By Elijah Penn, Editor-in-Chief
With three School Board seats up for election this year in Pasco County, people are faced with a challenging task of deciding who they will vote for on Aug. 18. In two races, Districts 1 and 3, the incumbents are stepping down. This means it is guaranteed that a new School Board member will be elected in August unless there is a runoff in the November general election.
While each elected official represents their respective district, their decisions affect the entire county, and, thus, any registered voter in Pasco County may cast their vote on all School Board elections.
The Lions’ Pride Media Group has interviewed all of the candidates that qualified in this election.
In Florida, school board elections are non-partisan races, meaning candidates may not run with affiliation to a political party. Elections are staggered every four years between even and odd district numbers; not all seats are up for election at the same time.
Pasco County currently has five elected School Board seats. In 2026, the odd-numbered seats—Districts 1, 3, and 5—are up for election.
An elected school board of no less than five members is mandated by the Florida Constitution Article IX, Section 4. The duties and powers of county school boards are further laid out in Florida Statue Title XLVIII § 1001.60-1001.67.
The powers of the School Board include approving district taxes for schools, creating policies for the operation of schools, engaging in lawsuits on behalf of the district, entering into contracts, holding public meetings, and approving curriculum that aligns with state law.
Decisions made by the board must be approved by a majority vote from the board members.
Pasco School Board District 3 represents the southwestern region of Pasco, including Odessa, Trinity, Elfers, and Holiday. The seat is currently held by Cynthia Armstrong, who is not seeking reelection.
There are five candidates who qualified in District 3 vying for Armstrong’s empty seat.
Matt Geiger is an educator with nearly 30 years of experience in several leadership roles. Sean O’Flannery is a teacher who has almost 30 years of experience in four school districts across Tampa Bay. Kirk Phillips is a retired Air Force officer, corporate executive, and consultant with a doctoral degree. Erin Stroupe is a successful parent activist who worked on Governor Rick Scott’s communication team. Mollyana Ward is a mother and grandmother who has owned and managed multiple businesses in her career.
Matt Gieger started his career in business but soon realized that helping kids was the path for him. Geiger currently is the director of Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School and was the principal of Benfica Residential Academy on the Saint Leo University campus.
“I’ve always been a very effective administrator … over my schools: about keeping and rewarding the teachers that are good, the ones that are ineffective, I like to push out immediately,” said Geiger.
Geiger’s top three priorities are solving the issue of overcrowded and high vacancy schools, retaining good teachers, and recruiting good teachers by assisting with teacher living costs.
Geiger wants to create “teacher villages” in Pasco County, subsidizing housing for teachers to keep and recruit good teachers.
Geiger decided to run for School Board after Pasco School repeatedly failed to utilize his autistic son’s Individualized Education Program. He ran against Armstrong in 2022, winning just over 41% of the vote.
Sean O’Flannery has worked with Pinellas Schools, Florida Virtual School, Hillsborough Schools, and Pasco Schools. As a Pasco School teacher, he agreed to take a job in Hillsborough where he would get $20,000 more than his position in Pasco.
O’Flannery became interested in running for School Board after having issues with one of his kids’ schools. He felt that the Board was not adequately representing teachers and often approved curriculum that didn’t align with the needs of the school.
O’Flannery’s top priorities are reducing distracting technology in the classroom, becoming more competitive with private and charter schools, and increasing career technical education.
O’Flannery is inspired by the Pinellas school model to have modified “fundamental schools.”Fundamental schools have more parent involvement and student accountability.
“If you’re missing the target, you need to shift until you hit your target. And so that’s my goal … I want to sit there and try to figure out how can I shift and adjust to get to that point,” said O’Flannery. “You can’t be reactive in education. You need to be proactive.”
Kirk Phillips is a retired Air Force veteran who worked at the Pentagon until 2007 before working for Lockheed Martin and then Accenture. He considers himself too active to retire and wants to take what he has learned to benefit the next generation.
Phillips’ top priorities are physical and emotional safety, employee compensation, and a flexible curriculum that addresses modern needs.
As a young captain, Phillips was thrown into a leadership role where he was charged with building the world’s largest human resource and training and education system used by 740,000 families and students and having a $4.5 billion budget.
“I have a natural ability, ability to connect and work with people and empower them,” said Phillips, “We have to create an environment for our teachers to feel empowered; without teachers like soldiers on the front line, they have to be taken care of.”
Phillips criticized big endorsements and donations from people and organizations who don’tknow the candidates well and the school system for boasting success when a significant percentage of students graduate less than proficient in critical skills.
Erin Stroupe was born and raised in Pasco County and successfully advocated against a cellphone tower being placed by Starkey Ranch K-8 School track and field. An alternative location was agreed upon, and the school still received revenue for the tower. This led to her passion for improving Pasco Schools.
Stroupe’s top priorities are combating declining enrollment, increased board transparency and communication, and improving teacher retention.
“I feel like someone who’s running for School Board needs to have some kind of skin in the game,” Stroupe said, “in my mind, if you haven’t been involved, if you haven’t been engaging since before you decided to run, then that I have issue with that.”
While Stroupe embraces her place in the race as the “token parent activist,” she has relationships and experience to make her a successful political leader and lobbies for the district’s needs. Stroupe served on Governor Rick Scott’s communication team and worked for Yahoo Small Business.
Mollyana Ward is a mother and grandmother who is passionate about ensuring students have a clear path to success after school based on her own experience as a teenage mother who got her GED and went to college later in life. Ward started a childcare facility which was awarded Florida’s Gold Seal of Excellence.
Ward’s top priorities are accountability and transparency, career and technical education, and safety, especially in transportation.
“I’m a mom first and foremost, and, so, raising my sons has been … the greatest joy of my life. It’s a privilege to contribute to the world three amazing men that are becoming amazing fathers and husbands,” said Ward. “That would definitely be my main point of pride.”
Ward has owned multiple businesses throughout her career, including being a real estate agent. She was also a homeschool mom, which gave her a unique perspective on school choice and saw her sons graduate through high school in Pasco. Her experience has allowed her to develop skills such as negotiation and budget management.
Which of these candidates will represent Pasco County and District 3 will be decided on Aug. 18. Early voting begins on Aug. 8. Voter registration status and precinct information can be found at the Pasco County Supervisor of Elections website, PascoVotes.gov.
