A Small Investment, A Big Difference: Why to Say Yes at Ballot Box In November
By Sierra Bush Rester As a lifelong Tallahasseean, parent to several children (who attend Leon CountySchools), and a Leon County school teacher, I have always hoped for an opportunity in which Icould put my money where my mouth is and use my tax dollars to support our community publicschools. Luckily for me and people like […]
Teacher Pay Shouldn’t Be a Cover for a Tax Grab
By Dr. Inika Williams When you read the actual ballot language line by line, you realize the proposal is not just about teacher pay. It is a long list of other priorities bundled into one tax request. Let’s look at the words. “In order to increase teacher pay…” This is the strongest part of the […]
The Truth About Public Education That Many Don’t Want to Discuss
Daniel Zeruto, May 29, 2026 What is happening in the Leon County School District reflects a deeper issue that many parents have experienced firsthand, but too few leaders are willing to openly discuss, much less address. This week, during a public school board meeting, a board member openly stated she was asking questions publicly because […]
Don’t Compare Yourself To Others, Unless You Are A Municipality
The city recently voted to offer current employees the opportunity to quit and receive $20,000 or 12 weeks of pay (whichever is greater). This comes at the direction of the State’s legislation HB1329 (Local Government Financial Transparency and Accountability ACT). The city is interpreting the section 166.241 as required to implement a 10% budget reduction. […]
ABC, 123, Baby $2.5 Million
We’ve all seen the headlines for the new state-of-the-art VPK facility. However, state-of-the-art comes at a hefty price tag: $2,538,993 to be exact. This new facility is being touted as bringing all of Leon County Schools VPK under one roof. Early learning is important and this is why our elected officials should work to get […]
To Vote Or Not To Vote For Consolidation, That Is The Question
On Tuesday March 10, 2026, the county commission approved a straw poll vote on the ballet for this election cycle. For clarity, a straw poll is to assess the interest of the community. This does not mean that a majority vote will result in consolidation but what it would accomplish is a direction for our […]
Norm Roche, City Commission Seat 3
You can visit Norm Roche’s campaign website HERE. You will find an “about” page, a “focus” page which explains his objectives, a “media” page which links various articles about his candidacy for city commission, and a “hot takes” page where he will share his thoughts on various issues in city government. Where are you from […]
Tifany Hill, City Commission- Seat 5
You can visit Tifnay Hill’s campaign website HERE. You will find more information about her as well as ways to contribute or volunteer with her campaign. We encourage all our neighbors to view her website to learn more about her. Website: t4tally.com FB: Tifany For Tally IG: @Tifany4Tallahassee Email: info@t4tally.com PH: 850.903.4255 Where are you from and […]
Tom Derzypolski, City Commission-Seat 3
You can visit Tom Derzypolski’s campaign website HERE. We encourage all our neighbors to view his website to learn more about him. Where are you from and how do you feel that impacts or influences your decision to run? I was born at TMH – right here in Tallahassee. My father’s work meant that we […]
Mike Foust, Mayor-Seat 4
You can visit Mike Foust’s campaign website HERE. On his website you will find information about Foust and ways to help his campaign. We encourage all our neighbors to view his website to learn more about him. Where are you from and how do you feel that impacts or influences your decision to run? I […]
Max Herrle, City Commission-Seat 3
You can visit Max Herrle’s campaign website HERE. On his website you will find an “about” page, a “podcast” and “blog” tab where Herrle is discusses multiple topics and issues in Tallahassee. We encourage all our neighbors to view his website to learn more about him. Where are you from and how do you feel […]
Jeremy Matlow, Mayor-Seat 4
You can visit Jeremy Matlow’s campaign website HERE. On his website you can find various tabs ranging from “internship” where College neighbors can work on his campaign, “Meet Jeremy” where we can read about Jeremy Matlow, “Events” page, and “issues” page where Jeremy discusses what he identifies as the issues in Tallahassee. We encourage all […]
Joe Kalicki, City Commission Seat 5
You can visit Joe Kalicki’s campaign website HERE. On his website you can find information easily on the home tab with ways to read more about each issue he addresses. There is also a “Get to know Joe” tab where he explains more about himself. We encourage all our neighbors to view his website to […]
The Tea the Data Spills: School District Flavor
Data alone can “spill some tea” about the state of our district when we allow it to, especially when we examine it with the correct context and alongside other data points. Our inquisitive community continues to ask why our district executives are paid so well while support staff and our educators scrape up what is […]
IDEA Funding, A Serious Matter Met with Unserious Answers
We have serious questions for Leon County School District (LCS), but they continue to deflect, ignore, or simply provide answers that land like a bad joke. Conversations about IDEA funding continue to circulate as many of our parents feel their students’ IEPs are not being followed and are being told noncompliance is due to resources. […]
A Tale of Two Appraisals
We explored the two appraisal reports attached to the Capital City Country Club golf course, and we discovered some inconsistencies which may not change the value of the land, but do call into question the City of Tallahassee’s (City) review of these reports as well as the information the Country Club provided the appraisers. The […]
Utility Bill Forgiveness For Me But Not For Thee
On August 4th 2025, we placed a request for the current bills at Department of Transportation at Hayden Burns Building, the Federal Correctional Institute, and Leon County Schools. At the end of September, we received the utility bills. Everything looked fairly accurate except for one thing; we placed our request in August, and these bills […]
Buses and Confusion and Students, Oh My!
This school year hasn’t even begun yet and parents are buzzing on social media about the new Leon County bus system. And like an angry hornets nest their conversations are vibrating throughout many of our social media groups. We have also recently heard from many concerned parents about the new bus routes. The most prominent […]
Neighbor Voices: Financial Uncertainty and School Community
During this time of financial uncertainty, with our schools facing a projected $12.5 million shortfall, Mr. Hanna’s job should be one of giving families a sense of calm and ensuring us that despite cuts, our children will continue to get a great education because we have great teachers.. However, after addressing the media, the community is so unnerved and […]
A Public Records Adventure: Leon County Schools
“Getting the dates off of the platform is not easy due to the way the platform is set up.” The custodian of records responded to us after we requested the dates of completion for the school executives annual trainings. A couple weeks prior we requested and received a list of required annual training for all […]
