Runoff set for English v. Baker in Sumter school board District 2

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The incumbent and one challenger remain in the District 2 Sumter school board race after Tuesday’s midterm election.

Incumbent Frank Baker and challenger Brittany English will face each other in a runoff Nov. 22 after no one received more than 50% of the vote. English received the most votes with 42.96%, or 1,053 votes. Baker received 39.41% of votes, or 966 votes. John Wrenn Jr. lost the race with only 16.32% of votes, or 400 votes.

“The race went well. I’m excited. The race went well. I have no complaints. I trust God through it all,” English told The Sumter Item on Tuesday night.

English has never run for a political office before. She is a resident of Rembert and is a kinship care coordinator with the state Department of Social Services, based in Columbia, where she provides services to families and children across the state.

English chose to run for Sumter School District’s Board of Trustees to make a difference in kids’ lives; she said has already started doing so through her nonprofit, the Larry E. Foundation, that has a focus on mentoring youth in communities.

She said she hopes residents will hit the polls again in two weeks. 

“Go vote,” she said. “Support and let’s make a difference.”

Baker isn’t new to the school board or Sumter School District. He was the district's superintendent during the 2016-17 financial crisis and the longtime superintendent of the former Sumter School District 2 that covered the county outside city limits. This would be his second four-year term serving on the board if he wins, but this will be a whole new district after lines were redrawn into nine single-member areas. He has served to this point on the board in a county-wide at-large seat.

Baker is a native and resident of the Pisgah area in the northern tip of Sumter County. He served 40 years in the former Sumter School District 2, the last 19 as its superintendent. His tenure in that capacity concluded in 2011 when Sumter County consolidated its two school districts into one county-wide district.

Baker was named the interim leader of the consolidated district after its first superintendent Randy Bynum resigned. Four months later, in November 2013, the district's seven-member board made him the full-time superintendent in a split vote. He retired in July 2017 in the wake of an audit revealing millions in overspending, which was not revealed to the public until the December 2016 audit presentation.

Baker did not return calls from The Sumter Item Tuesday night for comment.