Volusia School Board candidates address questions on challenges and teacher vacancies

Seven of the 10 candidates for Volusia County School Board took part in a recent Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce forum addressing questions including what they see as the district's biggest challenges and how to address teacher vacancies.

Here's a summary of their answers:

Jamie Haynes, District 1

On challenges: Haynes identified recruiting and retaining teachers, and changing the budget process. "We are in the great state of Florida and we have a governor who, for the first time, put salaries as a priority. Three years ago, we were at $39,200 starting salary for teachers. All of our teachers in Volusia County this past year went to $47,500 or higher." Solving that problem presents another one: compression, she said. So the focus needs to go to increasing pay for more experienced teachers. "I believe the budget needs to be built, as I’ve said from Day 1, from the classroom up instead of from the top down."

On recruiting and retaining teachers: "We need to trust them. … We need to understand that they are an educator because they did the work to become an educator."

Georgann Carnicella, District 1

On challenges: Carnicella pointed to recruiting and retaining teachers, as well as steering more of the budget to the classroom. She said her daughter graduated from Bethune-Cookman University last year but moved out of state. "We have to figure out how to keep our kids here."

On recruiting and retaining teachers: She said teachers' salaries do not provide enough for young college graduates paying for student loans. "And then we have to recruit. We have to tell them why they should be here. Teachers are not therapists. Teachers are not social workers. We need to give them the tools and the programs they can use so they can deal with the kids that have some issues so they can teach."

Note: District 1 candidates Al Bouie, Jaclyn Carrell and Ginny-Beth Joiner did not participate in the Chamber forum.

Justin Kennedy, District 3

On challenges: "I think that teacher retention and new hires is probably the biggest challenge, because if we don’t have teachers in the classroom, we cannot teach kids. At the end of the day, if we’re not teaching kids, we’re done." He also said Volusia County Schools have a "culture issue," but he has hope that new Superintendent Carmen Balgobin will be given a "clean slate" to reinvigorate morale.

On recruiting and retaining teachers: "It’s a question that everybody who runs a business or has a business has the same problem. I know I do." Salaries are part of the solution, Kennedy said, but teachers need "less burdens on them" to spend more time teaching.

Kim Short, District 3

On challenges: Short said she believes Balgobin's hiring has already improved the district's culture, but retention remains a problem. "What I have been saying for a long time now is that we really need to get down to the root of the problem. It’s that when we have people leave our school system, we do not have an exit interview process in place so we have no data to find out exactly why a teacher leaves and what we can do about it."

On recruiting and retaining teachers: She recommended mentorship programs and increasing flexibility in job-sharing to attract people who are willing to work 2 or 3 days a week.

Jessie Thompson, District 3

On challenges: Thompson said improving literacy is her top priority. Becoming more competitive with China  is crucial, she said. "We as a country need to do better for our children. That’s a huge concern for me, the literacy rates, … Let’s focus on our kids in the classroom because we are here for them, and for them to learn."

On recruiting and retaining teachers: Thompson said the high school academies could could become feeder programs for future teachers. "Wouldn’t it be amazing to think outside the box and have an academy for students who want to be teachers? They could see firsthand what’s happening and can take the workload off teachers."

Ruben Colón, District 5

On challenges: Colón identified culture, in large part because of the pandemic, and the budget. "For two years, we have been distant from each other. We had meetings on Zoom and Teams and all of that. And we were not able to develop the culture as a result of the distance that was between us. CARES Act funding has helped the district, but that money is not going to be available in future years.

On teacher recruiting and retention: He said the teacher shortage is a national problem and fewer people are entering the teaching pipeline. "We’ve started recruiting from around the country, looking for specific schools that have ESE teachers and try to get them to come to Volusia County." 

Fred Lowry, District 5

On challenges: Lowry identified the budget. "We’re coming into a, some people say we’re coming into a recession. I think we’re already in one, just to be honest with you. We’re going to have to look at ways of tightening our belt." He also acknowledged that teachers deserve better pay.

On recruiting and retaining teachers: "The first thing you’ve got to do is find out why people leave. And analyze and find out why we’re not retaining certain teachers that helps you to solve problems." He said conditions in the classroom can be improved. "If you don’t have discipline, you don’t have education. And some teachers feel like their administration is not behind them sometimes, and so the working conditions is another part of that."

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This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia schools' biggest challenges? Board candidates share responses