Photo: CBS 12
Three school board members have chosen not to run for re-election this year. They include Barbara McQuinn in District 1.
A former Palm Beach Gardens City Council member is among the three candidates running for the seat.
"Our school district has an annual budget of $4.9 billion. Before I started my law firm, I was vice president and general counsel for a financial corporation for over 15 years. So I understand finance, I understand management and I understand law."
Matthew Lane says someone on the school board needs to have enough knowledge of balancing large budgets in order for their to be some fiscal oversight.
Lane says he was an English and Math teacher at public schools in the Midwest when he was, in his words, "much younger."
Page Lewis has been a realtor, worked in the substance abuse industry and more recently touts her success as a reading intervention teacher for underprivileged kids in West Palm Beach, working for a nonprofit.
Her platform includes giving parents more choices and control.
"As a school board member I really do want to make it more welcoming for parents to come and have their say at the school board meeting. I look forward to having town halls in the communities that I serve, to make sure that the parents are actually heard."
Francesca Wernisch touts the endorsement of the outgoing McQuinn. She has two children in local public schools.
Wernisch has a degree in construction management and serves on the PTA while volunteering and interacting with staff members at her kids' schools.
We asked for her thoughts on Florida's Parental Rights in Education law.
"I think we have to be very careful about the impact that it has on the safety of our students, meaning physical and emotional safety. And I don't want them to feel unsafe about something they might say or for teachers to feel uncomfortable about the risk of them engaging the students in some kind of way."
She says that keeping the lines of communication with parents open is essential.
The other school board members not seeking another term this year are Alexandria Ayala in District 2 and former School Board Chair Frank Barbieri in District 5. There is no race in District 2 because candidate Virginia Savietto ran unopposed. There are five candidates in the District 5 race and we're reaching out to them for a future entry.