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.

Two familiar family names in Glades County are facing off for the District 1 School Board seat.

The families of Angie Woodward Hough and Anita Thielan Sauls go back generations in Glades County.

Both woman say they can bring specialized expertise to the school board; one with direct hands-on school experience and the other with a specialty in finances.

Hough taught for nine years in Glades County public schools before transitioning to a school counselor after earning her Master’s Degree in school counseling seven years ago. She is a school counselor for the Hendry County School District.

“I love all the kids here and I want the very best for them,” Hough said. “I see where my skills, my background and my knowledge could be useful to the school board.”

Sauls is the assistant finance director for the Glades County Clerk of the Circuit Court. She has 40 years of financial experience including oversight of budgets and grant funding.

Such expertise, she said, is crucial to the district especially considering a state take-over of all its finances after Florida declared the school system to be broke.

“[When I heard] about the financial situation, I just said, ‘Well, maybe I can help.’ So that’s when I decided to run and see if there’s anything, any experience that I have that would benefit the school in our community,” Sauls said.

It is troubling to Hough and Sauls that Glades failed to set aside enough funds in reserves to appease the state. In a matter of a few years, the school district went from having a fund reserve balance of 20% to just .5 %. The minimum threshold is 3%. Now all financial matters must be cleared through the state.

“There were a series of decisions that we made that were not financially feasible,” Hough said.

WGCU News has previously reported that increases in teacher salaries to remain competitive is where the bulk of the funds went and how the district had been without a chief financial officer for more than a year.

“I don’t disagree that our teachers are worth well more than what we can afford to pay them,” Hough said.

What Hough has a problem with is how quickly salaries were raised.

Sauls said what happened in Glades is a clear indication that people were not monitoring the finances well enough.

“Evidently there hasn’t been a lot of internal controls,” Sauls said. “Or nobody implemented them where they could see where things were happening before it got out of control.”

Given her background as a teacher and counselor, Hough says she understands the demands placed on teachers, students and staff and believes she can be an asset to the small, rural school district of some 1,800 students.

“I just really want the help make our school system in Glades County the very best it can be,” Hough said.

Sauls is also a cheerleader for the children.

“I want to see good things and see what we can do,” she said. “I am always willing to help and research and look and see how we can do things better.”

Despite the economic problems that plagued the school system and the overall poverty rate in Glades — poverty affects between 27 to 40 percent of the residents — the school district for the last two years has earned an A ranking with the state of Florida.

Sauls said getting the district’s finances in order will be crucial to building back the image of the district in the eyes of parents and taxpayers.

“If we can get the budget go in the right direction, they [parents and the community] will have a lot more faith in the school system. And if more [return] we can build it back up and we can start putting in more programs.”

Hough said discipline needs to be addressed more in the district.

“We do need to make the changes that we can and make our school systems better,” Hough said. “You know, I think one of the biggest problems that we’re experiencing in schools right now is discipline. It’s two-sided. I think discipline is a huge issue. It’s sending teachers fleeing from the profession.”

Both of the womens’ children graduated from the Glades County public school system, just as they did.

The candidates say they are concerned schools in Glades and across the state have been losing students and public tax dollars since the Florida Legislature expanded the school voucher program.

Hough and Sauls say they want to understand why many parents have pulled their children out of the school system and to learn from those answers.

Glades students and families in District 1 are currently served by Board Member Crystal Drake. Drake was first elected in 2018 and has run unopposed since taking office. She is not seeking re-election, but has chosen to retire.

The position of school board member in Glades County pays $33,000 a year.

For more from WGCU, go to wgcu.org.