My Record: Progress, not Politics

I hit the ground running when elected to the school board in 2004 and began working to serve our children -

District 6 Advocate: Have supported and advocated for District 6 schools, and have a good working relationship with all principals. Have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for their leadership and for the accomplished professionalism of our teachers and staffs.

Academic Achievement: Have been a consistent advocate for middle and high school improvements, particularly the district's League of Educational Excellence, our middle and high school reform initiative built on rigor, relationships and relevance. Have strongly supported moving more students and more diversity into 8th grade algebra, Advanced Placement , International Baccalaureate, and other rigorous coursework, as well as expansion of AVID, a program that successfully prepares middle-achieving students for advanced coursework.

Arts: Have been active in the community in broadening and deepening the relationships between the arts community and our public schools, and have consistently advocated for equitable access to the arts in our schools, particularly those serving low-income students.

Capital program: Have spent a great deal of time researching, studying and monitoring our building program, one of the largest in the nation, and have advocated for improvements to better ensure fiscal discipline and equitable standards. Helped lead in consensus-building to make a paradigm shift that would ensure a firm commitment to renovate 128 existing K-12 schools and build up to 25 new schools with all available revenue sources.

Comprehensive Renovation of Edgewater High School: Have spent a huge amount of time meeting with the Edgewater Task Force citizens group and the Edgewater family, and working with staff and architects to develop a solid plan that will meet the needs of the students of Edgewater for years to come and expand the campus in a manner that is responsible to the taxpayers.

Comprehensive Renovation of Evans High School: Have worked with the superintendent and staff to develop a creative plan to bring a new school swiftly to the Evans students, helped lead in consensus-building to take the unusual step to accelerate its renovation and build a new 9-12 facility at its freshman campus, and advocated strongly for it in the face of controversy. Have worked closely with community members and the school family as efforts multiplied to transform Evans High School.

Other District 6 Comprehensive Renovation projects (Lee, Lockhart, Robinswood and Maitland Middle Schools and Killarney and Dommerich Elementary Schools): Background in design and construction has been very helpful in discussions with staff, architects and contractors, and helpful when explaining decisions or the renovation process to community members in meetings or individually.

Unitary Status: Outspoken advocate and consensus builder in current efforts to achieve unitary status (moving out from under court-ordered desegregation). The comprehensive renovation of Evans is a key piece in these complex and multi-layered efforts to ensure equitable access to a high-quality education for all of Orange County's students.

Strategic Plan: Advocated to review Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations (80 of 110 recommendations have been implemented) and use them as a starting point for the beginning of a strategic plan. The school board and district administration have just completed a lengthy process to develop a draft strategic plan. We held 13 town hall meetings and conducted internal and external surveys to gather input. Our new vision is to be the "top producer of successful students in the nation." The strategic plan is available at www.ocps.net. It is a living, breathing document that is becoming our roadmap to educational success. It is also becoming the foundation for the district budget, school board policies and the superintendent's evaluation.

Communications: Chair of the school board communications committee for 2-1/2 years. With colleagues, have worked closely with the staff, Foundation members, as well as a pro bono group of public relations professionals, to improve district communications, rebuild the district website, introduce electronic board agendas and supportive documents, and expand ways of sharing information with the community.

Communications: Have written numerous letters to the editor and opinion pieces on various issues related to public education in Orange County. Have also written regularly for community papers and others to share information and explain issues. Along with colleagues, have spoken regularly to Rotary Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, neighborhoods associations, and other groups, as well as dozens of individuals to keep the community informed and provide opportunities for community members to ask questions, become more informed and share concerns or ideas.

Legislative Advocacy: Have advocated for legislation to build flexibility into class size formula and add multiple measures to the school grading formula. There is progress on both issues in the current legislative session in Tallahassee.

Foundation for Orange County Public Schools: Have served on the Foundation for OCPS board for 2-1/2 years and worked closely with them to keep them informed on issues, strengthen the relationship between the Foundation and the school district, and collaborate with the Count-Me-In steering committee to develop a school board resolution on shared values.

Governance Training: Have spent many days in training alongside colleagues in sessions regarding issues of governance, finance, law, academic reform, communications, etc. Have worked to maintain Master Board status.

Community Involvement: Currently serve on the following boards: The Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, Orange County Regional History Center, Compact (a mentoring organization), and Project Imagination (a non-profit storytelling organization that provides school programs). Also serve as a member of the Schools Action Team of the Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs Advisory Council. Have also mentored five students of various ages over the past few years. Member of the League of Women Voters of Orange County.

National Involvement: Currently serve with the superintendent as board members on the Council of the Great City Schools, a national organization of 66 large urban school districts.

In these very challenging times, public school districts of the size, diversity and complexity of Orange County require leaders with knowledge, experience, courage, passion and integrity to serve all students fully and equitably. I have considered this job a public service, and as I humbly reflect on that service, I believe that I have fulfilled my promises. I look forward to continue this service for Orange County's children in new, and perhaps even more powerful ways. My strong belief, through experience, is that sustained focus on progress, not politics, will keep us moving in the right direction!