Sue Woltanski has an all-consuming passion. And it occupies her from when she wakes up in the morning till she goes to sleep at night: public education.
“I think people up here know that my passion is making public education the best it can be for our kids,” she told Keys Weekly. “That is what I’m focused on almost every waking minute.”
And that is why she’s running for her second term for District 5 of Monroe County’s school board against newcomer Alexandria Suarez. Woltanski said she simply isn’t finished with having her voice be heard.
Per keyssschools.com, District 5 starts from the easternmost boundary of District 4 — MM 93 — east to the Dade County line, including all of mainland Monroe County.
Woltanski was elected, unopposed, as District 5’s representative in 2018. She is a retired pediatrician and a mother of two Monroe County students, one of whom, Ali, graduated from Coral Shores High School and is attending Georgetown University with a major in foreign service.
Woltanski was raised in the San Francisco Bay area, where her father was a local school administrator. She attended U.C. Santa Barbara as an undergraduate, earning a bachelor’s degree in pharmacology, and U.C. Davis for a master’s degree in exercise physiology), before moving to Michigan to attend the University of Michigan School of Medicine, where she ultimately specialized in general pediatrics.
She and her husband, Tom, an ER physician, have been homeowners in Tavernier since 1999. They moved permanently to the Keys in 2008 so their children could grow up next door to their grandmother.
“I’m not done serving the children of Monroe,” she said. “My son (Zack, in 10th grade) is still in school. Projects we’ve started, like with mental health, I’d like to see fulfilled. For example, the superintendent would like more social workers with a mental health focus. Most recently, the governor has announced plans to change testing associated with the accountability system. The amount of testing in the schools is the reason I got into following education policy. This is an opportunity for the district to move to a more student-focused and less test-focused system of education.”
Her background as a pediatrician led to her advocacy for COVID mitigation strategies, including the use of masks, in the school system during the pandemic. Her stance at times was at odds with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order that only parents should decide whether a child wears a mask to school.
“I’m guided by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and pediatricians support public health measures,” she said. “The biggest advances in children’s health have been through public health measures like car seats, seatbelts and vitamin D in milk. Pediatricians know the value of doing what’s best for all children. I think we’re moving out of (the pandemic). I doubt we’ve seen the last wave, but I’m hopeful no wave will be as bad as the one Delta was.”
Woltanski pointed out that during this time, she has seen other school districts as a target of anger and vitriol from within their own communities.
“When I speak to people here, I don’t get that feeling,” she said. “I think we want what’s best for our kids, as seen by the donations to scholarships, fundraisers and renewing tax referendums for the schools. The kids are being well-served by a community that values education. I’m privileged to be a part of that.”
