VOTE411 Voter Guide

Closing Schools Zoning concerns Budget concerns

Advocating for students is very important, after identifying what concerns are presented and what caused the issue. I would explain that student attendance, attitudes and academic mentality are very different from it was in the past, meeting students where they are and assisting them to get where they need or should be can be quite challenging but possible. I would work with DOE to identify the resources to help achieve this in our county.

Address the concerns / problems that are presented by those students who are consistently below their grade level especially in the core subjects from elementary to high school. Identify resources that the board or our schools are designed to address. Concerns such as mental help, substance abuse, etc.

Supporting academic achievement for all learners is the number one challenge. Alachua county has very large achievement gaps between Black and white students and students with a without disabilities. We also have several persistently struggling schools. Another challenge is financial as Florida ranks 48th in per student funding. School choice and declining enrollment are compounding the issues caused by per student funding that is not rising to keep pace with inflation. Board members must be willing to make hard choices to maximize the impacts of limited funds. Our district has also struggled with operational efficiency, lacking standard operating procedures in many departments and having inconsistent processes across schools.

School board members take an oath to uphold the state and federal constitutions and follow state and federal statutes. A primary role of board members is to develop policies to ensure the school district is in compliance with relevant statutes and rules. That does not mean I agree with all of these statutes or think they are best for students and public schools. The Florida School Boards Association is a state-wide organization that engages in legislative advocacy. In June, I was elected to serve for two years on the FSBA board of directors representing Alachua, Clay, Bradford, and Union counties. This will increase my ability to advocate for Alachua County’s students at the state level.

We have made several changes in the last school year that have resulted in an overall increase of 4 points in district reading scores and a 4 point decrease in the achievement gap between Black and white students. The most critical of these changes include requiring consistent implementation of systematic and explicit phonics through UFLI in K-2, the restoration of school-based reading specialists at each elementary school and shared between 2 middle or high schools, and the addition of the K-12 lift system of data analysis. Given the significant improvement to which these changes have already contributed, I think it is important to continue implementation for the next five years. If improvements stagnate we can reevaluate at that time.