Campaign Phone
9048609150
I have dedicated myself to the field of education, serving as a teacher in Clay County Schools for 19 years and as a School Board member for the last 3.5 years. I began my teaching career in 2003 and obtained a master’s degree in special education, complemented by a certificate in Educational Leadership.
In my role as a school board member, I achieved Master Board Certification through the Florida School Boards Association (FSBA) and completed the Master School Board training with my fellow board members, while also participating in the FSBA Advocacy and Policy Committees.
While Clay County celebrates high levels of student achievement and has one of the most robust Career and Technical Education programs in the state, we cannot lose sight of the foundational gaps that remain. Right now, approximately 1/3 of our students continue to struggle with essential reading and critical thinking skills, a reality that demands a renewed, urgency. To close this gap we must operate with a modern, business-minded approach. Public education can't afford to be complacent; we must view families as our customers and continuously earn their trust. By embracing innovation, stream-lining operations, and adapting quickly to new challenges, we will ensure that Clay County District Schools remains the number one choice of parents.
I believe charter schools should be governed by the same reporting standards because they are public schools that use public taxpayer dollars. They should be held to the same standards regarding financial transparency, student safety, anti-discrimination laws, and the requirement to serve students with disabilities. However, the core purpose of charter schools is innovation! They need the freedom to design unique curriculums, extend school hours, or try alternative hiring practices without being bogged down by the same district red tape that traditional schools face.
To retain our teachers, we must let them do what we hired them to do: teach. Right now, they are too bogged down by administrative tasks to focus on curriculum development. We must implement universal district policies that eliminate classroom disruptions, set high behavior expectations, and protect uninterrupted instructional time for the other 25 students in the room. Finally, valuing our workforce means paying them fairly, which is why I have fiercely advocated for the 1-millage language to raise salaries for our teachers, bus drivers, and staff.
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To truly rate our learning environment, we have to look directly at the daily reality inside our classrooms. While we have incredible pockets of excellence, our current learning environment is being undercut by a lack of universal discipline. When one student’s disruptive behavior is allowed to derail a lesson, it destroys the learning environment for the other 25 kids in the room and leaves teachers entirely overwhelmed. This lack of consistency bleeds into issues like bullying. We must implement zero-tolerance, universal district policies that protect our students and guarantee uninterrupted instructional time. Furthermore, if we are going to treat our district like a business, we have to treat our parents like our most valued partners.
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