ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County voters have the potential to elect four candidates to the Orange County Public School Board on Tuesday.

Eleven candidates, including three incumbents, are running for the four openings in the nonpartisan August 18 primary election. In races with more than two candidates, the top vote-getter must win 50 percent plus one of the vote. If no one does that, the race will go to a run-off with the top two candidates in November.

We've listed the candidates below. Click on the district to find more information on each candidate. Not sure which district you are in, as a voter?  Check out this Orange County Public Schools map.

DISTRICT 4

• Pam Gould (incumbent)
• Prince Brown
• Dayna Gaut

DISTRICT 5

• Bruce Antone
• Vicki-Elaine Felder
• Michael Scott
  *Current school board member Kat Gordon is not seeking reelection.

DISTRICT 6

• Karen Castor Dentel (incumbent)
• Jonathan Hacker

DISTRICT 7

• Melissa Byrd (incumbent)
• Ericka Bell
• Jeannette Maxena

School board members are elected to four-year terms, with an annual salary of $45,000.

Broad Decisions and Impact

For several months, the Orange County Public School District had to decide how to return to learning in the midst of a pandemic, with days of deliberations and back and forth to craft a hybrid of in-classroom and virtual learning options.

Taylirre Mack’s kids will be returning to school in person because she will be back in the classroom herself.

“I have to be in-person, they didn’t give me a choice, no choice,” Mack said.

Mack balances her days as a mother — and teacher.

For Mack, the school board determines when her kids will start school. The board determines teacher salaries and benefits.

“They determine almost about everything with school and I don’t think as a parent, had I not been a teacher, I would not have known all that a school board does,” Mack said.

“There’s a sense this doesn’t apply to me,” said Nicholas Anderson, a 14-year veteran teacher.

With 212,000 students, Orange County Public Schools is the eighth largest district in the nation.

Employing more than 25,000 people, including 14,000 teachers, OCPS is one of the largest employers in Orange County, behind Walt Disney World (75,000), Advent Health (34,000), and Universal Orlando (27,000).

The school board oversees a $4.1 billion budget, which includes $1.1 billion generated from millages and property taxes.

That alone shows the impact of the board across Orange County, not just teachers, parents, and students.

“Those employees are tens of thousands of your neighbors, and your neighbor’s ability to have stable, economic lives is a really important component of your ability to have a stable, economic life," Anderson said, "Because if people around you can’t afford rent, if people around you can’t afford to live in decent housing in neighborhoods, that’s going to affect the quality of your housing, your neighborhood and quality of your neighbors overall.”