One of the region’s top leaders in economic development will now help lead the Sarasota County School District. Jeff Maultsby, Sarasota County’s director of Business and Economic Development, just accepted a job as the new chief operating officer and assistant superintendent of schools. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to contribute to this community in a completely different way and a completely different level,” Maultsby tells SRQ. 

Superintendent of Schools Todd Bowden said Maultsby’s connections throughout the region would prove invaluable to the district. “Jeff has a proven track record of cultivating government and business relationships, and I am excited for him to assume the role of COO and lead our school district during this period of growth and excellence,” Bowden said. 

Maultsby and Bowden’s professional relationship dates back five years to when Bowden served as director for Suncoast Technical College. As part of a workforce development effort at the time, the two collaborated on a precision machining program, with Sarasota County funding the equipment purchase and the college providing instruction and programming classes. Maultsby has since served on the school advisory board for the college.

In a release announcing the hire, Sarasota County schools officials said Maultsby would oversee school-based operations, human resources, communications, public safety and long-range planning teams. That could prove critical as the district creates its own police force and deals with increasing budget challenges. Maultsby stressed, though, that such challenges must get addressed by teams of professionals. Whether helping manage school security efforts or classroom-based endeavors, Maultsby expects to be providing district-level oversight and direction. “My role will be to do everything imaginable to make it as easy as possible for professional educators to do their job,” he said.

Maultsby led Sarasota County’s economic development efforts for 10 years, through a recession and as the county navigated the world of public incentives. Before taking that post, Maultsby oversaw Florida operations for the Cincinnati Reds when the Major League Baseball club held its spring training in Sarasota. 

Editor's Note: Part 2 of 2.

Political controversies surround education, and a Sarasota School Board race pitting incumbent Shirley Brown against retired administrator Karen Rose has seen sharp disagreement on a number of issues even while both stress credentials in support of public schools. As school safety rose to become a central issue in school races around Florida following a shooting a Parkland high school, the rhetoric only has increased.

Right now, Brown feels public education faces funding threats from Tallahassee, and suggests her time as a state representative for the area offers insight and understanding and she works with lawmakers today. She noted recent discussions on tax rates where she convinced lawmakers to leave new construction out when calculating rollback rates for takes. But Rose feels fights with Tallahassee have come to dominate local politics to too great an extent. She declines to go in-depth about legislative issues like the expansion of vouchers, but notes only 1 percent of the district’s budget now goes toward vouchers. Rose did say she would have voted against the recent Pinecrest charter school proposal, as Brown did. Charter schools, both agreed, can play a role in area education but should not be run by for-profit corporations from outside the area.

Brown says the board has recently faced too much political divisiveness in part because of the arrival of Ziegler, who is more sympathetic to a Tallahassee agenda. She dislikes that Ziegler now serves as chair for the Florida Coalition of School Board Members, which often has a counter agenda to the Florida School Boards Association. Rose says she has not decided which of those organizations she will join if she gets elected to the school board. 

On public safety, Rose says the school superintendent should continue working with the sheriff and area law enforcement on securing campuses, as opposed to a recent move to start a district police force. Brown, who has supported the new force, says insistence by the sheriff to work with the board instead of the superintendent made such a relationship impossible. Rose heavily criticized Brown for missing a recent workshop called by School Board chair Bridget Ziegler on the issue. “Our families and teachers have to know we are giving them the highest protection this community has to office,” Rose said. Brown was out of the country at the time of the meeting and questioned the timing of it. She countered criticism noting Rose quit her job immediately after the February Parkland shooting. “To me that’s more egregious, that our head of middle schools just quits because she couldn’t take it any more,” Brown said.

The election for School Board District 4 is scheduled for Aug. 28. 

Dr. Patti Folino has been named the new principal at Tuttle Elementary School effective July 9 and pending School Board approval. A Sarasota County Schools educator for 23 years, Folino joins the Tuttle school community from Brentwood Elementary, where she served as assistant principal since 2014. She replaces Tomas Dinverno, who left Tuttle Elementary for Venice Middle School earlier this spring. Before her role at Brentwood Elementary, Folino was a program manager and supervisor with the school district from 2005–14, where she was responsible for strategy for numerous professional development and teacher training programs. Before this administrative role, Dr. Folino was a language arts teacher at Booker Middle School from 2003–05 and a team leader, mentor and writing specialist at Gocio Elementary from 1995–2001. 

Tuttle Elementary School

A new pedestrian-activated crosswalk signal on U.S. 41 is now active, providing improved safety and walkability for downtown residents and visitors. The High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) signal at U.S. 41 and First Street provides protected pedestrian crossings, stopping traffic on demand as needed. Once activated, a solid red indication is provided to motorists directing them to stop. The solid red indication advances to a flashing red that allows motorists to proceed with caution. The City of Sarasota collaborated with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), which completed the installation and activated the signal Thursday. 

City of Sarasota

Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight has announced the promotion of three Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office members. Detective Jack Gurney has been promoted to the rank of Sergeant assigned to the Patrol Bureau. Gurney joined the sheriff’s office in 2009 and throughout his career worked in the Tactical Unit, Criminal Investigations Section, and Patrol Bureau including at the Siesta Key substation. Emergency Operations Supervisor Michael Speigle has been promoted to the rank of Manager assigned to the Emergency Operations Bureau. Speigle joined the sheriff’s office in 2008 as a communications operator and, in 2012, was promoted to supervisor. Communications Operator Kevin Hiles has been promoted to the rank of Supervisor assigned to the Emergency Operations Bureau. Hiles joined the sheriff’s office in 2011 and is trained in emergency medical, emergency police and emergency fire dispatch services. 

Sarasota County Sheriff's Office

Veronica L. Thames has joined Gulf Coast Community Foundation in the new role of senior vice president for talent and innovation and chief operating officer, starting in early August. Thames currently serves as vice president of human resources at Blake Medical Center, part of Healthcare Corporation of America, for which she has worked since 2006. In this executive role, she has been responsible for key operations and personnel management of a 1,300-employee organization with 300 physicians and 350 active volunteers. Thames also served as Blake’s Logistics Officer during last year’s Hurricane Irma and earned multiple awards for highest participation in the charitable organization that supports employees within her organization. She is also the former chair and a longtime member of the Sarasota Manatee Healthcare Collaborative, has served as a board member and volunteered for numerous nonprofit and community organizations and is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Manatee. 

Gulf Coast Community Foundation

Michael’s On East has been awarded its 29th consecutive Four Diamond Rating by AAA. The AAA Diamond Rating Process is North America’s premier restaurant rating program, performed each year by professionally-trained evaluators from AAA’s national headquarters. Only 2.2 percent of more than 31,000 restaurants rated qualified for the AAA Four Diamond Award. AAA defines a Four Diamond restaurant as having menus that reflect a high degree of creativity and complexity, using imaginative presentations to enhance high quality, market-fresh ingredients, and a service staff that demonstrates a strong desire to meet or exceed guest expectations. A wine steward is typically available to provide menu-specific knowledge on wine selection. The ambiance is highly refined and well coordinated. There are no payments or membership dues associated with the AAA rating system to ensure objective and trusted reviews. 

Michael's On East

Manatee Memorial Hospital has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award for the tenth year. The award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines, based on the latest scientific evidence. MMH earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a designated period. The hospital also received the association’s Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll award for the second year. To qualify for this recognition, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient’s arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plasminogen activator, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke. 

Manatee Memorial Hospital