Disney takes new District 9 race for Sumter school board

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The newly created District 9 seat on Sumter’s school board will be filled by a new but familiar face member.

Bonnie Disney will take the seat after defeating opponent Reginald “Reggie” Evans with 66.49%, or 1,343, to Evans’ 652 votes, or32.28%.

District 9 – created this election after the drawing of nine single-member districts in part because of redistricting – is in the City of Sumter and runs from Alice Drive east to Main Street in the downtown area with Swan Lake Iris Gardens as basically a southern border and the boundary going north up to South Pike to include a few areas just above Pike that are west of Dillon Park.

Disney, a lifelong educator who is retired, was one of the delegation's two appointees to the new at-large seats created in July 2017 after a financial crisis was revealed in the district, the other reason for the board's electoral map being redrawn. The initial legislation created two at-large seats with the agreement they would be drawn into single-member districts amid 2022's redistricting. She served about 16 months until the November 2018 election, where she finished third against several candidates in her first bid to be elected.

She will now make her return to the board as an elected representative of Area 9. 

“I’m very pleased. I believe that our county is ready for board members to get really serious about helping our students and our teachers and making our school just as strong as it can be. I think that our school board is going to work together and make this happen,” Disney said. “We know where we are now, but we know that’s not who we are. We are going to be a strong district that provides a great education for our students.”

According to her biography, Disney is a Texas native who has lived in Sumter for 35 years. She served as an English teacher at Sumter High School for 13 years and more than 30 years total in public education. She worked for the state Department of Education from 2000-05 as a teacher-on-site specialist to build academic achievement in struggling and failing schools, which included time at Scott's Branch High School in Summerton and Lee Central High School in Lee County.

Later, she worked as an English/language arts consultant and was hired by districts across the state to help with academic services. Her career also includes serving four years on the South Carolina State Board of Education.