Sarasota County School Board set for changes following primary election

Spectrum News9 | By: Fallon Silcox | August 24, 2026

SARASOTA, Fl — The makeup of the Sarasota County School Board is set to change following last week’s primary election, with two former teachers winning seats outright and another race headed to the November election.

Former teachers Beth Mayberry and Megan Tennimon each won their respective school board races with more than 55% of the vote.

Jason Means, president of the Sarasota Classified Teachers Association, said he believes the results show voters want the district to put a greater focus on students.

“People in this community put the kids first,” Means said.

The results come after years of political debate surrounding the Sarasota County School Board.

“Our political ideologies are our own thing, and it felt to me as an educator in this district and as a parent who raised kids who went through this district, that we had kind of taken our eyes off the ball,” Means said.

Means said he is also encouraged that two of the newly elected board members have experience as classroom teachers.

“I’m a little bit biased, I’m a former teacher myself, and I feel like sometimes the folks on the ground are the ones who understand the system a little bit better,” he said.

The Florida Education Association says the Sarasota results are part of a broader trend it saw in school board races across the state.

The organization said a number of candidates endorsed by the FEA and its local unions either won their races or advanced following Florida’s primary election.

FEA President Andrew Spar said in a statement that the results “prove once again that Floridians want to strengthen, not abandon, their public schools.”

Regardless of the new makeup of the Sarasota County School Board, Means said members will have several major challenges to address, including school funding and the effects of rising costs.

“Every single district in the state is concerned about the monetary situation,” Means said. “We’re all kind of feeling the pinches of the inflation, and all the other issues we’re seeing economically.”

Means said he hopes the focus moving forward remains on students and the challenges facing their schools.

One Sarasota County School Board race remains undecided. Jimmy Glover and Heidi Brandt will face each other in November for the District 1 seat.