Brevard County District 5 School Board candidates Michele McCormack, Cecilia Trotter and Tammy Dennis (Photos courtesy of Jason Hooks, Cecilia Trotter and Tammy Dennis)

This story is part of a statewide partnership of 27 nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 school board elections. Learn more about the Florida Elections Reporting Partnership.

The race for Brevard County School Board District 5 has become a debate over what should shape the district’s next chapter: political and cultural priorities, or the day-to-day needs of students, teachers, and schools. Many voters have expressed concerns about academic achievement, teacher retention, career education, parental rights, school discipline, financial accountability, and the role politics should play in board decisions. 

The contest reflects a broader divide over the direction of Brevard Public Schools. Some voters want the board to move away from politically divisive issues and focus more directly on classrooms, staffing, and student outcomes. Others believe conservative values, stronger parental authority, and stricter discipline should remain central to the district’s direction. 

Dennis is a former educator and district oversight committee member whose platform centers on conservative values, parental rights, and fiscal responsibility.  

McCormack is a longtime Brevard teacher focused on classroom experience, exceptional student education, and teacher retention.  

Trotter is a public school teacher and former business owner who has prioritized financial transparency, public-school advocacy, and broader community access to the board. 

The following profiles are based on their campaign websites, news interviews, campaign finance reports, and publicly available background information. The goal is to examine each candidate’s background, campaign priorities, financial support, endorsements, and plans for serving District 5. Together, they offer voters a closer look at the choices shaping the future of Brevard’s public schools.  

---

Originally from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, Tammy Dennis lives in Indialantic, Florida. She earned her high school diploma from Heritage Academy and completed a bachelor’s degree in music education with piano proficiency at Bob Jones University. Dennis said she began her career as an educator, then expanded to teach children, teenagers and adults, leading teams, coordinating large-scale events, developing budgets, and charitable initiatives. 

Dennis has been involved in school district oversight and student-focused community initiatives. She has served more than four years on the Brevard Public Schools Independent Citizen Oversight Committee and currently serves as secretary. The committee reviews the use of revenue generated through the district’s half-cent sales surtax for facilities, technology, security, and other priorities. Dennis also served on the district’s Audit Committee. 

Her community involvement includes co-founding and coordinating the Education & Citizenship Armed Forces Coalition of the Space Coast. The coalition connects students, families and educators with scholarships, STEM opportunities, military programs, contests, museum experiences and civic resources. 

Dennis said she is running because she believes the position requires experience across education, policy, finance, operations, and community engagement. She points to her background in teaching, family life, fiscal oversight, and organizational leadership as preparation for making decisions that affect students, parents, employees, and taxpayers. 

Her campaign centers on three priorities: preparing students for life after graduation, strengthening parental involvement, and promoting fiscal responsibility. Dennis emphasizes reading, writing, mathematics, and civics, and understanding the Constitution and Bill of Rights. She wants to expand trades and career-skills programs that connect students with apprenticeships, internships, and employment opportunities.  

Dennis supports keeping parents fully informed and meaningfully involved in decisions affecting their children’s education. She also favors clear disciplinary expectations and restrictions on student cellphone use during the school day. She said she would review spending and streamline district processes. District resources should remain focused on serving Brevard County’s more than 68,000 students, she said. 

Campaign finance reports show that, through the reporting period ending July 10, 2026, Dennis had received $25,265 in monetary contributions and $3,658 in in-kind contributions. Her campaign reported $13,937.02 in expenditures. Filings show that Dennis, who identifies as a Republican, provided two $5,000 loans to her campaign, totaling $10,000, along with in-kind support. Other contributions came from individual and business donors. Campaign funds have been used primarily for voter outreach, campaign promotion, signs, printed materials, website services, digital marketing, event expenses, and other administrative costs.  

Her endorsements include District 5 School Board Member Katye Campbell, Palm Bay Mayor Rob Medina, Trailblazers of Tomorrow, and Space Coast Republicans. 

---

Michele McCormack, 50, a public school teacher, was born on Homestead Air Force Base in Miami on July 4, 1976, then moved to Palm Bay in 1988 with her family after her father retired. She attended Southwest Middle School and Palm Bay High School. She raised two children who also graduated from the district. Now living in West Melbourne, McCormack has worked for more than 20 years as a K-6 grade teacher at Brevard Public Schools and teaches deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Meadowlane Primary School. 

Aside from teaching, McCormack also mentors new exceptional education teachers and serves on her school’s Advisory Council. She is also committed to her leadership roles with the Brevard Federation of Teachers while pursuing a second master’s degree in educational leadership at the University of Central Florida.  

McCormack is active in education policy, traveling to Tallahassee for legislative sessions and meetings with lawmakers to discuss issues affecting Florida classrooms. She said a priority is to strengthen communication between schools and district leaders. She believes her experience in special education and deaf education shows she understands the steps families must take to obtain services for children with disabilities. She also specifically recalled helping a former student’s family secure a sign language interpreter for a high school graduation after the district initially denied the request. 

 McCormack supports technical education programs, including automotive and culinary, and wants greater accountability and transparency surrounding education funding, including voucher programs. While supporting families having educational choices, she said taxpayers should understand how public funds are being used.  

Campaign finance reports show McCormack raised $19,095 in monetary contributions between October 2025 and June 2026. The campaign also reported $2,664.55 in in-kind contributions, bringing its total support to more than $21,700. As of the latest filing, she spent $4,096.64, with yard signs accounting for one of her largest campaign expenses.  

McCormack described her campaign as a grassroots effort built largely on contributions from teachers and community members. She has had many supporters donate small amounts, including contributions of $2.50 and $5, which she called meaningful because many educators have limited financial resources.  

The reports also list additional contributions from the Brevard Federation of Teachers, the Florida Education Association, the Broward Teachers Union, the Vieira Co., and several education-related political action committees. McCormack has received endorsements from Brevard County Clerk of Court Rachel Sadoff, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, and the Brevard Federation of Teachers. The Space Coast Realtors Association and the Central Labor Council also endorsed her.  

If elected, McCormack plans to keep politics out of the classroom, improve the retention of teachers and paraprofessionals, and strengthen support services and opportunities for students with disabilities. She supports giving educators greater flexibility in their classrooms, expanding access to career and technical education programs, and improving communication among the school board, educators, and families. 

---

Born and raised in Miami as one of nine siblings, Cecilia Trotter attended Catholic schools before choosing to attend public school in the 11th grade at South Miami Senior High. She attended Florida State University, unaware that a junior year study-abroad program in Florence, Italy, would turn into a decade-long stay. There, she met and married her husband while earning a bachelor’s degree in Italian studies.  

For Trotter, the most significant issue affecting the Brevard County public school system today is a lack of fiscal transparency and responsibility. She points to the district allowing the vacancy of chief financial officer when overseeing a $1.6 billion budget. She pledged to push for a permanent CFO and clearer financial reporting if elected.  

Trotter also directly opposes Florida’s expanded voucher program, remarking how $5 billion in state voucher funding left $400 million unaccounted for and lost last year, as well as 69% of voucher recipients who never had a history of attending public school, leading to a mismanaged program in her eyes.  

She said she fears that voucher-influenced enrollment declines could lead to layoffs, damaging the local economy. With her combined experience of 19 years as a public school teacher and 14 years as a restaurant owner, Trotter draws on her educational and fiscal background to strengthen her case as the best candidate in the race. Aside from reviving the CFO position, she looks to move school board meetings to schools across the district, support teachers and expand career-technical tracks. 

Trotter’s campaign is primarily self-funded, including $2,000 she gave her campaign, and relies on small donations that range from family and friends to local community members. She has currently raised $7,250 in monetary donations and zero in-kind contributions and has spent $4,839.39, according to the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections.  

A chunk of these expenses have come from petition validation and a candidate qualifying fees, with the rest being monthly payments to run her campaign websites, promotional shirts and cards, and simple campaign materials.  

Running as non-partisan, Trotter has not spent funds on paid advertisement or been endorsed by a political party or entity, though her presence, she said at organization-led events, has been a building block of her campaign outreach. She said she has spoken at NAACP and League of Women Voters events as well as attended forums for the Brevard Caribbean American Sports & Cultural Association and Moms for Liberty. Her campaign philosophy of prioritizing community engagement has led to a social media presence too, frequently posting on Instagram to update her supporters on her campaign activity and stances. 

Trotter, in her campaign, likes to quote from civil rights leader Frederick Douglass: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”  

Trotter said her knowledge of the district and her support for teachers shows her commitment to public service, reinforcing her support for giving teachers full control of their classrooms and allowing parents to address the school board without having to wait hours to speak.