Manatee County School Board Chair Cindy Spray faces challenger Sharon Jefferson in the District 2 runoff on Nov. 3. The race is countywide, and Lakewood Ranch residents can cast ballots starting Monday, Oct. 19.

Spray, 70, was first elected in 2022 with an endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis. She is a retired bookkeeper for Tropicana Federal Credit Union and a Bradenton resident since 2008.

She told Your Observer in a Q&A published Thursday, Oct. 15, that rising construction costs and the impact of artificial intelligence on campus safety rank among her top concerns.

"We have no idea what impact the AI platform will look like in five years," Spray said. "For me, that's a big concern because of the ability to use it not only to skirt academic standards, but it could potentially be used to create havoc on our campuses."

Spray topped the five-candidate August primary with 34.17% of the vote, or 2,776 of 8,124 ballots cast, according to MySunCoast. Jefferson finished second with 26.83%.

Reading scores and early learning

Early literacy has been the centerpiece of Spray's tenure. She told the Observer that pre-kindergarten reading scores improved 12% to 15% during her time on the board. She attributes the gain to placing reading coaches in every school and adding paraprofessionals to classrooms.

"I kept hounding the message that we have to start at the lower level so we can get them to level by the time they're in third grade," Spray told the Bradenton Herald.

The School District of Manatee County has held a B grade from the Florida Department of Education since 2017. The district was a few points short of an A in 2026, WUSF reported. Spray said reaching that A means focusing on lower-performing schools while maintaining higher-performing ones.

Construction, teachers and safety

The district operates under a five-year construction and renovation plan. Spray acknowledged that fluctuating building-supply costs sometimes force the board to scale back or extend projects.

On teacher retention, Spray said the district offers competitive wages that attract educators locally and nationally. She has championed a "Para to Pro" program that helps paraprofessionals earn teaching certificates, a pipeline she said keeps experienced staff in the district.

Spray also helped implement the "Safety Over Secrets" program, which lets students anonymously report safety concerns, according to the Bradenton Times. She voted to extend one-mill referendum funding to charter schools.

The race

District 2 covers parts of Bradenton, Palmetto and Ellenton and has the highest concentration of Title I schools in the county, the Bradenton Herald reported. Jefferson, 54, is a history teacher and 27-year educator in Manatee County schools with a doctorate in education.

Spray has raised more than $40,000 in campaign contributions, according to WUSF, including a donation from Tea Party Manatee Inc. She has endorsements from Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells and the Manatee Patriots. DeSantis has not endorsed school board candidates this election cycle.

Under a Florida law passed in 2023, school board members are limited to two consecutive terms. If Spray wins, she cannot run again in 2030.

Early voting in Manatee County runs Monday, Oct. 19, through Nov. 1, with polls open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Lakewood Ranch residents can vote at the Lakewood Ranch Library, 16410 Rangeland Pkwy., or Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd.