Kay Fields, the longest-serving member of the Polk County School Board, hopes to gain another term.
Fields announced that she will seek a seventh four-year term in District 5, which includes schools in North Lakeland and the Kathleen area. She filed to run on April 20.
First elected to the Polk County School Board in 2002, Fields has been reelected five times. In 2022, she withstood a challenge from Terry Clark, one of four candidates promoted by the Polk County Republican Party in the nonpartisan elections. Fields prevailed with 52.9% of the vote.
Fields, 73, carefully considered whether to seek another term.
“I was in prayer with my family,” she said. “I wanted to make sure this is something that was directed from the Lord. Everything I do, I try to make sure is in line with what he would want. I’ve been talking to some people, encouraging me to run for reelection and talking to my family as well.”
Fields is president and CEO of Girls Inc. of Lakeland, a program for girls in all school grades. A Mississippi native, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Fields is married to former Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields.
In a news release, Fields cited Polk County Public Schools’ rise to an overall “B” grade from the Florida Department of Education in 2025. She also pointed to the district’s improvement in graduation rate to 87.7%, a jump of 5.5 percentage points.
“Serving the families of Polk County has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Fields said in the news release. “We have made substantial progress, but there is more work ahead. I’m running for re-election to continue advocating for strong schools, empowered educators and a district that listens to its community.”
The Florida Legislature passed a law in 2022 setting 12-year term limits for school board members and a year later cut the limit to eight years. But the law does not apply retroactively, making Fields eligible for another term.
In choosing to run again, Fields may face the most formidable and well-funded opponent she has met in all her elections.
Sumanth “Sam” Neelan of Davenport, a member of the Florida Polytechnic University Board of Trustees, filed to run in early January. Though the race is nonpartisan, Neelam identified himself as conservative and said that School Board seats need to be held entirely by conservatives.
Neelam, a technology executive, donated $30,000 to his own campaign, nearly all of his $31,416 in campaign contributions. Fields has not yet reported any contributions.
School Board elections take place during the primary round on Aug. 18.
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: Fields, first elected in 2002, seeks another term on Polk School Board
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
