TAMPA, Fla. – In November, Floridians will vote on an amendment to make school board elections partisan.

Amendment 1 would make school board elections partisan beginning in the November 2026 general election and for primary elections nominating party candidates for the 2026 election.

Candidates would be nominated for the general election through party primaries, and would have a label of “Democrat” or “Republican” next to their name on the ballot.

“Students are not partisan, and certainly, our children are not partisan,” Hillsborough County school board member Lynn Gray said.

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The amendment has received strong support and opposition from parents, teachers and legislators.

“There’s so much politics in schools already right now being pushed in,” Julie Gebhards, a mother in Tampa Bay said.

Florida is currently one of 41 states with laws allowing non-partisan school board elections.

Florida had partisan school board elections until an amendment was approved in 1998.

READ: Florida Dept. of State re-examining abortion rights amendment signatures

“If you put a stamp on someone, ‘Oh, you’re Republican, so therefore you’re thinking that way’, there’s a huge range of thoughts within the Republican arena. And Democrats, the same,” Gray said.

Some Hillsborough County school board members who are also former teachers believe this would influence what’s being taught in the classroom every day.

“I think the most important information you need to have is what that person is about and what they represent and who they are as a person, and not about politics,” Hillsborough County school board member Nadia Combs said.

However, some parents who are in support of Amendment 1 believe politics are already infiltrating schools on a day-to-day basis.

READ: Former Tampa middle school teacher, assistant principal arrested after student put in chokehold: HCSO

“I think it just provides a baseline for us to go into an election understanding the platform that the candidate is coming from, and knowing that those values are going to align closer with my own,” Gebhards said.

The Florida Education Association says a partisan race would shift the focus of the school board.

“Rather than the focus on, ‘Hey, what do our kids need? Do we have the right music and art programs? Are our career and tech programs being funded appropriately?’” Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar said.

Dr. Joshua Scacco, the Director of the Center for Sustainable Democracy at USF, says the separation of politics and education isn’t necessarily clear, because school boards deal with political issues.

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“All the issues that come before the school board are, indeed, political,” Scacco saod. “And that’s just because these are public entities. They’re funded by taxpayer dollars. So, inherently, they are political. Whether it’s taxing, whether it’s the content that children receive in schools or young adults receive in schools, it’s political.”

Scacco says a partisan label could encourage more political polarization, which could make the decision-making by a school board a challenge.

“Education is political,” Scacco said. “You can’t necessarily draw this sort of firewall between education being nonpolitical and what that looks like and what that means.”

READ: Hillsborough County student in custody after making school shooting threat: HCSO

Gebhards says this amendment would only help voters make the most educated decision.

“And let people vote according to their values, you know, and whether that’s an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ next to the name, you can choose,” Gebhards said.

Amendment 1 is on the ballot in the general election in November. If it passes, it would go into effect starting in 2026.

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The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide will host the South Florida Bulls at 7 p.m. ET Saturday.

Great Start For Crimson Tide

Alabama (1-0) defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 63-0, to open the season last week. First-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said the Tide settled in through their fast drive:

Alabama starting quarterback Jalen Milroe passed for 200 yards in the game.

Two Tide players received Week 1 SEC Player of the Week honors: Ryan Williams and Keon Sabb.

Williams, a five-star freshman receiver, started his collegiate journey with 139 yards and two touchdowns last week.

The Tide defense showed a good performance with leaders such as Sabb, with two interceptions, and Deontae Lawson, with a total of the nine tackles. While the team struggled with some penalties throughout the game, DeBoer is focusing on these challenges and finding ways to improve.

USF entered the season with a good win against Bethune Cookman, 48-3. While Bulls quarterback Bryum Brown didn’t face pressure on the field in this game, it’s expected to test his decisions throughout this upcoming game.

Last Matchup

Last season, Alabama beat South Florida, 17-3. With the change in leadership, DeBoer and Milroe’s  performance will be significantly evaluated.

Saban Honored

Prior to the game, Alabama will rename the Crimson Tide’s home venue to Nick Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Saban won six national championships while in Tuscaloosa. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Saturday with TV coverage on ESPN.

A Florida woman was nearly thrown into the trunk of her car with her would-be kidnapper holding a knife to her and threatening to “slice” her throat if she didn’t comply.

Veronica Jones had just finished shopping at an Orlando Walmart on Monday at around 4:30 p.m. and was putting her groceries into her trunk when the horrifying ordeal went down, according to WESH 2.

“All of a sudden, somebody grabbed me full body,” Jones told the outlet, revealing at first she thought it was someone she may know trying to pull a prank on her.

“He kept pushing me, I was pinned against my car, he kept pushing me toward my trunk as he was pulling my purse at the same time.”

The suspect, later identified by police as 54-year-old Juan Perez, demanded that she cough up her purse and cash.

Jones said she was “fighting” to keep her purse because it contained all her important valuables.

However, she quickly realized the perp was willing to get violent when he put a knife to her throat and threatened her life.

“Then he put something to my neck, which he says if you don’t stop this, I’m going to slice your throat, if you don’t give me your purse,” Jones shared.

Perez continued to push her into the truck, with the blade still pressed against her throat, causing Jones to go into “survival mode.”

Jones said she “started screaming” for help, but her cries were swiftly muffled out when the would-be kidnapper shoved a glove down her throat, she told the outlet.

Fortunately, she got out one shout for “help,” which alerted a nearby bystander, who rushed over and scared the violent suspect off.

“She heard me say help, so she got out of the car, and then at this time, we’re tugging on the purse, and he got it cause the strap broke,” Jones told the outlet.

The brave bystander later told law enforcement she saw the victim’s “legs flailing out of the trunk” and the suspect trying to push her in, according to an affidavit obtained by Fox 35.

When the suspect took off with her purse, the Walmart shopper lost her wallet, driver’s license, insurance card, phone, gift cards, $60 in cash, and a $125 check.

Jones was left with a mark on her neck where the suspect had pressed the knife into her during the frightening ordeal. She denied medical attention at the scene.

But she’s just grateful the good Samaritan heard her pleas for help and intervened.

“I’d like to thank the girl that stopped though, because she stayed with me the whole time, she was a lot of help,” Jones told  WESH 2.

Police arrested Perez the following day after a GPS he was wearing from a past crime put him at the scene of the attempted kidnapping and armed robbery.

Perez’s car was also spotted in the parking lot during that time, and his probation officer verified him as the perp from stills off of Walmart’s security cameras, according to the outlet.

He was taken before a judge following his arrest and charged with attempted kidnapping, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery, and destruction of evidence, according to the Orlando Police Department.

He is being held at the Orange County Jail without bond. Perez is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Sept. 10.

Perez was on federal probation for a previous kidnapping charge when he allegedly tried kidnapping Jones and stole her purse using the deadly weapon, according to Fox 35.

He is also a registered sex offender in Florida for Lewd Or Lascivious Battery of a victim 12-15 years old from 2004.