Highlands County School Board, District 1
School board members set the district budget and school-tax rate, hire the superintendent (where appointed), approve school boundaries, curriculum policy and construction, and set district policies. Nonpartisan. Term: 4 years.
Candidate list only. We have verified who is on the ballot for this race but have not yet researched their positions, so most issues will show "No public position found" and the match tool cannot score them. Campaign websites are linked where known.
How we verified who is on the ballot
Candidate list taken from the Florida Division of Elections, 2026 general election candidate list on 2026-09-18 ; both candidates are marked Qualified, which for a nonpartisan seat means the August vote did not produce a majority winner (or the seat is decided only in November). Positions have not been researched; check the county Supervisor of Elections sample ballot.
Candidates
Report an error ↗James Jonsten
James Jonsten is an ordained minister who served two years as lay pastor at Burnsville Wesleyan Church in Minnesota and has taught children's church since the 1970s. He has owned construction and commercial services businesses and worked as an insurance claims adjuster, sales manager and trainer. He advanced to the No…
Kari Pritchett
Kari Pritchett was born and raised in Highlands County and holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Florida State University. She worked in the district as a classroom teacher, reading coach, staffing specialist and exceptional student education inclusion teacher, and chaired the District School Advisory Council. Sh…
Side-by-side on the major issues
Each row is a statement. The chips show how each candidate's stated positions or record relate to that statement. Expand a row to read the evidence and sources. "No public position found" means we could not find a statement or record on the topic, not that the candidate has none.
| Issue | James Jonsten Nonpartisan | Kari Pritchett Nonpartisan |
|---|---|---|
| Taxes & spendingCutting taxes should be a top priority, even if it means less government spending on services. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Property taxesFlorida should eliminate or sharply reduce homestead property taxes, even if local governments must cut services or find other revenue. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Education & school choicePublic money should follow students to private, charter or home schools (universal school vouchers). | No public position found | No public position found |
| Gender identity lawsFlorida's laws restricting gender-affirming care for minors and classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity should remain in place. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Library and classroom materialsParents' objections should be enough to pull a book or lesson from a school, even when other families want it kept. | No public position found | No public position found |
| Teacher and staff payRaising teacher and staff pay should be the district's top budget priority, even if other spending has to be cut. | No public position found | No public position found |
| School safety approachCampus safety depends more on police officers and firm discipline than on counselors and mental-health staff. | No public position found | No public position found |
Where they sit on the map
Each candidate is placed by the average of their documented stances. It is a summary of the table above, not an extra judgment.
How the axes are computed
Each axis is the average of a candidate's coded stances (+2 to −2) on a fixed set of statements, so it comes straight from the documented positions and nothing else. A candidate needs at least three documented statements on an axis to be placed.
Economic issues (toward "Smaller government (lower taxes, less spending)"): Taxes & spending (agree), Property taxes (agree), Health care (disagree), Housing affordability (disagree), Property insurance (disagree), Energy & utilities (disagree), Social Security & Medicare (disagree), Teacher and staff pay (disagree).
Social & legal issues (toward "Conservative side of the statements"): Immigration (agree), Abortion (disagree), Guns (disagree), Education & school choice (agree), Elections & voting (disagree), Crime & policing (agree), Gender identity laws (agree), Marijuana (disagree), Environment & water (disagree), Trump administration (agree), Library and classroom materials (agree), School safety approach (agree).
| Candidate | Economic issues | Social & legal issues |
|---|---|---|
| James Jonsten | not enough data | not enough data |
| Kari Pritchett | not enough data | not enough data |
Other issues the candidates have raised
Priorities each candidate has brought up on their own, beyond the major-issue list above.
James Jonsten
- Campaign themes — Jonsten says education is about building a foundation of leadership and accountability and that he would work to keep Highlands County schools financially sound, safe and focused on student growth. He did not respond to the Florida Trib's interview requests, and no detailed policy positions were located.
- District spending — Jonsten said the school board is too focused on money and spending too much, and should refocus on children; at a July forum he listed being a responsible steward of tax dollars among his priorities.
Kari Pritchett
- Campaign themes — Pritchett describes herself as a 'responsible conservative steward of taxpayer dollars' and campaigns on academic excellence, transparency, accountability and student success. She did not respond to the Florida Trib's interview requests, and no specific positions on the school tax rate, teacher pay, curriculum, safety or vouchers were located.