Grassroots GOP conservative & school board member juggles civic & family roles
Photos for Headline Surfer® / LAKE MARY, Fla. – In just two short years, this Lake Mary public servant demonstrated the "can do" attitude in delivering on her campaign promises midway through her 4-year seat on the Seminole County School Board in addition to myriad duties in several civic posts and balancing it all out with most treasured responsibilities: her family and faith.
So it's easy to understand why Gov. Rick Scott didn't blink an eye Friday in piling on even more responsibilities on Amy Lockhart in appointing her to an open seat on the Seminole State College of Florida District Board of Trustees.
The 39-year-old Lake Mary wife and mother of two school-age children, previously served as chairwoman of the Idyllwilde Elementary School Advisory Council.
In addition to the Seminole County School Board, Lockhart currently serves on several other civic and community boards and committees, such as the Seminole County Value Adjustment Board and as a member of the Seminole County Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Headline Surfer® snapshot graphics / Lockhart, who ran a true grassroots campaign two years ago for the district 4 seat on the school board, that included going the signature-petition route to dedicate herself to as many face-time experiences as she could manage as opposed to simply paying a qualifying fee.
And Lockhart rallied a core group of volunteers to help get the petitions out to as many voters as possible.
The old-fashion politicking worked. Lockhart crushed first-term incumbent Sylvia Pond by a 2-to-1 margin for the four-year seat that pays roughly $38,000 annually.
Lockhart kept her platform simple, but well-defined in scope: She pledged to get more administrative accountability from Superintendent of Schools Bill Vogel. And she was intent on getting a true handle on root causes that kept too many tax revenues tied up in budgetary items away from the classrooms where every dollar counts in academic achievement and rewarding good teachers, accounting missteps that had languished far too long and untenable from her point of view in entering the board room.
Lockhart kept her platform simple, but well-defined in scope: She pledged to get more administrative accountability from Superintendent of Schools Bill Vogel. And she was intent on getting a true handle on root causes that kept too many tax revenues tied up in budgetary items away from the classrooms where every dollar counts in academic achievement and rewarding good teachers, accounting missteps that had languished far too long and untenable from her point of view in entering the board room.
"All of the wonderful things we want to do we can't do until our finances are in order," she told the Orlando Sentinel after the election results came in giving her the chance to make good on that second campaign pledge, which she has diligently worked on since, along with keeping Vogel in check.
Additionally, Lockhart has been consistently proactive in the use of social media as a means to communicate with parents and students alike about important issues like safety in the schools.
Map illustration for Headline Surfer® /
Brenda Carey, the powerful nd politically connected district 5 seat holder representing Sanford, Lake Mary and Heathrow, was the county chair two years ago when Amy Lockhart challenged and handily defeated incumbent Seminole County School Board member
Then-incumbent school board member Sylvia Pond, a retired teacher in her mid-60s, in the heat of the campaign with her upstart challenger Lockhart, had accused the Seminole County Commission and then-County Chair Brenda Carey, in particular, with using their political influence for to hurt her re-election.
Pond alleged that by virtue of the county council's redrawing of school district lines, this put Lockhart, squarely in the vulnerable incumbent's turf.
After all, it was well known that Lockhart was a one-time aide to Carey, who now holds the district 5 seat on the dais in Sanford. And Lockhart was an employed aide to Carey in her ongoing role as Sanford County Centennial events coordinator.
Amy Lockhart, a conservative Republican, has an unquenchable thirst that even a large bottle of water can't satisfy: And that is to serve the Seminole County public, most recently answering the call of Gov. Rick Scott to take her place at the table of the board of trustees at Seminole County State College.
Lockhart's tenure on the the Seminole County College board officially began Friday with the governor's blessing and continuing through May 31, 2017. She took the place of previous trustee Cindy Drago.
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Did You Know:
Amy Lockhart is the daughter of two retired public school teachers.
PostScript: Story trending online in Lake Mary, Sanford:
The 24/7 internet newspaper's story on Gov. Scott's appointment of Seminole County School Board member Amy Lockhart to the Seminole College board of trustees shot to the top of the Google news directories bright and early on this Saturday morning for both Lake Mary and Heathrow, Fla., within 30 minutes and was trending upwards in nearby Sanford and Casselberry, a testament to the Headline Surfer® online news offerings throughout Central Florida and beyond. Though Headline Surfer®'s priority focus is greater Daytona Beach and Volusia County, the award-winning 24/7 internet newspaper Publisher Henry Frederick and his wife, Serafina King Frederick, its multimedia editor, have resided in Lake Mary since September and are moving to a new residence in Sanford.