Platform Issues
Parents + Teachers: As a Brevard County teacher and Volusia County parent, I have an unique perspective of the two spheres charged with educating and caring for our students. In my virtual classroom, I often need partnerships with parents and guardians to keep students successfully engaged in their coursework. In my childrens’ classrooms, I want to know how my daughters are progressing in their curriculum and behavior. In both of the spheres, open and honest, regularly communication is needed on all sides to support students. This is true on a district-wide level, too, and why I have dedicated volunteer hours to my local PTA unit and the VCCPTA board. We need more families involved with schools, working as teammates rather than opponents, with the work done in classrooms.
Teachers & Support Staff + the District: Trust has been broken between teachers & support staff and the district & state levels of leadership. Support staff deserve the same respect that teachers have when considering contracts and open communication should be kept with all. As a member of Brevard County's Teacher's Union, BFT, I want to build bridges between the school board, union, and all of those educating and supporting our students.
Equity in zoning for Daytona Beach students: After Brown v. Board of Education in the 1960s, Daytona Beach schools were integrated by busing students out of the historically African American Midtown neighborhood to 12+ different elementary schools around the district. No students were bused into the neighborhood, thereby starting this process off on an inequitable foot. The zoning plans stayed like this for 60 years until Beachside Elementary School was completed and 32114 zip code students north of International Speedway Blvd. (ISB) were rezoned to stay in Daytona Beach, albeit over the causeway. The current plan is to rezone students south of ISB to the newly built Turie T. Small Elementary school in fall 2024. I applaud this change in order to keep students in their community schools! Now the school district must hold true to their plans to equitably equip the new schools and students.
Equity in services for students: Continued from the zoning issues mentioned above, as of spring 2024, there are no elementary schools in the city of Daytona Beach that have Gifted services. It’s a sad and bold statement from the district to say that no students in an entire city are considered gifted and, if they are, they must be rezoned to a schools in either Ormond Beach or Port Orange. There is a current plan to added Gifted services to the new Turie T. Small Elementary school in fall 2024, so I want to hold the district accountable to providing the full range of educational supports for students.
"Book Bans" I believe that every family should work together to determine what is appropriate for their own children to read. My family is full of avid readers and we have open discussions about the books being checked out at school, from the library, and even apps like Hoopla! In fact, I share a Hoopla account with my eldest daughter. No single individual, family, or group should get to determine what the rest of the district reads. I am far more concerned with the content and time spent on cell phones than any book that may be checked out in a school library.
ESE Workload and Services: Volusia County has had complications with implementing IEP plans. I know students can “fall through the cracks” and I also know that many teachers are providing accommodations as part of their normal processes with a whole class and individual students and just not documenting it as part of the IEP process. I can attest to this from my time in the physical classroom! In my virtual classroom, I have to make a log of contract with students, schools, and families. My school’s ESE department has done a great job of adding notes to our shared platform of students’ accommodations that I can simply check off of make a note of when logging more detailed interactions. What are processes that Volusia teachers already have at their schools that an accommodation checklist could easily be integrated to show evidence of carrying out IEPs? This will take a lot of front-loading work by ESE staff, which needs to be supported financially and with time, but I believe it will simplify systems and care for students and staff in the long-run.
Budget: I am the current Treasurer for Turie T. Small Elementary School's PTA. I know what it's like to work with a tight budget and having to say "no" to exciting requests due to lack of funding or the request not aligning with our mission. I have written grant proposals when extra money was needed, such as receiving National PTA's "Ready, Tech, Go!" grant in conjunction with AT&T to bring education around our children using technology to the school. I am even resourceful enough to enter contests to win school supplies for a classroom from "Just Peachy Clean" and a fully funded field trip to the Marine Discovery Center for Turie T's entire 4th grade level! All of that to say, I know how to work within the bounds of a budget and, if the money is not there, to find it elsewhere. No single school board member is in charge of the entire district's budget, but I will work with other board members to balance our spending and funding and make sure the Superintendent is using those funds to carry out the District's vision of excellence.
Teachers & Support Staff + the District: Trust has been broken between teachers & support staff and the district & state levels of leadership. Support staff deserve the same respect that teachers have when considering contracts and open communication should be kept with all. As a member of Brevard County's Teacher's Union, BFT, I want to build bridges between the school board, union, and all of those educating and supporting our students.
Equity in zoning for Daytona Beach students: After Brown v. Board of Education in the 1960s, Daytona Beach schools were integrated by busing students out of the historically African American Midtown neighborhood to 12+ different elementary schools around the district. No students were bused into the neighborhood, thereby starting this process off on an inequitable foot. The zoning plans stayed like this for 60 years until Beachside Elementary School was completed and 32114 zip code students north of International Speedway Blvd. (ISB) were rezoned to stay in Daytona Beach, albeit over the causeway. The current plan is to rezone students south of ISB to the newly built Turie T. Small Elementary school in fall 2024. I applaud this change in order to keep students in their community schools! Now the school district must hold true to their plans to equitably equip the new schools and students.
Equity in services for students: Continued from the zoning issues mentioned above, as of spring 2024, there are no elementary schools in the city of Daytona Beach that have Gifted services. It’s a sad and bold statement from the district to say that no students in an entire city are considered gifted and, if they are, they must be rezoned to a schools in either Ormond Beach or Port Orange. There is a current plan to added Gifted services to the new Turie T. Small Elementary school in fall 2024, so I want to hold the district accountable to providing the full range of educational supports for students.
"Book Bans" I believe that every family should work together to determine what is appropriate for their own children to read. My family is full of avid readers and we have open discussions about the books being checked out at school, from the library, and even apps like Hoopla! In fact, I share a Hoopla account with my eldest daughter. No single individual, family, or group should get to determine what the rest of the district reads. I am far more concerned with the content and time spent on cell phones than any book that may be checked out in a school library.
ESE Workload and Services: Volusia County has had complications with implementing IEP plans. I know students can “fall through the cracks” and I also know that many teachers are providing accommodations as part of their normal processes with a whole class and individual students and just not documenting it as part of the IEP process. I can attest to this from my time in the physical classroom! In my virtual classroom, I have to make a log of contract with students, schools, and families. My school’s ESE department has done a great job of adding notes to our shared platform of students’ accommodations that I can simply check off of make a note of when logging more detailed interactions. What are processes that Volusia teachers already have at their schools that an accommodation checklist could easily be integrated to show evidence of carrying out IEPs? This will take a lot of front-loading work by ESE staff, which needs to be supported financially and with time, but I believe it will simplify systems and care for students and staff in the long-run.
Budget: I am the current Treasurer for Turie T. Small Elementary School's PTA. I know what it's like to work with a tight budget and having to say "no" to exciting requests due to lack of funding or the request not aligning with our mission. I have written grant proposals when extra money was needed, such as receiving National PTA's "Ready, Tech, Go!" grant in conjunction with AT&T to bring education around our children using technology to the school. I am even resourceful enough to enter contests to win school supplies for a classroom from "Just Peachy Clean" and a fully funded field trip to the Marine Discovery Center for Turie T's entire 4th grade level! All of that to say, I know how to work within the bounds of a budget and, if the money is not there, to find it elsewhere. No single school board member is in charge of the entire district's budget, but I will work with other board members to balance our spending and funding and make sure the Superintendent is using those funds to carry out the District's vision of excellence.
Political Advertisement paid for and approved by Cassandra Gonyer for Volusia County School Board, District 2