- September 16, 2026
The Flagler County School Board will have at least two new members in November as voters made it clear in the Aug. 18 Primary Election that they wanted change.
Not only did newcomers Cathy Moon and Rob Wood win board seats, but their margins of victory were striking.
Moon, a former U.S. Postal Service executive, defeated former School Board member Jill Woobright in District 1, gaining 55.93% of the vote (15,000 votes) to 44.07% (11,818 votes) for Woolbright.
Wood won 59.05% of the vote (15,668 votes) to defeat incumbent Will Furry in District 2. Furry received 40.96% (10,866 votes).
District 4, however, will be headed to a November runoff between current School Board Chair Christy Chong and former School Board member Trevor Tucker. The newcomer in that race, Ron Long, received 23.29% of the vote (6,156 votes), while Chong and Tucker were separated by just 611 votes. Tucker received 10,442 votes for 39.51% of the vote, while Chong received 9,831 votes (37.2%).
In 2022, Chong defeated Tucker by over 3,000 votes.
I do feel like there's a statement here that it's time to put a School Board together that's willing to work together and stay focused on a singular mission, and that's taking great care of our kids, our faculty and our staff.
— ROB WOOD
Moon said she was surprised by her margin of victory.
“I didn't even assume that I was going to win,” she said. “I do think (voters) wanted change, and I think that people, to some extent, had to set apart their party and say who will bring the best outcome for our students?”
Moon said voters remembered the dissension on the board when Woolbright was a member in 2020-2022. And, she said, they haven’t forgotten the board’s nine-hour reorganization meeting last November when, Moon said, Furry was “fighting over being vice chair when he should have been developing someone else on the board, like Lauren Ramirez or Janie Ruddy.”
Wood said he’s thankful he won by a wide margin, because it means he’ll have a broad mandate.
“It tells me that I have support from across our electorate,” he said. “That I have Democrats and independents and NPAs and Republicans all voting in a way that is supporting change.”
Wood, an Air Force veteran and former program faculty leader at Western Governors University, said he believes the voters were tired of turmoil on the board.
“I do feel like there's a statement here that it's time to put a School Board together that's willing to work together and stay focused on a singular mission, and that's taking great care of our kids, our faculty and our staff, and to make sure that we're all focused on the right things,” he said.
Wood stepped down from his position at WGU in June to focus on his small exterior cleaning business and campaigning. Now, he said, he will focus on learning what it takes to be a successful School Board member.
“I've been very upfront from the beginning that I've not done this before, and I'm going to have to spend some time into really understanding the role, where my influence lies and how to get things done,” he said. “I know that this is a tremendous responsibility, and I want to make sure I’m keeping the main thing the main thing, and that is how do we take great care of our students and our faculty.”
Moon said her main issues will be mitigating budget constraints and finding ways to increase participation in VPK, so more children will be ready to start kindergarten. She said a lack of transportation, especially for children who live in outlying areas, such as Daytona North, is a major factor in preventing some families from enrolling in the volunteer program.
Tucker, who previously served on the board for 12 years, said the issues have not changed.
“It's always how we treat children and how we make sure they have the best quality education possible,” he said.
Chong said the school district has made great gains becoming an A-rated district due to a leadership change that resulted in LaShakia Moore becoming the superintendent.
“I had something to do in bringing that new leadership in,” she said.
Chong said that she is sad that Furry, her fellow conservative on the board, won’t be returning. She said she was also hopeful Woolbright would join her.
“I would like to be on the board another four years,” she said.
