Sarasota School board flips to liberal majority after years of conservative control

The next Sarasota County School board will see a liberal-leaning majority take control after voters rejected the conservative policies and culture wars that for years dominated the board. 

Megan Tennimon and Beth Mayberry, the more progressive candidates in their respective nonpartisan races, went on to win their seats by more than 10 percentage points against candidates endorsed by the Republican Party.

With school board members Tom Edwards and Liz Barker, they will give progressive officials commanding control over the five-member board for at least the next two years.

The third school board race, for a seat representing District 1, will head to a runoff between Heidi Brandt, a candidate endorsed by the Republican Party of Sarasota County, and Jimmy Glover, a candidate supported by the Sarasota County Democratic Party. Teresa DeWitt — a former Moms for Liberty activist who also ran in the District 1 race — and Brandt likely split the conservative vote.

It was an emotional night at Tamiami Tap, where Sarasota County Democrats hosted a watch party. Cheers erupted from a crowd of high school students who had campaigned for the progressive-leaning candidates as the results trickled in.

Sarasota County School Board candidate Megan Tennimon speaks with student supporters outside Tamiami Tap on Tuesday night after winning her race for the District 4 seat. | Photo by Alice Herman, Suncoast Searchlight

“We made history today,” said Tennimon, addressing students outside the restaurant. “This win shows that when young people commit to a cause and join in civic duty, they can accomplish anything.”

With no incumbents running across the three open districts, Mayberry, Tennimon and Glover ran on campaigns vowing an end to years of high-profile culture war clashes on the school board, — including those over book removals, LGBTQ+ inclusion and immigration enforcement, among others — while promising to push back forcefully against state policies that have restricted the district’s budget. 

In the last two years, the school board regularly passed measures that generated community backlash — like a vote to reaffirm the district’s commitment to cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a vote to penalize student walkouts from class and a policy that changed the code of conduct to eliminate certain anti-discrimination language.

Groups like Support our Schools and Social Equity through Education (SEE) Alliance frequently mobilized community members to attend school board meetings to register their opposition to such policies. 

Avery Cole, a senior at Booker High School who has organized with SEE Alliance, said he was “full of emotions” as the election results rolled in. 

“A lot of us have been doing this for such a long time,” said Cole, who said he had attended school board meetings regularly to oppose measures like the ICE policy and code of conduct changes. “Finally seeing two years of work, seeing results in a meaningful way — it feels great.” 

The Sarasota County school board election also comes as the district grapples with the end of special COVID-19 funding and the impacts of a growing voucher program that has redirected public school dollars into private school scholarships. Slowed student enrollment has also contributed to the financial pressures. 

The school district is set to eliminate 180 instructional positions and 79 classified jobs this school year, sowing anxiety among teachers. 

In their races, Glover, Tennimon and Mayberry outraised their opponents, raising $135,946, $55,044 and $78,670 respectively as of Aug. 13, the last day of the most recent reporting period.

Mayberry, a retired math teacher, highlighted the issue of school funding during her campaign and warned against cutting arts programming in the public schools. She beat her opponent, conservative activist Michelle Pozzie, by more than 13 percentage points.

After learning that she had won her race, Mayberry told reporters she would work on fighting for school funding and increasing community outreach. 

“That’s the main focus,” Mayberry said. “We are using the resources and the skill set that we have to try to make sure that the kids in Sarasota County can have a better experience, can be themselves — because the motto ‘every child, every day’ isn’t just something you say, it’s something you act on.”

Alice Herman is an investigative/watchdog reporter for Suncoast Searchlight. Email her at alice@suncoastsearchlight.org.