Sarasota School Board picks new attorney
The Sarasota County School Board has selected a legal team from the local firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick to serve as the new legal counsel for the district, as longtime board attorney Art Hardy retires.
Attorney Dan DeLeo will lead the team, although Patrick Duggan, the former in-house counsel for the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, will handle more of the day-to-day work.
The board approved Shumaker in a 3-2 vote Tuesday, with board members Shirley Brown, Tom Edwards and Jane Goodwin voting in favor. They cited Shumaker’s local presence, the firm’s long ties to the district and DeLeo’s involvement in helping promote the district’s property tax referendum every four years.
Sarasota School Board urges governor to prioritize schools personnel
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the level of raises that School Resource Officers can receive.
The Sarasota County School Board is urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to include school personnel in the list of those receiving top priority for the COVID-19 vaccination.
The governor has prioritized senior citizens, with initial doses of the vaccine going to people age 65 and older, along with medical workers and nursing home residents.
While the district is working with the Department of Health to ensure that a small cadre of district employees who are in that age group get top priority, the School Board is asking state officials to expand that group of recipients to all school personnel, as supplies become available.
For roughly three decades, Hardy has been a crucial behind-the-scenes adviser helping orchestrate the School District’s property tax referendum and reminding School Board members that fighting in Facebook comment sections can be a violation of Florida’s Sunshine Laws.
Now, with Hardy’s retirement looming, the Sarasota County School Board is tasked with replacing the man who has outlasted 10 superintendents and 21 School Board members.
Hardy is not weighing in on who should replace him, but he has some advice for surviving the countless legal frays and dueling personalities that populate school board offices. When there wasn’t a clear legal answer, which often there wasn’t, I would try to give the School Board the pros and cons,” Hardy said. “And try to remember that they are the ones making the decision, not me. I m giving the advice.”