Home-school proponent takes on two-term incumbent in Polk School Board District 4 race

The election for the Polk County School Board in District 4 pits an incumbent against a home-schooling advocate with an array of educational experience.

Seeking a third term, Sara Beth Wyatt must contend with Rebekah Ricks, the former state leader of the conservative group Moms for America.

District 4 contains 20 schools in the Winter Haven area. Candidates must live in the district, though voting takes place countywide.

Vote-by-mail ballots have already gone out for the nonpartisan election, one of three School Board races being held this year. Early voting begins Aug. 10, and traditional voting will take place Aug. 20.

Rebekah Ricks

Ricks, 44, is a former teacher who said that many of her relatives are involved in education. She holds twin bachelor’s degrees in advanced math and history and educational leadership from Oklahoma Baptist College.

The Winter Haven resident, a mother of children ages 3 and 6, said she has previously operated a small, “university model” private school and led a tutoring company. She serves on the State Board of Music Education.

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Ricks, who ran unsuccessfully for the Polk County School Board in 2016, is past president of the Florida chapter of Moms for America, a conservative group that emphasizes religious faith and promotes home-schooling, among other causes. Ricks said that she now consults on nationwide legislation related to education, human trafficking and immigration for various organizations.

Ricks said it isn’t a contradiction for a home-school advocate to seek a position on the board that oversees Polk County’s public schools. Florida leaders have emphasized school choice in recent years, passing legislation that allows state education funding to flow to students who are home-schooled or attend private schools. And Polk County’s roughly 5,000 home-schooled students have the right to take classes at public schools, she said.

While Ricks is challenging a two-term incumbent in Wyatt, she emphasized that Wyatt had not indicated plans to seek reelection when Ricks filed to run in January. Ricks said she is also motivated by the need to address problems in the district.

Among her concerns: Truancy is high, with 40% of high schoolers chronically absent. (That figure includes home-schooled and charter school students.) Too many students read at below their grade level. Polk County ranks relatively low in scores on most subjects in state assessments.

“So I guess you need to go back to the basics — reading, writing and arithmetic,” Ricks said. “We need to make sure that those scores are the number one thing the district needs to be focusing on, is making sure that we're giving our students a good education.”

On the topic of boosting salaries for veteran teachers, Ricks said that Florida has devoted significant money in recent budgets toward increasing teacher pay. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office reported allotting more than $4 billion for faculty salaries since 2019. Ricks said that the state funding is not translating into commensurate raises in Polk County.

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Ricks acknowledged that insurance and pensions could factor into the equation. She also noted that teachers have a union that advocates for them in bargaining with district leaders.

Ricks’ campaign platform emphasizes “rights, resources and results.” She said that 30% of Polk County students have a learning disability, and up to 30% speak English as a second language. As an advocate for school choice, Ricks said that some students could be directed to charter or private schools with specialty programs.

“Teachers have someone that advocates for them,” she said. “The parents and students don't always have someone to advocate for them. Whether you choose to home-school your child or to put them in a private school or you're in a public school, we’re changing the face of education right now. The policies we're making are going to affect education for the next 20 years.”

Moms for America, the nonprofit with which Ricks is still aligned, addresses such politically charged topics as COVID vaccinations, gender identity and critical race theory. But Ricks said she isn’t looking to inject politics into the Polk County School Board.

“We can get sidetracked by the politics of education, but education is not political,” she said. “Education is not Republican or Democrat.”

While the Moms for America website warns against the “indoctrination” of students in public schools, Ricks said she does not consider that a problem in Polk County or Florida as a whole.

Ricks has reported about $14,400 in campaign contributions. Her donors include Polk County Commissioner Bill Braswell; Royal Brown III, president of the Winter Haven 9-12 Project; the trust of Julie Fancelli, daughter of Publix Super Markets founder George W. Jenkins; and Steve Maxwell, co-founder of Citizens Defending Freedom.

Sara Beth Wyatt

Wyatt narrowly won election to the Polk County School Board in 2016 at age 24. She faced no opponent in 2020.

Wyatt, 31, resigned in June after two years as president and CEO of the Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce. She said she needed to devote time to increased family responsibilities and her reelection campaign.

“I was first elected in 2016, so I feel like we've made some great strides in the past eight years,” Wyatt said. “But there's still a little bit more work to be done.”

Among the district’s accomplishments, Wyatt said that Polk’s funding per-pupil from the state has increased by more than 25%. She also expressed pride at the district’s offering of advanced curricula through the Cambridge Program at Winter Haven High and Tenoroc High.

Polk County reached the state-mandated minimum salary of $47,500 for new teachers about 18 months ahead of schedule. Wyatt said that means the School Board can now concentrate on directing funds toward boosting pay for experienced teachers.

Wyatt also noted that all employees in Polk County Public Schools have received health coverage at no cost for decades, a fact that she thinks can be better advertised to attract teachers. She said she wants to see that benefit continued.

While Polk County recently received a C grade in the Florida Department of Education’s annual assessment, Wyatt emphasized that the district is outpacing the state in its gains in many categories of the end-of-year assessments. She acknowledged that high rates of absenteeism following the COVID pandemic are hampering the district’s progress.

The district has benefited from the results of an efficiency audit conducted last year, Wyatt said.

“So we had some great results from that,” she said. “One of them is redistricting and looking at it – as we're rezoning our schools, we have some neighborhoods that we have seven buses coming to the same little area to go to seven different schools, just because that's where there's zones.”

Wyatt said she expects the district to find further cost savings through recommendations that arose from the audit.

As the district continues with a long-term rezoning plan, Wyatt said she wants to ensure that all students can find the programs they seek in the school closest to their home. As it is, students sometimes must travel elsewhere in the county for a specialty program.

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“Every school should be a destination school,” Wyatt said.

Polk County is experiencing a population surge, and that creates the demand for more schools. The district is now adding 3,000 to 5,000 students a year, Wyatt said.

“We have several schools that have many open seats, that are not at capacity,” she said. “Those are not necessarily schools where the growth in the community is. So how can we rezone schools to make sure that all schools are fairly balanced, when it comes to capacity at the school?”

Wyatt served as chair of the School Board in 2023.

“Being a board member, you're one of seven, which is always important to remember,” she said. “A big part of being an effective board member is building consensus and working together. No man is an island, and one vote doesn't get you very far.”

Wyatt admitted that she carefully considered whether she wanted to seek a third term on the School Board.

“I have so much more I feel like I want to accomplish, and I really need a little bit more time to do it,” she said. “So, the work is still very exciting. It is an honor and a great responsibility to be able to represent Polk County. And I hope to continue to do that and continue to represent all of our families and community, because these kids, the 120,000 students sitting in our schools, are worth it.”

Wyatt has reported about $14,700 in campaign contributions. Her donors include Lakeland Mayor Bill Mutz; state Rep. Melony Bell, R-Fort Meade; former school district lobbyist Wendy Dodge; and the Polk Education Association Political Action Committee.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Home-school advocate takes on 2-term Polk School Board incumbent