Sarasota County School Board Chair Tim Enos is expected to announce his resignation on Wednesday morning.
Sources working with the district say the retired police officer will take the job of Police Chief for the Sarasota County Schools Police Department, a position he held from November 2018 to January 2022.
Enos retired from that job months before successfully winning a seat on the School Board, where he was elected as part of the conservative “ZEM” ticket, endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis during an election cycle where the Governor’s backing proved effective through most of the state in securing School Board seats.
Now, DeSantis will get to appoint Enos’ successor in his District 5 seat. Whoever the Governor selected for the role will serve out the rest of Enos’ term, which ends in 2026.
The ZEM ticket included sitting School Board member Bridget Ziegler and former teacher Robyn Marinelli, all Republican Party of Sarasota-based candidates who won four-year terms in August 2022 over Democrat-backed opponents.
Immediately after taking office, the conservative majority, which included then-School Board member Karen Rose, made waves with the ouster of Schools Superintendent Brennan Asplen.
Two years later, backlash, driven in part by a sex scandal involving Ziegler, saw Democrats win the two board elections in 2024 even as Republicans performed well statewide.
School Board member Tom Edwards, who has been criticized regularly by local Republicans, won a second term, while Liz Barker, a Democrat-backed challenger, unseated Rose.
But conservatives still held the majority thanks to the ZEM ticket. The board, however, may be in a 2-2 lock for a period until DeSantis names a replacement for Enos.
His departure also means that the majority will not all stand for re-election, if any do.
There is wide speculation Ziegler will not run for a fourth term on the School Board, whether she retires from the post or seeks a state House seat.
Heidi Brandt, Vice President of the Republican Women’s Club of Sarasota, is running for Ziegler’s District 1 seat. She is the only candidate to file for School Board in any of the seats up in 2026.
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