Justin Sharpless and Rick Nolte were sworn in to office, as Lisa Miller and Kay Fields begin their second and fifth terms respectively.
Tag: Polk County School Board
Posted inEducation
School Board Thanks Departing Colleagues Lynn Wilson, Sarah Fortney
Wilson retired from the board after eight years; Fortney was narrowly defeated in her re-election bid.
Posted inPolitics
Election Roundup: Voters Return Lisa Miller to School Board
Other winners: Laurel Lee and Scott Franklin for U.S. House, Colleen Burton for Florida Senate, Martha Santiago for County Commission, John Flynn for County Judge. Polk environmental lands measure passes.
Posted inEducation
School Board Candidate Backed By Dark Money From National Conservative Group
Jill Sessions’ bid to join the Polk County School Board is backed by a national conservative political action committee that funded a video mentioning her and three other local candidates ahead of the August primary.
Posted inEducation
Expert Says Nolte’s Cash Contribution Violated State Statute
Polk School Board member-elect Rick Nolte’s $5,200 cash donation to his own campaign violates Florida law, according to a legal scholar with expertise in Florida election laws; Nolte declined to answer questions about the contribution on Thursday.
Posted inEducation
CCDF Appeals Polk Schools’ Policy on Checking Out 16 Contested Library Books
County Citizens Defending Freedom has filed an appeal to Superintendent Frederick Heid’s decision to provide parents with only an opt-out process regarding 16 library books group members have complained are obscene, pornographic, age-inappropriate, or indoctrinate students.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Former School Board Member Files Elections Complaint Against Nolte
Former Polk School Board member Billy Townsend, who writes a newsletter about education and local politics, has filed a campaign finance complaint against Rick Nolte, who last week defeated incumbent Sarah Fortney for a School Board seat.
Posted inEducation, Politics
School Board: Nolte Unseats Fortney; Fields Returns; Sharpless Wins; Miller Faces Sessions in Runoff
Rick Nolte, who received the backing of Gov. Ron DeSantis and conservative activist organizations, unseated one-term incumbent Sarah Fortney from the Polk County School Board today in an election that saw the return of 20-year School Board veteran Kay Fields and the victory of newcomer Justin Sharpless. Incumbent Lisa Miller faces a Nov. 8 runoff […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
School Officials Address ‘Disinformation’ About Controversial Library Books
As the Polk County School Board was ending its meeting Tuesday evening, Vice Chair Lisa Miller and Superintendent Frederick Heid sought to set the record straight about what they called disinformation regarding 16 library books that had been challenged as pornographic or age-inappropriate.
Posted inEducation
Stranger Things Surround This Year’s Polk School Board Races
This year’s School Board races are the most hotly contested campaigns in Polk County, following a national trend as far-right conservative candidates vow to “educate not indoctrinate” public schools students, as one local candidate has stated on his campaign signs.
