- January 16, 2026
Former Flagler County School Board member Jill Woolbright filed to run for her old District 1 seat on Wednesday, Jan. 14, the same day that Cathy Moon of Palm Coast also filed to run for the District 1 School Board seat. They both said they did not know the other was also filing.
“My passion, my whole life, has been for children, and the children of Flagler County,” said Woolbright, who taught in Flagler Schools for 29 years before becoming a board member.
Woolbright served on the board for two years, winning an election in 2020 to finish out Andy Dance’s term. Dance had resigned to run for Flagler County commission. Woolbright lost her reelection bid in 2022 to Sally Hunt by 787 votes with 29,484 voting.
Hunt resigned in September, 2024. About a month later, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Derek Barrs to finish the term. Barrs resigned on Sept. 30, 2025, after being appointed by President Donald Trump to a federal transportation post. The board seat is still vacant.
“I've been thinking about running since it was known Derek was resigning,” Woolbright said. “I'm a woman of faith, so I did pray. I prayed about it.”
Woolbright said she will drop out of the race if DeSantis appoints a board member who lives in the District 1 zone. The governor can appoint anyone who lives in the county.
“I don't think I would run against a governor-appointed candidate,” Woolbright said. “He may appoint someone that lives in the district that's going to run in 2026, and if he does, I would withdraw. But if he doesn't, then I'm running. So that's my strategy.”
Moon has lived in Palm Coast since 2017, moving from northern Virginia.
“I went to public school, my children went to public school,” she said. “I believe in public schools, and I think strong public schools build a strong community, because they create a resource pool for local businesses.”
Moon worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 28 years and the Department of Commerce for two years.
“I’ve worked in customer relations. I ran a team using the principles of Lean Six Sigma, and in a three-year period … we drove $475 million out of the organization,” Moon said. “We were looking to drive down costs, but maintain service. And I think some of the same principles can apply to the school system. There's money that's been taken out of the public school system through the vouchers. So, we need to find ways to be more efficient with the funds that we have.”
