Misty Belford
Misty Belford was a member of the Brevard Public Schools school board in Florida, representing District 1. She assumed office in 2014. She left office on November 22, 2022.
Belford ran for re-election to the Brevard Public Schools school board to represent District 1 in Florida. She lost in the primary on August 23, 2022.
Biography
Belford graduated summa cum laude from Rollins College with a bachelor's in organizational communication and master's in corporate communication and technology. She is the president of KidSafe Swim Institute, Inc., which provides survival swimming instruction to children in the northern part of Brevard. She also works as an adjunct professor of communication at Rollins College. She is a member of the Oak Park Elementary School Advisory Council and participant in the Parent Leadership Team for Brevard Public Schools. Formerly, she served as the president of the Oak Park Elementary Parent Teacher Organization and was a member of the Title 1 Advisory Committee of the Brevard County Schools.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Brevard Public Schools, Florida, elections (2022)
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Brevard Public Schools school board District 1
Megan Wright won election outright against incumbent Misty Belford in the primary for Brevard Public Schools school board District 1 on August 23, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Megan Wright (Nonpartisan) | 60.5 | 14,868 | |
 | Misty Belford (Nonpartisan) | 39.5 | 9,695 | |
| Total votes: 24,563 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Roy Gainer Jr. (Nonpartisan)
- William Shearer (Nonpartisan)
2018
- See also: Brevard Public Schools elections (2018)
General election
General election for Brevard Public Schools school board District 1
Incumbent Misty Belford won election in the general election for Brevard Public Schools school board District 1 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Misty Belford (Nonpartisan) | 95.5 | 41,842 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 4.5 | 1,980 | ||
| Total votes: 43,822 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Brevard Public Schools school board District 1
Incumbent Misty Belford defeated David Meader in the primary for Brevard Public Schools school board District 1 on August 28, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Misty Belford (Nonpartisan) | 55.8 | 12,722 |
| David Meader (Nonpartisan) | 44.2 | 10,081 | ||
| Total votes: 22,803 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2014
- See also: Brevard Public Schools elections (2014)
The August 26, 2014, general election in Brevard County featured three seats up for election. Andy Ziegler was the only incumbent to seek re-election in 2014. He faced challengers Denise Coyle, Dale D. Davis and Dean Paterakis in the District 5 election. The general elections for Districts 1 and 2 featured challengers seeking to replace outgoing board members Barbara A. Murray and Michael Krupp. Misty Belford and Paul Chinaris were competing in the District 1 race while John Craig, Bob Mentillo and Keith Yarbrough were vying for the District 2 seat.
The general election determined if candidates for each seat could garner a majority of the vote total. Since no candidate received 50 percent plus one of the general election votes in Districts 3 and 5, the top two vote recipients in those races advanced to the runoff election on November 4, 2014.
Belford won the general election for District 1. The races for Districts 3 and 5 were decided in the runoff election. Craig and Yarbrough advanced to the runoff election for District 3, while Ziegler and Coyle advanced for District 5.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Misty Belford |
56.3% | 8,297 | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul Chinaris | 43.7% | 6,438 | |
| Total Votes | 14,735 | |||
| Source: Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Primary Election Official Results," September 2, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Belford reported $11,805.62 in monetary contributions, $966.33 in-kind contributions and $9,750.40 in expenditures to the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, which left her campaign with $2,055.22 on hand.[2]
Endorsements
Belford was endorsed by the following: Brevard Federation of Teachers (BFT), BML radio, Business Voice Political Committee, AFL-CIO and Florida Today.[3]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Misty Belford did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2014
Belford stated the following campaign themes on her campaign website:
Sales surtax for education
| “ | We are currently one of twelve counties out of the entire state of Florida that does not have a surtax for education. That means when we shop in any of the surrounding counties, we are supporting their schools. When people come to Brevard to shop, go to the beach, visit the space center or the port, they are not contributing anything to our schools. Granted, our residents will pay a little extra as well but it amounts to approximately $25 per year for the average family. For that $25 we get better quality schools which leads to increased property values, a desire from companies to relocate to our area, increased employment options, and better quality of life.
Of course, the benefits of the tax only materialize if we spend that money appropriately. It cannot be squandered on wants instead of needs. We must must get back to our stated priorities and ensure that every expenditure aligns with those priorities. I assure you, when elected, I will make spending decisions in the best interest of our teachers, our students, and our community.[4] |
” |
| —Belford (2014)[5] | ||
Fiscal responsibility
| “ | Despite releasing prioritized cut lists that were to be funded as money came available, the district has seen increases in funding from refinancing, state funding increases, and surplus from the previous year budget and decided to more fully fund trust funds, invest in administrative software, and reinstate ACT testing for every student rather than put it toward funding that has a direct impact at the school level.
And now, after all of the above, the district is planning on asking our community to approve a sales tax referendum in the 2014 election. Before we can hope to get voter approval for a sales tax, we must rebuild trust with our community. The perception of putting schools, teachers, and students lower on the priority list than administrative spending MUST be addressed. The perception of waste MUST be addressed. And above all, we MUST commit to putting children first![4] |
” |
| —Belford, (2013)[6] | ||
Teacher retention
| “ | Currently, teachers are evaluated based on VAM scores that seem to most to be very arbitrary. Many are evaluated based on students they have never even taught, only a small percentage of their students, or on measures that they have little to no control over. Worse yet, when the scores come back to the teachers, there is no explanation of how the scores were determined or what data they are based on. And perhaps the most unfortunate part of this is that the livelihood of the teachers is based on these scores because of merit pay.
What if VAM scores were based on students that teachers actually teach? This remains problematic. Teachers that teach special education students will likely show fewer gains putting them at a disadvantage. Teachers that teach in Title I schools will likely show fewer gains. Teachers who have larger class sizes will likely show fewer gains. As a result, we have teachers dropping special education certifications and moving away from schools with high poverty rates- those areas where we need good teachers the most. The biggest threat to keeping great teachers, though, is that the current environment is keeping them from feeling like they are doing what they started teaching to do, making a difference in the lives of children. Teachers are frustrated because they spend most of their time testing or teaching to tests. They have more students, more paperwork, more behavioral issues, more learning disabilities and less resources to address it all. Additionally, the stakes are raised each year. They are fighting a losing battle and they know it, yet they can do little to change it. It is time for us to listen to teachers and stop asking them to make the best of a bad situation. We must make the situation better and the only way we can do that is to listen to the people who are actually doing the work.[4] |
” |
| —Belford, (2013)[7] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Misty Belford, "About," accessed August 21, 2014
- ↑ Brevard County Supervisor of Elections, "Candidate Contributions and Expenditures," accessed October 27, 2014
- ↑ Misty Belford, "Endorsements," accessed August 21, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Misty Belford, "SALES SURTAX FOR EDUCATION," June 7, 2014
- ↑ Misty Belford, "FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY," September 10, 2013
- ↑ Misty Belford, "GREAT TEACHERS = GREAT SCHOOLS," September 10, 2013
