Longtime Milton teacher faces Air Force vet for Santa Rosa School Board District 1 seat

A longtime Milton High School teacher will try to keep her seat on the Santa Rosa County School Board as she faces opposition from a retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant in this month's primary election.

Incumbent Linda Sanborn and her challenger, Wayne Patterson, are running against each other for the Santa Rosa County School Board's District 1 seat.

Sanborn — who co-owns the Adventures Unlimited Outdoor Center in Milton — is a retired public school teacher who spent her 35-year career exclusively working within Florida.

Patterson spent 26 years in the U.S. Air Force and is currently employed as a safety service patrol provider for interstate highways in the Florida Department of Transportation's Road Ranger program.

Meet Linda Sanborn:Candidate, Santa Rosa County School Board, District 1

Wayne Patterson did not complete the candidate Q&A

Linda Sanborn

Sanborn, who is running for a second term in office, is proud of her deep knowledge of the Santa Rosa County school system, gained over a long teaching career.

"Why I'm running is I love kids. I love the education world. I taught in this county for many, many years," she said. "When I retired, I realized I wasn't finished contributing to the schools and to the education our Santa Rosa academy students."

While Sanborn spent the first seven years of her career teaching in Tampa, she devoted the last 28 years to students at Milton High School.

"I bring knowledge of the culture and the people within our district," she said. "I'm very good at representing the teachers, because I sat on that side of the table for a very long time."

All three of Sanborn's sons graduated from Milton High School, and of her eight grandchildren, five on them are currently enrolled in Santa Rosa County public schools.

"I have taught a lot of the local residents," she said. "So, I know a lot of people, they know me and they feel comfortable calling me, talking to me at Walmart, etc., etc."

If reelected, Sanborn said she will have three top priorities as a school board member. The first and foremost would be the continued improvement of school security.

When Sanborn retired from the district in 2017, a person could walk through Milton High School’s front door, mosey down the halls, find her classroom and simply open the door, she said.

"Now, we have put into place security measures," Sanborn said.

Visitors can no longer enter a school without being vetted and must show their ID "from the outside in." Once permitted to enter a school, visitors can no longer walk the halls without an escort, she said.

"All of our doors, all entrances — whether their interior entrances or exterior entrances — are locked," Sanborn said. "So, we have put into place some security measures already, but the next one is to implement the Guardian program."

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Sanborn said she is a big supporter of the Guardian Program — involving the hiring of specialized armed personnel for school security — and its possible implementation in Santa Rosa County, she said.

Her next two priorities are increasing the ease and comfortability of the communication between parents and school board members and the hiring and retention of qualified teachers.

Sanborn said many parents have told her they have had difficulty bringing their concerns directly to members of the school board.

"So, I will be holding a meeting twice a month and inviting parents come meet me at such and such place," she said. "Bring your questions, bring your concerns, I will address them. If I don't know the answer, I will find out the answer and get back with you."

Wayne Patterson

Patterson retired from the U.S. Air Force as an E7 master sergeant after serving on three overseas deployments and working as both a production superintendent of flight line operations and quality assurance inspector and evaluator.

"I've had plenty of medals and accommodations," he said.

After his retirement from the armed services, Patterson went back to college for what had been his dream profession back in high school, and ultimately earned a degree in professional photography from Brooks Institute San Barbara, California. He worked several years as a commercial architectural photographer.

Discussing what drew him into the political world, Patterson said, "The Constitution is all about liberty. In order to have liberty, you have to have choice. First and foremost, by me entering the race, it gives citizens a choice and it keeps the incumbents on their toes and re-centers their wanted accomplishments with what's important to the constituents."

Patterson added that conversations with fellow county residents prompted him to run for the school board.

"I got the sense from multiple people that have talked to me, that they weren't happy with what was going on in the school system," he said. "After comparing viewpoints and stances on things, I decided that my viewpoint, my stance is more aligned with the people than what I saw the current board members' actions supporting."

If elected, his top priority would be to "rebuild trust" between the school board, parents and the county's citizens, he said.

"I think the big part about that is providing them with and making sure they have a voice to be heard — whether that's within the board meetings or outside the board meetings — and doing the legwork and doing my best to know what the pulse of the community is," he said.

Patterson said he is strong supporter of implementing the Guardian Program in Santa Rosa County schools.

"Coincidentally, in the middle of this race is the first time that I've heard the school board mentioning anything about the gun program and taking steps to institute it," Patterson said. "I think it's great that the ball is rolling.

"The travesty lies in the fact that the two of the board members that are running right now have not done anything to further this project in the four years they've been sitting there," he continued. "So, I want to finish that and really dig into that to find out all the pieces of the puzzle and then push forward as best I can to make it happen sooner rather than later."

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.