Alicia Farrant files to run for Orange County School Board Chair

The most conservative Orange County School Board member has shared the stage before with Gov. Ron DeSantis to complain about local government spending and push to remove books from school libraries.

Now, Alicia Farrant is filing to run for Orange County School Board Chair in the August 2026 election.

It won’t be easy for Farrant, whose platform has been elevated by appearing with the Governor at press conferences.

Orange County is one of the bluest areas in the state, evident again by this Tuesday’s election results. Two progressive candidates backed by Orlando Democrats, Tom Keen and Mira Tanna, either won outright or forced a runoff against better-funded opponents in Orlando City Council races. 

Farrant, who won the School Board’s District 3 seat in 2022, acknowledged she faces an uphill challenge to win the countywide race to replace current School Board Chair Teresa Jacobs, who is not seeking re-election.

“The battle is huge. It’s a David and Goliath moment if you will,” Farrant said in an interview Tuesday. “But you know, when the Lord asks you to do something, you’ve got to listen. And so that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Also running for Orange County School Board Chair is current District 1 School Board member Angie Gallo.

“In today’s challenging environment, we need an engaged School Board Chair who focuses on creating strong public schools through innovation and fiscal responsibility; we do not need a School Board Chair who will focus on issues which only serve to divide our community,” Gallo said in a statement.

As a School Board member and Moms for Liberty member, Farrant has been a proponent for parental rights and has been outspoken about removing books from school shelves that she said were inappropriate.

“Sadly, some of those are still in our schools,” said Farrant, a mom of five who runs a Christian ministry with her husband. “We’re still fighting to get those removed.”

Meanwhile, her critics accuse her of book banning and not taking literary works into context.

Part of Farrant’s platform as School Board Chair is to keep the District focused on “commonsense education” — like reading, writing, math and the arts, she said. Farrant argued that schools need to partner with nonprofits and others to help feed hungry students or assist with other needs outside the classroom.

“The School District has tried to stretch itself so thin that instead of doing one thing really well. We’re doing multiple things at half capacity,” she said. “I think that we need just to get back to what education is about and restore the hope in the public school system for our parents.”

As a conservative, Farrant’s victory surprised some people in 2022.

But if her election magic fades and she doesn’t win next year, would DeSantis appoint her to the statewide Board of Education? It’s a scenario that played out in Broward County last year.

“I actually haven’t even thought of that,” Farrant said when asked about the possibility. “Whatever God would want me to do, and I’m literally just at his service. I feel like I don’t do anything to try to climb a ladder.”