Under glowing lights and the watchful eye of viewers online, Leon County School Board incumbent Marcus Nicolas and opponent James Reilly laid out their positions on the district’s leadership, operational issues and its financial health during a June 23 candidate forum.
The forum was presented by the Tallahassee Democrat, the Capital Region News Collaborative and the League of Women Voters.
Nicolas is School Board chair and president of ESPMedia, a media company that represents political candidates, local agencies and non-profit and for-profit organizations. He has served the district for 18 years as a teacher, in leadership and currently as a school board.
Reilly currently works in the hospitality industry and previously was regional manager for Waffle House. He has regularly attended school board meetings since filing for candidacy. He graduated from Godby High School in 1988.
His wife currently works in the district’s HR department, and his daughter attends Lively Technical College.
The race for the district 5 seat will be the only one on the ballot. The candidates squared off on school vouchers, enrollment challenges and upcoming tax proposals that voters will decide on.
Candidates split on school choice and vouchers
Public school districts across the state are struggling with maintaining student enrollment after the state expanded school vouchers to families of all economic backgrounds.
The Leon County School District is no exception, with nearly $44 million being diverted from the district’s traditional public schools to private alternative education options.
Reilly said that shouldn’t threaten the public school system but rather present healthy competition: “People should have options,” said Reilly, a registered Republican.
Nicolas disagreed, saying the competition is skewed since public and private schools are not held to the same accountability standards but both receive public funds.
“It would be healthy competition if we were playing on a level playing field,” Nicolas said.
The school board has been working to find ways to recover students and families who have left the school district to enroll in private schools. Its most recent effort resulted in a partnership with Tennessee-based recruitment firm Cassia K-12, which will survey, advertise and solicit families and students in the county to return to LCS. The firm will be paid for each new or returning student recruited.
“I think that’s a great idea because it doesn’t cost the district any money,” Reilly said. “I think we need to find out why people are leaving.”
He said he wouldn’t be able to pitch the district in its current state to Tallahassee newcomers looking for a school to enroll in, while Nicolas boasted of the district’s climbing graduation rate and expanding opportunities in career readiness for students.
Close schools or hold steady? Candidates disagree
The topic of school consolidation, combining disparate student bodies at one campus, has consumed the board for months as it navigated the recent financial crisis.
School board member Alva Smith, who is also running for reelection in District 1, first presented the idea to her colleagues as a way to save money. A majority of her colleagues shot down the idea, including Nicolas, who called the suggestion a “proverbial panic button.”
“I’m absolutely for it, not just school consolidations, but building consolidations,” Reilly said. “I would say once we get (down) to about 50% to 60% (of capacity), we need to look at … options of closing schools.”
Nicolas disagreed, saying closing a school would be an unnecessary extreme for the board to take. He cited best practices for closing schools would require conditions of schools being well below 60% capacity but also in disrepair.
“None of our schools fall under those conditions,” Nicolas said. “We’ve seen modest declines … it does not warrant closing schools.”
Candidates clash on property tax, spending priorities
The board approved two ballot initiatives to go before the voters (and taxpayers) of Leon County this November.
One asks voters to support paying for construction, safety and security and transportation infrastructure through a sales tax, and the second asks them to improve teacher pay, student programs and safety initiatives with an additional property tax levy.
Reilly doesn’t support the property tax proposal, denouncing the transparency of the board and Superintendent Rocky Hanna on what the money will be spent on.
As a sitting board member, Nicolas is prohibited by state law from promoting or endorsing the tax initiatives, only inform people about them.
“We have a lot to lose if the half penny sales tax is not renewed,” Nicolas said of the district’s fate if the renewal doesn’t pass. Raa Middle, Cobb Middle and Godby High wouldn’t receive long anticipated renovations to theirs decades-old campuses, for example.
But this is about more than buildings, Nicolas added, saying the district’s nearly $2 million contract with the Leon County Sheriff’s Office for its school resource deputy program would be at risk of a serious increase. That would then have to be covered with sales tax dollars.
Reilly believes the half penny sales tax will pass. But he hopes the property tax proposal fails. It aims to improve teacher pay, support student programs and fund safety initiatives.
“We just don’t spend our money wisely,” he said. “You’re looking at $300 per person per year additional in property taxes and I cannot justify that.”
“We’re not just frivolously spending money,” Nicolas said in response.
Leon County is ranked at No. 44 in the state in teacher pay. If the tax initiative passes, it would bring the district up to No. 11, according to Nicolas. Reilly said the district should cut administrative positions.
When asked to grade the superintendent on his performance, Reilly gave him an F while Nicolas gave him a B-/C+. The Superintendent answers to the board which governs the entire district.
“I would like to see him be transparent instead of trying to work around things he should be doing,” Reilly said. “It’s no secret I have no confidence in the superintendent.”
Nicolas cited Hanna’s support of Title I schools, which serve low-income families. He claimed the financial and resource support at the district’s vulnerable schools make a positive impact on students.
“I don’t see how you would give somebody who performed like that an F. It’s just absolutely ridiculous,” Nicolas said.
The forum is archived on the Democrat’s YouTube page at tinyurl.com/TLHSchoolBoardForum2026.
More about the candidate forums
This year, the Tallahassee Democrat has been building on our partnership with the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee and WFSU to broadcast our award-winning candidate forums before the primary and general elections.
We are excited to join the Capital Region News Collaborative, a media consortium made up of TV, radio, newspaper and digital reporters, editors and anchors that are hosting the forums.
The Tallahassee Democrat has been teaming up with the League and Collaborative partners WFSU, WCTV, WTXL, Capital Outlook and Tallahassee Reports to question the candidates.
The debates are made possible through the support of Press Forward North Florida, an initiative of the Community Foundation of North Florida. Press Forward brings together journalists, nonprofit leaders, educators, and community stakeholders to identify needs and create sustainable solutions that enhance civic engagement and strengthen trusted local news for years to come.
How to watch past forums
Click on the links below to watch a replay of each of the candidate forums.
Forums for the mayor’s race, the two Tallahassee City Commission races, School Board and two circuit judge races were broadcast live at the Tallahassee Democrat’s Facebook page, the Tallahassee Democrat’s YouTube Channel and on Tallahassee.com. They are archived on our YouTube page under the playlist “2026 Primary Election Forums.” The forums will also be aired in replay on WFSU radio at 88.9 FM.
Media partners will also are archiving the debates on their site.
Our election guides to the candidates and issues
Our special primary election guide will be printed and inserted into the paper on Sunday, Aug. 2 ahead of early voting. You’ll be able to access the same information – and much more – at our 2026 online Election HQ at Tallahassee.com/elections.
Alaijah Cross covers children & families for the Tallahassee Democrat. She can be reached at abrown@tallahassee.com.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Election ’26: School board candidates clash over taxes, more
Reporting by Alaijah Cross, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alaijah Cross, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
