This story was originally published by Stet News Palm Beach, a WLRN News partner.
The race for an open seat on the Palm Beach County School Board has attracted two former educators and a longtime Wellington Village Council member who has built a well-financed campaign.
John McGovern, 52, is an attorney who has been on the Wellington Village Council since 2015. He served as vice mayor and left this year because of term limits.
He is running against Wanda Rosario-Schoenfeld, 71, a retired teacher and school administrator, and Widline Pierre, 42, a mental health therapist.
They are pursuing a four-year term representing School Board District 6, which covers the western communities including Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, The Acreage and the Glades.
READ MORE: How and where to vote in South Florida for the 2026 Primary and General Election
The seat is held by Marcia Andrews, a former middle school teacher and principal who chose not to run after 16 years on the board. She is the only School Board member with full-time classroom teaching experience.
If no one captures a majority in the Aug. 18 primary, the top two candidates will face each other on Nov. 3.
District 6 is one of two School Board races this year. In coastal south county District 4, voters will select a replacement for Erica Whitfield, who is running for County Commission. The candidates are Tiffany Bryant, Anthony Hamlet, Christina Romelus and Daniel Zapata.
The school district is the largest employer in the county with about 23,000 employees of which 13,000 are teachers. School Board members are paid about $56,000 a year. Members elected this year will be limited to two terms.
The seven-member board sets the direction of the 10th-largest school district in the United States, is responsible for its 158,000 students in district-run schools and oversees a $6.25 billion annual budget.
Palm Beach County schools have not experienced the severe enrollment declines seen in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, but in this growing county, the district’s student count is down by about 6,000 compared with previous years. Because state money to schools depends on the number of students, board members face educational demands and a shrinking budget.
This seat is decided by voters in District 6. School board races are nonpartisan. McGovern is a registered Democrat, Rosario-Schoenfeld is a registered Republican and Pierre has no party affiliation.
McGovern: Promises to fight for district
McGovern graduated in Wellington High School’s first four-year class in 1994. He completed his bachelor’s and law degrees at the University of Florida.
His wife, Michelle McGovern, is a regional vice president with Comcast. She lost a bid for County Commission in 2022 to Republican Sara Baxter. The McGoverns’ two daughters attended Palm Beach County public schools.
“When I say that I am the candidate from District 6, for District 6, that is not just a slogan. I think parents and students have to think about who is going to be available to them,” McGovern said. “Who is going to fight for them. This is a large bureaucracy that is run by seven people. You have to have someone who understands because they have been there.”
He has secured several endorsements, including from the 7,000-member Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association and the Economic Council.
McGovern is dominating the District 6 money battle, raising about $66,000 as of July 17. Top contributors include the Police Benevolent Association political action committee, Professional Firefighters and Paramedics PAC, several builders and attorneys, Wellington Regional Medical Center and $5,000 he loaned to his campaign. He has access to $131,000 in his Team McGovern PAC including $90,000 contributed since September by a PAC controlled by Rick Asnani.
Rosario-Schoenfeld: 18 years in a classroom
Rosario-Schoenfeld’s campaign showcases her educational expertise. She built her career in the Buffalo, N.Y., school district, which is the second-largest in New York state. She taught, served as a principal and school district administrator. She was named New York State Bilingual Teacher of the Year in 1998.
In Palm Beach County, she served as a board member of Berean Christian School, a private school west of West Palm Beach.
“We’re in a transitional period with Marcia leaving,” Rosario-Schoenfeld said. “We need to be careful and make sure that the baton is passed to an educator such as myself, who has 18 years in the classroom.”
Her website notes she has the endorsement of two retired educators.
Rosario-Schoenfeld has raised about $8,900 through July 17 including about $3,500 that she loaned to her campaign.
Pierre: School counselor for 10 years
Pierre is running on her insight as a former Palm Beach County schools employee. She served as a school counselor with the district for 10 years. She has graduate and undergrad degrees from Barry University. She is also a Lake Worth High School graduate.
“Earlier this year, I stood before the School Board holding one of my old pay stubs because I know firsthand the sacrifices our teachers make,” Pierre said. “We must continue to invest in competitive pay, strong benefits, and a culture where educators feel respected, supported and valued. When we support our teachers, our students succeed.”
Today, Pierre runs Living Soul, a company that offers speech therapy and behavioral therapy for students with autism.
Court records show that lender Itria Ventures sued her in April 2025, saying she hadn’t made agreed-upon payments after December 2022 for financing at a 20% interest rate. The company sought $41,000 in damages and won a default judgment in May 2025.
“I’m not sure what that has to do with the campaign or my experience as a mental health professional,” she said last week. “In my classes, they never really teach you the financial side of business. When you are learning to build a business, you are going to make mistakes.”
She added, “I started with no money. We are stable.”
Pierre does not list any endorsements on her campaign website.
She has raised about $6,300 in campaign contributions through July 17.
On the issues
For this story, Stet News interviewed each candidate by phone and considered their answers to questions from the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County.
Priorities
John McGovern
“My priority will be ensuring every child has access to best-in-Florida, best-in-the-nation, public education, achieved by focusing on core academics, supporting and retaining great teachers and maintaining fiscal discipline. We must improve early literacy and math achievement, expand career and technical education, strengthen workforce readiness and guard tax dollars.”
Widline Pierre
“I will fight to increase student support and mental health resources. I will support employees and work to rebuild school enrollment. I will focus on academic recovery (from COVID) and improved instruction in math and reading. Free tutoring to our students.”
Wanda Rosario-Schoenfeld
“With my career-long role as an educator and administrator, my top priority will always be to direct the conversations and decisions that come before the School Board toward the impact they will have on student outcomes, teacher support and improving the atmosphere and learning environments of our schools.”
Declining enrollment
All three say the district has to do a better job of marketing its strengths to parents.
McGovern
“I give (Superintendent) Mike Burke great credit for managing this and steering us through with his financial expertise.
“There are a lot of reasons why kids have left our schools. What we have not done as a district is talk about Palm Beach County as your best choice.
“If we marketed that as a collective, you will see that Palm Beach County schools are, overall, far, far superior. We need to be making that case to parents.”
Pierre
Pierre said the School District should look deep for answers on why students are departing. It could be that families are leaving Palm Beach County because they cannot afford to live here, expanded access to school vouchers or a general perception of better choices.
“The district should start conducting forums for families to see what they are looking for,” she said. “Parents should think 10 times before pulling their children out.”
Rosario-Schoenfeld
“Parents are looking for where their kids are going to be challenged.
“We have 330 different programs for CTE, which are our vocational tech programs. Who knows that? We’re not marketing what is really working and successful in our schools.
“The common cry from parents is that they feel like their student is not being taught the basics of the academics of reading, writing, arithmetic and critical thinking. That’s the reason that they’re pulling out their kids.”
How should schools handle concerns about library books?
McGovern
“As a member in good standing and long-standing member of the Florida Bar, we have to comply with state law. That said, I don’t think we can fear knowledge. I don’t think we can fear the complexities that might be presented in certain books.
“What I do think we can do: The School District has found a way to look into this. We can ensure that things are done in an age-appropriate way. We need libraries, we need the knowledge contained in books on all subjects.
“The way we make it happen is that we trust librarians, who have had years of experience in the subject matter. We can also make sure the selections are what is appropriate in a high school library.”
Pierre
Pierre wants a stronger screening process.
“That’s something we have to look into. Are those books beneficial to our children? Even me, when I was in the school system, there were books that were absolutely not appropriate.
“Not because of my preference, but because of what we want to expose our children to. I’m looking not only at the educational side of it, but also the mental health angle.”
Rosario-Schoenfeld
“My first question will always be: How is this in line with the standard that the state has set? Does it line up with the standard of what is being taught in school or does it drift into the political? We need to sit down and look at the purpose of the book.”
Cellphone use in the classroom
Mobile devices offer security to parents but are distracting in the classroom and a tempting tool for cheating. None of the candidates supports cellphone use in classrooms.
McGovern
“I think that needs to be controlled. I think the Legislature is regularly looking at this as well. I understand. As a parent, I want my kids to have their phone at school. I also want it off when they are in class. I think it’s really that simple.
“When we say that, I’m talking about high school. I definitely don’t think you need them in elementary school.”
Pierre
“Students are already using technology. That can create a lot of distractions. They need to stay focused. I do believe in the case of safety, they want to communicate, but we have made improvements with school safety.”
Rosario-Schoenfeld
“No. I don’t even want them in restaurants. We need to have the students and the family understand that the class is a sanctuary for education. We can’t have anything interrupting that time period that we’re trying to educate the students.
“I remember having to deal with that in especially middle school and high school, but we had to get the parents on board to understand that their school is a safe place. If there’s a safety issue that you think this is why your child has to carry their phone, there are ways that the child can get themselves to the office or to an adult in the building.”
Find more information on the candidates in the League of Women Voters guide at Vote411.org/ballot.
This story is part of a statewide partnership of 27 nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 School Board elections. Learn more about the Florida Election Reporting Partnership at floridaelections.org.
