Wide open races: Three Palm Beach County school board incumbents won’t seek another term
Palm Beach Post | By Katherine Kokal | May 23, 2024
School board members are now subject to eight-year term limits in Florida. That will acutely impact Palm Beach County’s board in the years to come.
Three Palm Beach County School Board members will not seek re-election this year — leaving the parts of the county that include Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Greenacres, Palm Springs and Boca Raton up for grabs on the seven-person board.
Alexandria Ayala confirmed last week that she would not seek a second term representing District 2, which encompasses parts of Greenacres and Palm Springs. Ayala plans to take on an activist role in the Hispanic Education Coalition and a full-time position at the Miami-based Euclid Group, the land use and real estate development consulting firm where she presently works.
“I’ve wrestled with this for awhile, but it added up to being more things that tell me it’s time for me to close this chapter and move in a different direction,” Ayala said of her decision not to run again. “I’m really proud. It’s been a very pivotal four years for public education, and being the first Latina on the board has been a big responsibility.”
Ayala was elected to the board in 2020 as its first Hispanic member. At 27 years old at the time of her election, she was the youngest school board member in recent memory. Ayala helped establish a student advisory board for the superintendent to help expose top leaders to more student voices.
Ayala joins two other school board members not seeking another term
She joins Frank Barbieri, 74, and Barbara McQuinn, 76, in not seeking another term.
Barbieri has long been public about his plans to retire after his term is up this year — he’s represented District 5, which includes Boca Raton, on the school board since 2008 and served four full terms. Barbieri served as the board chair from 2010-11 and again from 2019-23.
McQuinn has represented District 1, which includes Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter, on the board since 2016. She was principal at Palm Beach Gardens High from 1994-97 and currently serves as the school board’s vice chair.
“There’s so much I’m going to miss about being on the school board,” she said. “But I know for my own age and the age of my husband, it is time for us to use that time to be together. It’s so bittersweet.”
The board’s other four districts, represented by board chair Karen Brill, Erica Whitfield, Marcia Andrews and Edwin Ferguson, will be up for election in 2026.
Palm Beach County nonpartisan school board elections, board member pay and qualifying
Palm Beach County has a nonpartisan school board with four-year terms. Board members are paid $53,406 per year.
In order to run, candidates must file with the county supervisor of elections office. The qualifying period opens June 10 and runs through June 14.
Nearly a dozen candidates cognizant of the three open seats have jumped to file their paperwork to run.
As of May 21, three people have submitted paperwork to run for McQuinn’s District 1 board seat. They have raised a total of $65,320 from donors, according to the supervisor of elections office website.
Three people have also indicated they plan to run for Ayala’s District 2 seat, although none had reported any contributions as of the end of March. The next financial statement filing deadline is June 21.
In Barbieri’s district, five candidates have submitted paperwork to run for the seat and have raised a combined total of just $8,310, according to their financial reports.
Once the qualifying period begins, candidates will need to fill out their candidate oath and qualifying paperwork, and pay the $2,100 filing fee to be considered legitimate candidates in the school board race. The primary election will be held Aug. 20.
