Latrice moore for school board

LAKELAND — Two out of three Polk County School Board races are headed for a runoff in November.

Lisa Miller in the District 7 race pulled off the only clear win of the night, defeating longtime Polk County agriculture and workforce education teacher David Byrd with 56 percent of 96, ballots cast.

The other two races, as no candidate earned more than 50 percent of the vote, will go to runoffs in the Nov.

6 general election.

Latrice moore for school board members Moore kimberly lkldnow. He wants to help students jump-start careers right out of high school. Price talked a lot about the explosive growth in Polk County, particularly in the area where she grew up, in southwest Lakeland, where, she recalled, they caught an alligator in the front yard when she was a kid. She gestured toward the picture windows in The Well, looking out onto Parker Street, as the rain poured down in sheets.

Sarah Fortney, with 32 percent of the 96, ballots cast, and Scott Jones, with 31 percent, emerged from the four-way District 3 race, leaving behind LaTrice Moore and Kala Tedder. Kay Fields, the only incumbent running among the three School Board races, will face Jennifer Sabin. Fields received 37 percent of 97, votes, while Sabin received 32 percent — just barely getting past third-place finisher Terry Clark, a small-business owner and pastor.

Miller is a former teacher, current real estate broker, and a mother of two, including a developmentally delayed son.

She is a longtime advocate for special needs children, chairwoman of the Polk County Exceptional Students Education Advisory Board since , and Polk representative to the State Advisory Committee on Exceptional Student Education since

“It’s very surreal – the shock has worn off a little bit after an hour,” Miller said just after 9 p.m.

at her victory party as she said goodnight to parting friends and supporters.

Latrice moore for school board She could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening. Facebook Twitter Email. During the zoning review process, the scale of the development called Gibson Trails was decreased and the developer committed to preserve lots of green space, including adding a foot multiuse trail through the property. No paywall.

“The pressure of ‘Now we’re going to work on stuff’ is setting in.”

Miller said she is going to start now developing relationships with district officials to help 20, special education students — nearly one-fifth of Polk County’s student population — and the district’s struggling schools to get what they need.

“How can we provide community support to help them?” she said.

Preparing for November

Third District first-place finisher Fortney is a Stambaugh Middle School science teacher with 34 years of classroom experience.

Her platform includes treating teachers with respect and with the understanding that they are professionals in their field. Support staff, she said, also need to be respected. She credited Tuesday night’s good showing to three decades of building relationships with parents, students and district officials — enough to create a small army of volunteers to help with her campaign.

“I’m happy I’m in a runoff in November — with four people in a race, that was really the ultimate goal,” Fortney said at her watch party, former students and their children by her side.

“People want change and that’s what I stand for.

Latrice moore for school board candidates Get your news straight from the source! Facebook Twitter Email. One-time Monthly Annually. Email Required Name Required Website.

But I congratulate everybody on a good campaign — and may the best candidate win in November.”

Her opponent, Jones, is a Publix Super Markets store manager who advocates career education and on-the-job training. He wants to help students jump-start jobs right out of high school. He is also working to help boost teacher and staff morale by treating employees with respect.

He said he is excited about the runoff, but a little disappointed it wasn’t an outright win.

“We had a lot of good opponents — we ran a good clean race,” said Jones.

Latrice moore for school board election He applauded Polk County voters who approved a. How are the employees supposed to act after that with more than a month until the election? LkldNow's privacy policy. Polk State business professor running for School Board.

“I had a lot of good support, a lot of good volunteers. It’s very humbling any time somebody gives you some money or lets you put a sign in their yard.”

In District 3, Fields is the four-term veteran in this race, and the president and CEO of Girls Inc. of Lakeland and Bartow, a nonprofit providing girls in grades K a daily after-school program.

She could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Sabin is a former teacher and mother of three children currently enrolled in Polk County public schools. Her husband is a teacher. She credits running a clean campaign with her strong results.

“I think the results show that Polk County is ready for change in District 5,” Sabin said.

We’ve got two months to continue to send the same message that teachers — all of our employees — deserve our respect and students need to be able to focus on learning instead of testing, and that’s what I’m going to to keep doing.”

She said she plans to cut corners by ending the district practice of buying computer programs teachers haven’t asked for and don’t enhance the classroom environment.

Kimberly C.

Moore can be reached at kmoore or Follow her on Twitter at KMooreTheLedger.