With incumbents facing several challengers and a vacant District 1 seat since 2025, there’s plenty at stake in the Flagler County School Board primary elections.
Incumbent Will Furry, the board’s District 2 representative, is facing a challenge from Rob Wood.
Ron Long and Trevor Tucker are challenging School Board Chair Christy Chong for the District 4 seat, while Cathy Moon and Jill Woolbright are vying for the vacant District 1 spot.
Derek Barrs left the District 1 seat after President Donald Trump appointed him to serve as administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
In an interview with The News-Journal on Aug. 7, Wood discussed the district’s recent return to an “A” rating; “dysfunction” at the school board; school choice and enrollment; and campus security.
Furry declined an interview request.
Who is Flagler School Board candidate Rob Wood?
Wood, a New York native and former higher-education administrator, has lived in Flagler County for 16 years. His wife, Stacy, taught at Old Kings Elementary for over eight years.
He currently owns an exterior cleaning business, specializing in large commercial and residential buildings.
Wood said his decision to run is mostly due to what he described as a “broken culture” in the School Board.
“I want to run to bring some stability, decorum back to the board,” Wood said. “I want to be able to lead by example and have highly functioning board that acts like a senior executive team in the best interest of our students and not focused on divisive political agenda.”
Flagler School Board candidate Rob Wood weighs in on ‘dysfunctional’ board
The board’s current four-member composition is part of the reason for its dysfunctionality, Wood argued.
The situation, he said, “makes debate and voting on issues difficult.”
Wood was critical of the board’s chair and vice chair selection process in November 2025, which took over 100 votes during an approximately nine-hour long meeting.
He was critical of Furry for “refusing to relinquish” the vice chair role to School Board member Lauren Ramirez, who he argued is “a highly qualified” member of the board and a “leader.” Furry had been serving as chair for two years.
Wood said the board “has made some good strides,” but members have “shied away from making harder decisions out of fear of being deadlocked.”
Rob Wood, Flagler School Board candidate, talks ‘Baby Olivia’ video
During a July 28 School Board meeting, Furry brought to the board’s attention a computer-generated video, titled “Meet Baby Olivia,” that shows a fetus developing in the womb. He asked other members to consider, in a future meeting, including the video into the school curriculum.
The organization behind the video is Virginia-based nonprofit Live Action – an anti-abortion group founded in 2003 engaged in online campaigns in support of the pro-life movement.
Wood said he attended the July 28 meeting but has not yet seen the video.
He said the board’s objective should be determining whether the video shares serves a legitimate educational need.
“I feel like our current science curriculum introduces gestation and introduces these topics naturally as part of the curriculum,” Wood argued. “I’m not sure what value adding this video to our curriculum is going to bring.”
Flagler School Board candidate Rob Wood weighs in on District ‘A’ rating
Despite his criticism of the board’s operation, Wood said Flagler Schools’ returning to an A rating after six years is encouraging.
“This reflects all of their effort and all of their hard work and the people that are closest to the student journey every single day,” he said.
Long-term planning, he said, is part of the reason for the district’s recent success and a strategy he wants to continue if elected.
Flagler School Board candidate Rob Wood talks school choice, student enrollment
With the 2023 expansion of the school voucher program in Florida, school districts are faced with the challenge of remaining a desirable option for families.
Wood said he supports the idea of providing families with school choice opportunities, as “everybody’s education journey is their own.”
He is concerned, however, about how Florida’s choice funding programs have been administered and said stronger accountability measures are needed.
He called for a more fiscally responsible administration of the program.
Flagler School Board candidate Rob Wood weighs in on school resource deputy program
Campus security, Wood argued, should always remain a top priority for the School Board, even if the district faces financial constraints in the future.
Part of the funding for school resource deputies comes from the county and the city of Palm Coast. With the potential property tax revenue decrease if the homestead exemption amendment passes in November, there is no guarantee that local governments will continue to fund those services through the Flagler Sheriff’s Office.
Wood said the School Board should “always find the money to provide sworn deputies as our school resource deputies.”
“We are a small district,” he said. “We can find the funds. We can do what we need to do to keep our kids safe.”
Wood said he is not opposed to the guardian program, but if the district adopts the program, he would advocate for “the version of the program that has the absolute most amount of training and accountability.”
“I’m not a believer that we should have teaching staff members armed throughout the day,” he said.
— Brenno Carillo is a local government reporter covering Flagler County, including Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Schools candidate talks ‘dysfunctional’ board, school choice
Reporting by Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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By Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
