Board veterans Marcia Andrews and Erica Whitfield are not seeking re-election.
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Two open School Board seats are up for grabs in Palm Beach County, where Board Member Marcia Andrews is retiring after 50 years in education and three-term incumbent Erica Whitfield is seeking a seat on the County Commission.
The race for District 4, Whitfield’s seat, has drawn four candidates: Tiffany Bryant, Anthony Hamlet, Christina Romelus and Daniel Zapata. Florida School Board races are officially nonpartisan, but Bryant and Zapata are registered Republicans while Hamlet and Romelus are Democrats.
In the District 6 race, three candidates are seeking to succeed Andrews. Wellington Council Member John McGovern, a registered Democrat, is taking on Republican Wanda Rosario-Schoenfeld and Widline Pierre, who is registered with no party affiliation.
Though Florida’s rightward lurch has turned Palm Beach into a battleground, both School Board races this year will be tough sledding for the conservative candidates. Whitfield, a Democrat, defeated registered Republican Angelique Contreras with 68.3% of the vote in 2022 even as Gov. Ron DeSantis became the first GOP gubernatorial nominee to win Palm Beach County since 1986.
Whitfield has endorsed Romelus, a former Boynton Beach Commissioner who runs government affairs and leadership training firm PolitiCALM. She has pitched her candidacy as a continuation of her years of public service, which includes serving as a missionary in multiple foreign countries, a decade working as a nurse and her time as a City Commissioner.
Notably, Andrews has broken with Whitfield by endorsing Hamlet, whom Romelus has outspent nearly 3-to-1 through the end of July.
In addition to the nod from Whitfield, Romelus boasts the backing of the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post editorial boards, the Fraternal Order of Police and numerous other elected officials.
Hamlet posted the next-best fundraising numbers, but still lags far behind Romelus. He served as Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent from 2016 until his resignation in October 2021 amid an ethics investigation.
He is running on a “results, not rhetoric” platform grounded in his decades of experience as a teacher, principal and head of Pittsburgh’s school system. In addition to Andrews, Hamlet has the support of former Wellington Mayor Bob Margolis and Magnolia Park Council Member Lisa Davis Quince.
A teacher and administrator at Atlantic Christian Academy, Zapata’s platform focuses on securing schools, boosting academic achievement, and expanding career and technical education.
Zapata, whose family fled Cuba, has touted his endorsement from the Hispanic Vote Palm Beach County. He is the only Hispanic candidate in the race, and more than a quarter of residents in the county are Hispanic according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
He has also piled up endorsements from local elected officials, including Delray Beach Mayor Tom Carney, Greenacres Mayor Chuck Shaw, Lantana Mayor Karen Lythgoe, Palm Springs Mayor Bev Smith and former Rep. Rick Roth.
Bryant is a mental health professional and longtime Boynton Beach resident running on parental rights and engagement, increasing literacy, supporting teachers and staff and building corporate and community partnerships. She trailed the rest of the field in spending, reporting $9,300 in expenditures through Aug. 14.
Meanwhile, in District 6, McGovern enjoyed a sizable financial advantage throughout the race. He spent $52,000 from his campaign account and $51,000 this cycle through his Team McGovern political committee.
That dwarfs the $11,000 spent by Rosario-Schoenfeld and the $6,000 in expenditures Pierre reported.
McGovern, who has been elected three times to the Wellington Village Council, has touted the fact that he graduated from a high school in the district. His platform promises safe schools, better teacher pay and a focus on academic fundamentals.
Like Romelus, he has also earned endorsements from the Palm Beach Post and Sun-Sentinel, as well as the Florida Education Association, SEIU Florida, Florida Rising and the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.
Pierre has made the central issue of her campaign rebuilding enrollment, which is down 6,000 students and could result in as much as $25 million in lost state funding. The Palm Beach County National Organization of Women has endorsed her campaign.
Rosario-Schoenfeld has run on her career experience, which runs through Pennsylvania and New York and includes 17 years as a public school teacher, 14 years as a principal and roles in district administration. Her website lists endorsements from other former principals and educators.
All candidates will appear on the Aug. 18 Primary ballot. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two will face off in November.
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