Republican Club president and pastor posts desire for Pasco school board seat in 2012

LAND O'LAKES — The seat isn't officially open for another three years.

But candidates for Pasco County School Board District 4 are popping up now, with incumbent Kathryn Starkey having announced her plan to resign next summer to run for the Florida House.

Billie Kaleel, a retired court reporter and Starkey's neighbor, was first to file her intention to seek the position (officially in 2012, though the paperwork can be amended once Starkey makes her move).

John Tracy, president of the Faith and Family Values Republican Club of Pasco County, announced his bid for the seat this week on his Web site.

"I've had a number of people contact me with interest in that seat," Starkey said, adding that she expected more filings to come soon.

She had no plans to support anyone in the race, which she said will be happening in 2010.

"I can't go back," Starkey said of her decision to leave the board to run for state House District 45, which incumbent Tom Anderson must abandon because of term limits.

Kaleel could not be reached for comment.

Tracy, also an associate pastor of Hillside Baptist Church in Carrollwood, said he had prayed over different opportunities to serve in Pasco County. He decided the School Board offered a natural extension of the work he had been doing, as he has "a lot of experience in helping families and standing up for family values."

School districts "can be a battle ground," Tracy said. "I believe there needs to be people there that are specifically thinking about the values of conservative families."

Although he does not have a specific agenda to speak about yet, Tracy said voters could expect him to consider all issues from his world view — that of a Baptist pastor who believes in the Bible. He supports offering alternatives to teaching evolution in science, for instance, and he contends that the role of religion in U.S. history must be presented accurately.

"I'm definitely not interested in a theocracy," Tracy said. "But I do think religion — particularly Judeo-Christian beliefs — is a huge part of what we are today. I think it's wrong for us to sweep that under the rug."

Tracy and his wife, Kim, home-school their 5-year-old son. He did not know if he would continue to do so into the future, he said, but for kindergarten, at least, the setup benefited his busy family lifestyle.

"With the schedule I maintain, it was really impossible just to get him to school every day and to get him home every day," Tracy said.

The terms of three other Pasco School Board members also are set to expire next year. Some candidate names have been bandied about, but so far only one — civic activist and self-described fiscal conservative Donna Munsen — has filed papers to seek one of the three.

Incumbents Allen Altman, Cathi Martin and Frank Parker have yet to say whether they will seek re-election.

In the budget year that just ended, School Board members made $37,714. The salary for the coming year will be set Tuesday.

Jeffrey S. Solochek can be reached at solochek@sptimes.com or (813) 909-4614. For more education news, visit the Gradebook at blogs.tampabay.com/schools.