Two new members of the School Board of Manatee County will take their seats Nov. 17 at a reorganization meeting that will also determine who leads the board for the coming year.

Camden "Cam" Bedinghaus and Sharon Jefferson, both elected Nov. 3, will be sworn in at 10 a.m. at the Walter Miller School Support Center, according to the board's meeting agenda. The board will then elect a new chairman and vice-chairman.

The leadership vote matters for Lakewood Ranch families. District 5, the seat Bedinghaus won, covers parts of East Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch and Myakka City, as the Bradenton Herald reported. The new board will oversee Lakewood Ranch High School and the $144 million Rangeland High School under construction nearby.

Who's new

Bedinghaus, 23, defeated Jonathan Mullis with about 52% of the vote, collecting 22,490 votes to Mullis' 20,999, Your Observer reported. He takes the seat held by Richard Tatem, who did not seek reelection. Tatem served as vice-chairman.

Bedinghaus, a Manatee County native with an economics degree from the University of South Florida, campaigned on expanding school accountability, incorporating personal finance into the curriculum and improving reading scores, according to the Bradenton Herald.

"I'm hoping we get the priorities right again for the students and make sure their futures are set up for success," Bedinghaus told Your Observer on election night.

Jefferson, a 27-year Manatee County educator who holds a doctorate in education, unseated incumbent Cindy Spray in the District 2 race with about 52% of the vote. Spray had served as board chairman. Jefferson campaigned on addressing social and economic factors affecting student achievement, according to the Bradenton Herald.

Who returns

Three board members carry over: Heather Felton, Charles Kennedy and Chad Choate. With Spray and Tatem both gone, the chairman and vice-chairman posts are open. The agenda does not indicate which members are expected to seek those roles.

At a May 12 board meeting, Felton received the Florida School Board Association's Certified Board Member Award for completing 96 or more hours of training in areas including school finance, policy and collective bargaining, according to board meeting records. Tatem was recognized at the same meeting as the association's 2025 Distinguished Leader.

What the new board inherits

The reconstituted board takes over during a stretch of major capital projects in Lakewood Ranch. Rangeland High School, located at Rangeland Parkway and Post Boulevard, remains on track to open in August 2027 with about 1,070 ninth and 10th graders, as we reported Sept. 4.

Lakewood Ranch High School's HVAC renovation, estimated at about $36 million in two phases, also awaits board action. The project appeared on the board's Oct. 27 agenda, though the vote outcome had not been confirmed as of late October, as we reported Oct. 29.

Beyond the swearing-in and leadership elections, the Nov. 17 agenda includes setting the 2026-2027 meeting schedule, discussing workshops and assigning board committee seats.