Political advertisement paid for and approved by Kim Short, Candidate for Volusia County School Board, District 3
Goals
1. Shift the Money from the District to the Schools and Focus on Retainment
I want to see a financial shift from the district to the schools, on the general operating budget. I want all open teaching positions filled (with district staff if necessary). Furthermore, I don’t want any of our students to be without a teacher. Recruitment is important, but I believe retainment is where our issue is. I want retainment addressed as a top priority.
2. Increase Parent and Family Engagement
I want to see parent and family engagement opportunities increase. When families are involved and feel supported, the education of their children is more likely to be successful. COVID really put a wedge between our schools and our families, and I want to see this repaired. (A common finding with research studies is that students do better in school if their parents are involved in their education.)
Informing families of things that are going to change ahead of time is communication, informing them on information surrounding a subject and then discussing it to create a plan is engagement. They are not the same. Both communication and engagement are important, but I believe getting the engagement piece right is the piece we need to focus on in order to correct a number of issues. Our relationships with our families needs to be a priority, in order for our students to have the best shot at success. (I have a number of ideas for events to help make this a reality.)
3. Grow Our Business Partnerships and Increase the Amount of them in Our Schools
I want to see more business partnerships with our academies, and in all of our schools. We can’t do anything on our own, and it’s not in our students best interest to try. We need more strategic goals in this area, and this plan should be shared with our stakeholders. This is an area I have experience in, and one that I have very big ideas for!