School is out for Palm Beach County students on Tuesday, Nov 5. Here’s what to know
Palm Beach Post | By Katherine Kokal | October 29, 2024
Teachers and some school staff will still be on the clock, though.
Palm Beach County students will once again be out of class on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
More than 90 schools around the county are used as polling places for the general election. The school district calls off classes to avoid having large numbers of voters and children on campus at the same time. Teachers and some school staff will be on the clock, though. Nov. 5 is a professional development day.
This year’s general election greatly impacts Palm Beach County schools. Voters will elect school board members in the Jupiter area and another in Boca Raton. Two ballot questions that concern school funding with sales taxes and partisan school board races will also undoubtedly shape the future of public education in Palm Beach County.
Students were most recently off school for a professional development day on Oct. 14, which coincided with Columbus Day and Indigenous People’s Day. Students were also off school on Oct. 3 for the start of Rosh Hashanah.
As voters prepare to head to the polls, information about how to vote, how to locate their correct polling places and what will be on the ballot is available on the Supervisor of Elections website.
Two school-related ballot questions for Palm Beach County voters in 2024 election
Local republicans set up a booth promoting candidates outside the Jupiter Community Center during early voting on October 26, 2024, in Jupiter, Florida.
Voters in this year’s general election will be deciding on two major school-related ballot initiatives.
Palm Beach County voters will be asked whether to extend the schools’ portion of a 2016 penny sales tax increase that also helped local cities and unincorporated Palm Beach County. If this year’s ballot measure is approved, Palm Beach County’s sales tax will effectively drop to 6.5% from 7%. That’s because the full penny increase approved in 2016 will sunset in December 2025.
The money will be used primarily to upgrade school buildings: replacing aging roofs, renovating restrooms, upgrading lighting and HVAC systems throughout local schools, enhancing school security, buying buses and updating technology, according to the school district’s website.
If approved, the half-penny increase will go into effect in January 2026 and generate $2 billion over 10 years. The tax would end in 2035 regardless of how much money it raises.
In addition, a statewide question includes an amendment to Florida’s Constitution that would create partisan school board races. Rather than running as nonpartisan candidates as they do now, candidates would be required to disclose whether they are Republicans, Democrats, members of another party, or candidates unaffiliated with a political party.
In Florida, state constitutional amendments need the support of at least 60% of voters for approval. This amendment would go into effect in 2026 if approved.
School board candidates in Palm Beach County’s 2024 general election
School board candidates in the 2024 general election: Matthew Lane (L) and Page Lewis (R) will face off Nov. 5 for the school board seat representing Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens.
Voters in the Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens areas will be asked to decide between school board candidates Matthew Lane and Page Lewis on Election Day. The winner of the race will take over the school board seat being vacated by board vice chair and former principal Barbara McQuinn.
Voters in the Boca Raton area will also be casting their ballots in a school board election. Candidates Gloria Branch and Mindy Koch are both vying for the school board seat left empty by retiring longtime school board member and attorney Frank Barbieri.
Voters in the Palm Springs and Greenacres area will not be voting in a school board election after one candidate ran unopposed in the primary election. The area’s new board representative, Virginia Savietto, will be sworn in later this year.
