Election 2022: Incumbent Bev Slough faces Racheal Hand and Nancy Tray for School Board District 1
Racheal Hand and Nancy Tray are challenging incumbent Bev Slough for St. Johns County School Board District 1.
If neither candidate gets 50% of the votes plus one, the top two candidates will face off in November's general election.
The Record posed the following questions to each of the candidates. Answers are presented as they were submitted, save for minor corrections to punctuation and grammar.
St. Johns County School Board District 1
Bev Slough (incumbent)
City of residence: St. Johns
How long have you lived in St. Johns County? 44 years
Previous elected positions: St. Johns County School Board, District 1
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Community service: United Way of St. Johns County, president for four terms; Investing in Kids Education Foundation, board member for 18 years; EPIC Community Services, past president; Women United, founding member; St. Augustine Rotary Club; Switzerland Community Church; pastor’s wife for 35 years.
Qualifications for office: 20 years' of experience serving the children of St. Johns County; 20 years’ service as the Legislative Liaison for the school board, actively advocating for our children in the Florida Legislature; 20-year active member of Florida School Boards Association, which provides training to school board members; served in all leadership positions in FSBA, including president; 12 years’ service as the Federal Relations Chair for FSBA, facilitating all federal advocacy activities for the organization; founding transition member of Consortium of State School Boards Associations, providing training for school board members and advocacy on the federal level.
Reason for running: In my 20 years of service to the children of St. Johns County on our school board, I have been blessed to lead, along with my colleagues, our district from a small student population of 22,000 to over 50,000 students projected for the coming year. In addition, we have led the academic growth of our students from a middle of the state ranking to being number one in the state for the past 14 years. To sustain that achievement, experienced leadership and strong relationships are essential. In addition, the coming years will hold the retirement of several people in key leadership positions in our district. I believe an experienced board will allow for the hiring of great replacements in those leadership positions because a deep understanding of the culture of St. Johns County Schools is essential in making those selections. I believe I possess the leadership qualities and experience to continue to lead our district to success, both academically and operationally, and it is my desire to continue in service to our students, their parents, our teachers and staff, and the community at large.
Goals for upcoming term if elected: Hiring and retention of great teachers is a prime goal for the next term. There are fewer graduates from colleges of education, and many teachers are leaving the profession. As we identify the best available teachers, we need to develop mentoring programs to give new hires the support they need to acclimate to St. Johns County. Continuing to increase compensation for our teachers and staff is an important goal for the coming term. Another is to improve communication and engagement with our parents, the primary partners in the education of our children. Seeking ways to include more parental involvement in district committees is another important area of emphasis for the coming term.
What would you do to help keep the St. Johns County School District at the top of state rankings? Hire and retain the best and brightest teachers. Continuing our focus on each child and what s/he needs next in the education journey is essential to maintain our high level of student achievement. Requiring our teachers to continue to work in professional learning communities, sharing students and using the expertise of each member of the team to meet the learning needs of each student is essential.
How should the school district manage population growth?
The school district really has no active role in managing population growth. It has no ability to approve or disapprove of development applications. The only role the district serves is to apply the required proportionate share formula to proposed developments. This formula agreement is required for the developer to move forward for approval with the county.
Racheal Hand
City of residence: St. Johns
How long have you lived in St. Johns County? Three months
Previous elected positions: N/A
Community service: At my previous church, I volunteered with the children's ministry, as well as the pro-life ministry. I have also volunteered at my children's school and plan to continue doing that this school year. I look forward to continuing that this year.
Qualifications for office: I have my bachelor's degree in economics, but my greatest qualification is that I am a mother with the greatest desire to protect my children and my neighbors' children from outside influences and continue to encourage quality education. I also spent two years homeschooling my children. Educating my children was a major learning experience, but a necessity for our family.
Reason for running: I never intended to run for any office. My family and I made the decision to move to St. Johns County along with thousands of other families to escape the mandates and restrictions from other states. We fled a school system that was being taken over by outside influences that were not conducive to children's education.
Once the decision was made of where we would move, I started researching and interacting with families to only find out some of the signs of what I felt has infiltrated St. Johns County. I noticed an election was coming up in my district. I waited months hoping someone like me, that would fight for our children would step up against the 20-year incumbent. So I made the decision to run.
Goals for upcoming term if elected: There is plenty of work to be done, but I think the most important goal to accomplish is to encourage the partnership between parents and teachers again. Both parents and teachers have been demonized and this only hurts our students. If and when we come together and develop a true partnership, our children will thrive.
We also need to address our overcrowding issues. This alone has created a plethora of problems: increase of portables which puts safety issues on the forefront, teachers are overworked with the influx of students.
Communication is essential in running a successful school, district or office. We must enhance the communication between administrators, to teachers and parents. We need to make sure parents are FULLY aware of their children's progress, but more importantly, their behaviors.
What would do to help keep the St. Johns County School District at the top of state rankings? We must listen to our teachers!! We will not remain top of the state if we don't fix these issues now. We need to ensure our teachers are being heard and supported or else we will experience a shortage every year. I would also evaluate a bigger teacher pay increase including the initiative the governor passed this year. Teachers need to feel fully supported.
How should the school district manage population growth? It would be great if the county commission and school board must hold public meetings together to negotiate and manage this growth. In these meetings, we can no longer allow these offices to pass the baton of blame to the other. I think the school board should work closely and publicly with county commission so everyone is aware of the wants, projections and necessities our county needs.
Nancy Tray
City of residence: St. Johns
How long have you lived in St. Johns County? Two-plus years
Previous elected positions: This is my first time running for a public office.
Community service: As a volunteer, I have demonstrated my ability to effectively make a positive difference for our schools. I've always been eager to get involved with our kids' schools through PTOs, volunteering, fundraising, organizing clubs, and helping out in their classrooms. Recently, I helped to organize and advocate for changing our district school dress code to be more objective, clear and fair to all students. I also routinely advocate for our schools and community when new developments are proposed in our area. As a family, my husband and I enjoy working with our kids to support nonprofits and local fundraising activities.
Qualifications for office: My education and career reflect my commitment to community and education. I majored in social work and sociology undergrad and went on to study macro social work in graduate school, earning my MSW. I worked in D.C. for nonprofits dedicated to affordable housing issues and I was a domestic violence counselor on nights and weekends. I also discovered that I loved nursing and went on to earn a degree in nursing and work as a hospital RN.
As a mom, I have been actively involved in the public schools of my children for the past decade. Like so many families in our area, my family came to St. Johns in large part for the top-rated schools. We have a son going into 10th grade at Bartram Trail High School, a daughter entering seventh grade at Switzerland Point Middle School, and a son entering fourth grade at Hickory Creek Elementary School. I'm involved with their PTOs and the SACs at Bartram and Swiss. When our district announced that there was a need for substitute teachers, I also became a substitute teacher and enjoyed learning about our district in a new way through subbing.
Reason for running: I have been very involved in our schools as a parent for years now and I believe it would be beneficial to have a current parent on our school board. I want to bring a fresh approach and find workable solutions to the problems facing our rapidly growing district. I want to focus on the real issues facing our schools, outside of political and other agendas. I am dedicated to improving the quality of our schools for the benefit of all students, teachers and staff. I care deeply about our community and would make the school board my full-time job.
Through my experiences with three unique kids in different grades, I've learned firsthand about the strengths of our school district while also recognizing some of the challenges we currently face. Every day, I talk to people throughout our district about our schools. I believe my family shares the same concerns that many other families have in our school district. I want to make sure our voices are heard on issues like growth, overcrowding, teacher salaries, staffing, safety, and giving all students the opportunities and support necessary for success. I want us to challenge ourselves to increase funding for music and arts programs, to help bring our district to the next level of excellence.
More than anything, I want to listen to the terrific people in our area and represent their interests on our school board. I believe that many of the best ideas for our schools come from the people who are closest to them and can see what is needed. And as our area grows, I want to be a proactive voice during the planning and development process, firmly advocating for our schools and the kids they serve.
Goals for upcoming term if elected: I want every student in our district to have access to a high-quality education that meets their individual needs and builds on their unique strengths and abilities. To accomplish this for our students, my goals include: (1) continuing to enhance ESE programs and services; (2) improving student access to mental health services and support; (3) working to improve school safety, address bullying, and promote positive school culture; (4) increasing behavior accountability; (5) promoting collaboration and transparency by strengthening communication between staff, parents and our school board; and (6) ensuring all students have safe, reliable transportation to and from school.
For our SJCSD staff, I want people to be excited about working in our district. One key first step is making sure that our SJCSD salaries are competitive with surrounding districts and reflect our district’s commitment to education. At a minimum, I would like to see starting teacher salaries of 60K, rising to 80K for 10-year veteran teachers, and 100K with 20 years of experience. Property values are rising dramatically in our area, and it is essential for us to relentlessly push for our district salaries to keep pace with the rising cost of living in our area. We also need to ensure that all of our salaries and benefits are competitive – from paraprofessionals to food-service workers to maintenance personnel.
As our district continues to grow, we must make sure we are equipped to recruit highly qualified staff to fill every open position. We should proactively continue to reach out to professionals who are interested in switching to teaching from other career specialties and facilitate their successful transitions into education. We must provide all new teachers and staff with the tools and support they require to be successful. We need to better support our teachers and move away from the current trend of micromanagement. It is time for us to give our teachers the trust and respect they deserve, along with the freedom and support required to be creative and excel.
On a community level, I want our district to know that they have a school board member who listens and values constituent input. I will stay involved daily and be responsive to community feedback and ideas. When it comes to our children, I believe we need to work together, set the culture wars aside, and keep pushing for results even if the solutions are not easy fixes.
What would you do to help keep the St. Johns County School District at the top of state rankings? I think we need to set our goals higher and build the top school district in the country. I will work to (1) permanently alleviate the perpetual cycle of overcrowding in our schools, (2) improve the programs and services offered to all our students, (3) ensure better support for our teachers and staff, and (4) increase SJCSD salaries and funding for education. I will listen and respond to our constituents in a way that unites our community and depolarizes the political issues that get in the way of progress.
How should the school district manage population growth? As our district grows, we need to make sure that our schools are at the forefront of every conversation and decision. We need to push back against development that outpaces our ability to provide the necessary schools and staff. We need realistic plans regarding where the students in new developments will go to school and timelines that protect the quality of our students' educations. We must strategically plan attendance zones to optimize consistency and keep communities together. We also must advocate for legislation that eliminates the disconnect between when schools are needed and when we are able to build them.
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Election 2022: 3 vie for St. Johns County School Board District 1
