Early Childhood Education
I am a strong believer that our students need to have a strong start to schooling with literacy and math skills, positive behavior interventions, and support for students with special needs, including social-emotional and mental health. In the same way, I believe that providing early intervention will help narrow the school-readiness gap for students in Desoto County. Most importantly, investing in our students will help increase graduation rates, long-term educational outcomes, health outcomes, and help end the school-to-prison pipeline for our low-income students and students of color.
I would like to make Desoto County Schools a leader in early childhood education options. Many parents search for preschool programming that is simply affordable. For many, this is a near-impossible quest. When parents realize that they cannot afford it, they are forced to choose which child gets to go to a high-quality program, settle for a subpar program that multiple children can attend, or stay home and educate them until they are eligible for full-day programs. This is not something that our parents should have to choose because they cannot afford a high-quality program or they live far away from a good program.
It is proven that high-quality early childhood education is critical to lifelong success. To ensure that parents do not have to leave the workforce or stay home to educate their children, Desoto County Schools needs high-quality programming that is offered to our early learners every day. While there is abundant research on the benefits of early childhood education, we shy away from implementation because of the upfront cost. Consequently, responsibility is placed on parents. At that point, those who can afford it or have access to it, take advantage of it, setting up their children for lifelong success. However, for those who cannot afford or access it, their children have a greater probability of heading down the road of inequity – a disadvantage for all of us.
Every parent wants the best for their child. If all students had access to high-quality early childhood programs and early intervention services, can you imagine what their elementary experience would be like? Can you imagine a district where all students received a strong start with targeted support for speech, language, social-emotional wellness, reading, and other learning needs? Can you imagine the possibilities of students’ economic futures when we set them on a path to be college and career ready?
As Desoto County Superintendent of Schools, I want to:
- Bring a strong early learning program to students that will benefit the district and community
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning is a powerful approach to learning that allows students to engage in hands-on experiences and space to reflect. Further, they can connect what they learn to real-world situations.
There are three areas in which I believe students of Desoto County can benefit through experiential learning. These areas, I believe, will give students a chance to learn by doing, recognize strengths, learn from mistakes, and become skillful learners. In addition, it encourages career development, cultural awareness, and leadership.
As Desoto County Superintendent of Schools, I want to:
- Unlock the door to learning through ARTS INTEGRATION
Through arts integration, teachers will be able to integrate the arts into the curriculum to create richer and more lasting learning experiences for students. Arts integration goes beyond traditional class projects and engages students to build connections through theater, dance, visual arts, music, and more.
- Expand CTE programs to support middle and high school students in acquiring academic and technical skills
In response to job demands, the district will need to expand programs and strengthen partnerships with community businesses and organizations to ensure students have work-aligned experiences – on and off campus. These programs will not only help students develop the necessary skills for the workforce, but will encourage them to see themselves working before they graduate. Upon graduation, there should be a clear path for them to use their training to obtain gainful employment in the local community. It should not be seen as just a pipeline, but a building block to the future.
- Facilitate learning environments that are engaging, relevant, and STEAM-focused
Over the past several years, there has been much conversation about the need for STEAM programs in our schools. It is pretty simple: our current and future workforce demands graduates who are well-versed in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. With collaborative planning, STEAM can improve literacy and spark creativity within ESE and ELL students. STEAM is not just about “playing” learning. It is making connections to the real world.
Family-School-Community Partnerships
Family-school-community partnerships are a shared responsibility in which engagement takes place in meaningful and culturally appropriate ways. When these partnerships are forged, they create opportunities in which everyone has a voice, support, and tools to actively participate in the educational experience of students.
Partnerships are essential to help the students of Desoto County achieve their maximum potential. While family and school engagement has always been the goal and cornerstone of student success, greater recognition and support of these collaborative efforts are needed.
As Desoto County Superintendent of Schools, I want to:
- Develop a family-school-community taskforce to improve academic outcomes
When families, schools, and the community work together, students earn higher grades, attend school regularly, and are more motivated to thrive in school. This is true for all students, regardless of age or background. To meet the varying degree of social-emotional, mental health, and academic needs of students, strong connections to community resources are necessary to support district and family partnerships. Moreover, these partnerships must begin in early childhood and be further developed throughout students’ school years.
- Educate parents who do not speak English or who were educated in other countries with expectations for school engagement
Contrary to what some believe, the lack of engagement of immigrant or non-English speaking families does not mean “not caring” about their children’s education. To develop a strong family-school-community partnership, it will be necessary to strengthen bilingual staff and resources as well as identify parent liaisons who speak the language and understand the culture of the families we serve.
Student Safety & Wellbeing
The poverty gap between the wealthiest and poorest families is very pronounced in the United States. In Desoto County, specifically, over 25% of students live below the poverty level. Since the pandemic, there has been a rise in mental health needs such as anxiety and depression. Thus, school districts have begun responding by promoting awareness of programs and services that address the overall safety and wellbeing of students.
As Desoto County Superintendent of Schools, I want to:
- Work with our administrators and community health organizations to improve and increase mental health awareness
In a rural community like Desoto, student needs are critical, but there are shortages. Therefore, I want to ensure that students and families have access to on-site mental health services to support them. This will require equitable funding to be allocated toward meeting school mental health needs.
Our schools have to be a safe place to come. Every school building needs to have a school nurse, social worker, mental health counselor, and law enforcement officer. I want to secure scholarships for those who pursue degrees in these fields and commit to working for at least two years in the district. Having these “human resources” in our schools will not only meet the needs of students, but will also disrupt the generational poverty cycle, dropout cycle, and school-to-prison pipeline.
Staff Recruitment & Retention
We need compassionate, dedicated, and trained educators in Desoto County Schools. This includes administrators, teachers, and support staff. Over the past few years, many factors have made education an undesirable profession, a “cause for national concern”. In addition, many high school and college students have been discouraged from going into the profession. As a result of greater responsibilities and higher demands in their roles, we have more vacancies now than ever, in administrator, teacher, and support personnel positions.
As Desoto County Superintendent of Schools, I want to:
- Work with the DCEA to restore the education profession to the respectability it deserves as one of the most noble and set apart professions
This will be achieved by partnering with our local colleges, universities, and schools of education to create a “student-to-teacher” pipeline as well as champion innovative approaches to recruiting young and diverse adults into teaching.
A particular focus will be on creating a “Grow Your Own” program. This program would allow high-school students to explore teaching through dual-enrollment opportunities and full-time non-instructional employees to receive tuition reimbursement for pursuing an education degree.
- Advocate for an evaluation system that is streamlined and benefits students and teachers
Teachers should be evaluated using a system that will help them reflect upon and improve their practice. In addition, the evaluation system should be built in a way that ensures students are leaving school with the knowledge and skills they need to be critical thinkers and problem solvers.
- Improve professional development for staff by giving them voice and choice based upon their interests, skill-sets, and overall growth needs
A one-size-fits-all model does not work for staff who would benefit more from collaborative and connection-based learning experiences.
As a former principal in Desoto County, I have experienced these issues firsthand. We have a crisis that needs someone who knows the struggle that rural districts face. The first challenge is supply and demand. I do not believe anyone has gone into education with the hope of becoming rich. It is a calling, a work of the heart. However, educators have felt disrespected and demonized by many, including some of our state leaders. Sadly, young adults have been deterred from pursuing the education profession. Additionally, salary decreases and increased insurance premiums have made a once-attractive profession, undesirable.
While Desoto County Schools can boast that the teacher salary scale is in the top 50% of Florida school districts, for example, our efforts must continue. The starting pay for teachers and the salary of veteran teachers are still behind what many others who have college degrees would earn in the workforce. This must be addressed.
Second, our schools of education – while I applaud them for their competitive selection processes – may not consider accepting students with an educational experience similar to what our students face in reality. In my opinion, some of the best teachers are those who did not have an easy time in school. They had learning challenges that resulted in them not having the best grades all the time. I also think some of the best ESE teachers are the ones who struggled with standardized tests.
- Encourage high school students to pursue teaching majors in college, recruit college students with STEAM-related majors into teaching careers, and partner with colleges to identify what needs our new teachers must be educated in before graduating
Our teachers should look like the kids they will be teaching. Our students deserve a diverse workforce not only in race, ethnicity, and language skills, but also in upbringing – those who may not have grown up in an upper or middle-class household, but struggled in school.
Lastly, we need to restore a culture of professionalism to the district. To find the best solution, a collaboration between the Superintendent, the DCEA, and the school board is paramount. If we are going to get the best and the brightest in our schools, we must pay them what they are worth. We must value the classroom teacher the same as we would value a paraeducator. We must value the receptionist the same as we would value a food service assistant. We must value a custodian the same as we would value a bus driver.
Each position has a role to play in the educational development of our children. Therefore, we need to rethink how we compensate staff and the steps they earn on the career ladder. They deserve compensation that they can support themselves and their families with; a living wage that pays them for their education and expertise. Educators need to see a future in Desoto County Schools. Moreover, they need to know that those who choose to work in a rural area are just as recognized and rewarded for their labor as those who work in a wealthier community.