. They must live in the community where their seat is based, but are elected countywide. They serve four-year terms and are paid $36,276 per year.
The official qualifying period for local races ends June 22, according to the Hernando County Supervisor of Elections. The primary election will be August 28, and the general election will be Nov. 6.
Contact Megan Reeves at mreeves@tampabay.com. Follow @mareevs.