Alexandria Ayala not running for re-election to Palm Beach County School Board

‘Just politics’: Palm Beach County School Board member Alexandria Ayala shrugs accusations of election and mortgage fraud.

After just one term on the Palm Beach County School Board, Alexandria Ayala has decided to not run for re-election.

Ayala said she won’t seek a second four-year term this year in the panel’s District 2 seat, where she has represented residents and students in a central part of the county since 2020.

She vowed to continue working out of office to improve local education matters.

“It has been an absolute honor to serve the students, parents, educators, and District staff of Palm Beach County as their School Board member,” she said in a statement shared with Florida Politics. “I will remain dedicated to the well-being and success of our schools and community at large.”

For now, Ayala’s decision not to run leaves an open route to the District 2 seat for Angel Rodriguez Suarez, a West Palm Beach resident with an infinitesimal online footprint who filed paperwork April 15. Mariana “Mari” Blanco, Assistant Executive Director for the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth, is reportedly planning to file for the open seat Friday.

Ayala made history in August 2020 as the first Hispanic woman elected to the Palm Beach School Board. She ran into controversy almost immediately after questions arose about whether she lived in the district she was elected to serve, as is required by state law.

As a School Board member, Ayala spearheaded the creation of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Board to boost student voices in the district’s policymaking process, helped to enhance post-pandemic academic recovery by recommending 24/7 online tutoring for all students and championed dual language programs.

Last year, after Gov. Ron DeSantis publicly opposed 14 School Board incumbents throughout the state, Ayala said she was surprised no one in Palm Beach was targeted despite the seven-member panel’s support of mask mandates and the County Commission’s recent rightward tilt.

She told Florida Politics she viewed the Governor’s actions as part of an effort to dismantle the classical education system, which in Florida suffered due in part to low per-pupil funding, student outcomes and teacher salaries.

Ayala outpaced two opponents in 2020 to win her seat with 56% of the vote. Before running for the School Board, she served as a legislative aide in the Florida House and the Palm Beach County Commission.

She was born in Puerto Rico, raised in Palm Springs and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in journalism studies from the University of Central Florida.

District 2 includes parts of Greenacres, Cloud Lake, Haverhill, Lake Clarke Shores, Lake Worth, Palm Springs and West Palm Beach.