As part of our commitment to providing you with what you need to make an informed decision in the 2026 elections, News 6 joined with the News Collaborative of Central Florida to present the Voting Central Florida 2026 Voter’s Guide.
Tuesday, Aug. 18 is the Florida Statewide Primary election, a mix of party primaries and nonpartisan local elections, such as school board races, judicial races, and county commission races in some counties.
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Florida has a closed primary system, which means only members of a political party may vote in party primaries. To be eligible, a voter had to identify with that party by July 20.
However, judicial races and local races, for the most part, are open to all registered voters, regardless of political party.
Everything you need to know in order to vote in the Aug. 18 Statewide Primary, including how to vote by mail, vote early, and vote on Election Day, can be found in our Election 2026 section HERE.
Flagler County School Board District 1
The Flagler County School Board has five districts. These are nonpartisan races, so they are open to all voters.
School Board District 1 encompasses voters in the central part of the county, including parts of Palm Coast and Beverly Beach. You can see a map of the area HERE.
The News Collaborative of Central Florida created a list of common questions to ask the candidates. Questionnaires were sent to all candidates.
Not all of the candidates responded. Where candidates did not respond, we have filled out the information to the best of our abilities.
News 6 compiled the candidate responses for Flagler County School Board District 1, emailing and calling the candidates over several weeks. Responses were edited for spelling and grammar, but otherwise left intact.
Cathy Moon
WEBSITE: www.cathymoon4flaglerschoolboard.com/
Ms. Moon did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls regarding our candidate survey.
She did, however, respond to our sister station in Jacksonville, WJXT, for their voting guide.
Since they asked different questions, we are linking to their responses HERE.
You can see the full WJXT voter guide HERE.
Jill Woolbright
WEBSITE: https://jill4kids.com/
FOR INCUMBENTS: Why do you deserve to be re-elected in this race? FOR CHALLENGERS AND OPEN SEATS: Why do you deserve to be elected in this race? I have called Flagler County home since 1989. I raised my three children here and they attended Flagler Schools from kindergarten through high school graduation. For 28 years, I taught in Flagler County classrooms as a state-named High Impact teacher and in 2016 was the number one in the state 6th grade math teacher. I previously served two years on the Flagler School Board for District 1 from 2020-2022. For most of my life In have viewed Flagler County as a parent, a teacher, and a school board member. Those experiences give me a perspective no other candidate can offer.
TOP ISSUES
What are the three most pressing problems happening in your district, and what do you suggest to solve them? Please put your responses in the sections below.
Problem Number 1 and Solution: Declining Enrollment. It was just announced (in July) that Flagler Schools earned a “A” this school year. This should help more people choose Flagler Schools this new year after a decreasing enrollment with School Choice and the voucher system currently in place, which encourages more families to choose Homeschooling and Private Schools. We must make Flagler Schools the first choice by expanding academic excellence, career and technical education, innovative programs, and maintaining strong fiscal responsibility. Every decision should focus on delivering value to students and taxpayers.
Problem Number 2 and Solution: Improving Academic Achievement for Every Student. An “A” district is great but we must work to keep it year after year. We must continue raising student achievement by supporting evidence-based instruction, empowering excellent teachers, using data to identify, and target learning gaps making sure every child is challenged to reach their full potential. Academic success for all must remain paramount.
Problem Number 3 and Solution: Recruiting and Retaining Excellent Teachers. It takes years of experience to become a master teacher and nothing impacts student success more than a great teacher. We must continue attracting and retaining outstanding educators by reducing unnecessary burdens, providing support, recognizing excellence, and ensure they have all the resources they need. We also need to budget more pay. When we invest in great teachers, our students benefit.
How would you handle district budget issues? Every budget decision should protect the core mission of educating children. We must protect students and classrooms. We should begin with identifying efficiencies, eliminate unnecessary administrative costs where possible, postpone non-essential expenditures, actively pursue grants, strengthen our business and community partnerships, We should advocate for fair and appropriate funding, especially focusing on underfunded mandates. My commitment is simple: put students first, respect taxpayers, and ensure every decision supports the core mission of educating children.
How should the district handle teacher shortages? Teacher shortages require long-term focus on both recruitment and retention. As a retired teacher with 28 years in Flagler County classrooms, I know teachers stay where they feel respected, supported, and able to focus on teaching with the tools they need to succeed. We should strengthen partnerships with colleges and universities, expand opportunities for student teachers, and encourage talented support staff to become certified teachers. Retaining experienced teachers should be a priority and making competitive compensation a budget priority whenever possible.
Florida ranked last for academic growth in reading. How would you improve that? We must focus on accountability, scientific-based instruction, early intervention, parental involvement, and VPK recruitment. Data shows that if students come to our schools from our VPK programs, 95% enter kindergarten ready. However, those students that do not attend VPK start behind. We need to recruit and expand our VPK services. Once they are in our schools, we need to use evidence-based instruction and identify struggling readers as early as possible. The School Board needs to set high expectations, review data, and hold the district accountable for measurable results. We must communicate regularly with families and provide practical tools that encourage reading at home as we partner with parents.
What changes, if any, would you make to school safety policies? Our schools have done an amazing job of making our schools safe by hardening all schools, using the newest technology, and paying for sheriff deputies to be resource officers in every school. The main change I would make is to institute the state-funded guardian program. We have a great sheriff and I trust his judgment in training guardians so to have a force multiplier on campus along with our resource deputies.
How should book challenges and library removals be handled? Our district has a system in place to review challenged books in compliance with state law. This was a big issue several years ago when inappropriate books were found to be accessible to students too young for such content. Things have changed by state law to ensure age-appropriate books are available to students.
What outside organizations or endorsements are supporting your campaign? Waiting on big endorsements to be announced next week.
If elected, what policy would you try to pass in your first year? I would have the board take a look at the state-sponsored guardian program as explained in the safety question.