Sixteen years on the Palm Beach County School Board will be enough, Vice Chair Marcia Andrews said this week about her decision not to seek re-election in November 2026.
As her 50th year in education unfolded, Andrews said she began talking about retirement to the mayors and other community leaders in her District 6 and it “feels like the right time.”
Now she’s making it official.
Besides her time on the school board, which dates back to 2010, Andrews has served as a middle school teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of recruitment and chief human resources officer for the school district, which is the county’s largest employer.
A longtime resident of Wellington and later Royal Palm Beach, Andrews said she does not have a favorite to replace her and wants to see an open competition for the seat she captured for the fourth time in 2022 with 56.9 percent of the vote.
Andrews’ district includes all of the western communities and the Glades.
The decision coincides with Andrews’ upcoming completion of a one-year term as chair of the Washington, D.C.-based Council of Great City Schools (CGCS) Board of Directors. The council consists of two representatives from each of the nation’s 78 largest school districts, serving approximately eight million students.
The Palm Beach County School District ranks 10th nationally, serving some 189,000 students.
At the Wednesday, April 23 school board meeting, Andrews will be honored for her service to the county and the country as part of the CGCS executive board, first as secretary, then treasurer, chair-elect and finally chair. She will remain a part of the organization as past-chair through July 2026.
Though Palm Beach County has been a CGCS member for some 20 years, Andrews was the first representative from the local district to gain the top position.
Council Executive Director Dr. Ray Hart said this week that Andrews’ service to the council and those they serve has been stellar.
“She’s a visionary,” said Hart, who will be on hand to honor Andrews. “She can see around the curve to what’s needed.”
The coalition is dedicated to the improvement of education for children in the inner cities, according to its web site at www.cgcs.org. The council and its member school districts work to help school children “meet the highest standards and become successful and productive members of society.”
Andrews said that while the issues are different for districts from Seattle to Miami and Los Angeles to Boston, “we have more in common than we have differences.”
As immediate past-chair, Andrews will continue to help set the vision for the organization, Hart said.
Andrews, whose district includes 41 schools throughout the western parts of the county, said the goals she set for herself and the district when first elected in 2010 have been accomplished. The goals included improving facilities and education opportunities in the Glades, and building or renovating a number of District 6 schools to meet the needs of the county’s booming western communities.
The latest addition is Saddle View Elementary School, due to open in August just outside the gates of the Arden community near 20-Mile Bend. Another elementary school is expected to open in Westlake in 2027, with a new high school set for the area near Northlake Blvd. and Seminole Pratt Whitney Road planned for 2030.
