Judy DeJesus McNeil

The issues

Why are you running for this office?

I am running because I believe God has put it in my heart to represent the interest of those that are not being served.  

In your view, what are the top three issues facing the school district? How are you qualified to address these issues?

1. Equity

2. Safety/discipline

3. Curriculum/testing

I am a teacher with 20 years experience and have a masters in educational leadership. I have  experience in curriculum and know the relationship between excellent instruction and excellent curriculum, results in students learning. I interned in the curriculum resource office interpreting  data to help make adjustment in instruction. This is very important in tailoring instruction to those we serve, a transferable skills easily used for a board member. I worked with different students: students with disabilities, English Language Learners, gifted, economically disadvantaged and general education students. Working with these different groups makes me a better policy maker in addressing curriculum/testing, safety/discipline and an excellent candidate on the school board.

How would you assess the performance of Governor, President Trump and Secretary of Education when it comes to educational policy?

President Trump’s selection of Betsy DeVoz, for now, could only impact  a change in Title I funds in K-12. The governor has given and also taken away funds because of bills passed. (Governor Rick Scott signed SB 7026 on March 9 regarding mental health, guns and school safety). Overall, both political  parties, throughout the years shortchanged our students by putting a cap on the millage rate. The millage makes possible local funding but the numbers are making it impossible to raise the local funds needed to keep up with cost. Our current local effort millage rate is 4.016 bringing in $62,371,157  based on property tax value of $16,177,777,569 last year it was 4.377 and revenues were $64,275,428 on a property tax value of $15,296,680,670. (SBAC meeting executive summary Proposed budget, 7/1/18) More mandates, less funding and excessive school testing is causing a hardship in most districts. Many, for profit charter schools are opening at the expense of taxpayers dollars, and not all meet the same standards. In some districts, this a positive choice in other areas it may be more divisive than of service. This is why local control of charter schools is so important, Amendment 8 tries to take this away from school boards by bundling three separate issues into one; civic classes, term limits and charter school controlled by the legislature. I believe local community can determine what is best, not the state legislature.

Share your opinion on the changes to school safety and gun ownership enforced in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act.

Alachua County School Board is benefitting their citizens, by employing our excellent police agencies. This district is very fortunate to have highly trained police officers on school campus. This will help fulfill a big part of cooperating with law enforcement and emergency agencies.  Overall, the outlined waiting period, background check, age limitation with stated exceptions, and a start date of 10/18/18 for bump-fire stock possession/sales, are reasonable for gun safety.

Share your opinion on the guardian program and arming teachers.

I agree every district should have a say in deciding their participation in the guardian program and  how they will apply this mandate. Most districts are struggling to meet the mandate. Some districts are getting creative addressing the mandate, for example, hiring private companies or having their own personnel fulfill the requirement needed to be a school resource officer. I agree with Alachua County School Board’s decision to obtain security with an agency and not arm non-instructional personnel. The guardian program intent was not to arm teachers, instead to arm non-instructional personnel.

What are your plans for school safety and how do you plan to accomplish it?

Presently, Alachua County has School Resource Office yearly contracts 2018-2019, with four agencies: Gainesville Police Department, Alachua Police Department, High Springs Police Department and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, with the latter having the most School Resource Officers in our schools. These contacts are funded with the State Safe School Allocation. However three agencies’ contracts were re-negotiated to pay officers equally as the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office. The excessive amount required funds to be taken from the General Funds, where teachers’ salaries and students’ instructional resources are funded. I believe we need to find a happy medium between those we are serving -  teachers and students and those who are going to provide the service of keeping our schools safe. Safe School Allocation funds are not guaranteed for the next school year 2019/20. The board will definitely be doing our students, teachers and tax payers a disservice if we take money from the General Funds to pay school resource officers next year. The potential grand total for this year’s four agencies contract was 2,652,495, which included all the funds from the safe school allocation and money from the general funds. I would recommend the County Commission, the police agencies and the school board along with the legislature come up with a fair formula for school resource officers. The other option is to negotiations with a private company, but I would rather negotiate comparably with our local agencies to have consistency in our schools.

Alachua County Public Schools has shown to have an educational gap, where more white students are passing tests than black students. What are your plans to approach this educational divide?

My answer to deficiencies is always excellent teachers. More programs and more money will not solve the issues if the main variable, excellent teachers, is not part of the equation.  

Presently, we have the Office of Education Equity and Outreach which was established in September of 2017 to address this issue. The plan includes culturally responsive instruction for all educator, a System of Care that includes local agencies to help high risk students and families. The Parent Academy, Home instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (Hippy) Parent Emissary Program, Head Start/Voluntary Pre-K Program, and Community Partnership School. In the classroom, provide lower teacher student ratio, instructional coaches, extended school day, summer camps, screening for gifted, alternative testing or evaluation using  portfolio, repeated access to ACT testing, graduation coach, algebra bootcamp, new career tech programs to include diversity in career technical education, mentoring programs like Take Stock in Children, lunch buddies and CHAMPS. Dual enrollment, additional teacher coaches and mentors in the high schools are also helping student succeed and close the gap. These are programs the community has invested and hopefully will bring about change.

Do you have any plans or policies that involve the University of Florida, and if so, explain.

Presently the school board is working with the University in the Community Partnership School, which I think is a ideal model to help students make academic gains and should be replicated throughout the major underperforming schools. The board also collaborates with the university to have guest speakers in the classrooms. I have enjoyed the talks and presentations  of several professors and assistants from UF. If this resource is not being used as often I would encourage more teachers to use this wonderful resource.

What are your opinions on school choice and opening charter schools?

I am not for profit charter schools. I believe Alachua County’s excellent charter schools have passed the litmus test of commitment and success to this community. I believe parents should always have choices. Open enrollment provides an increase in under enrolled schools when new STEAM (science, technology engineering, art, math) programs are offered. Charter schools based on STEAM will serve the needs of specific students groups not being served in other public schools.

What are your stances on current teacher pay?

Teachers need better pay; however, with ever decreasing funds the district needs to evaluate every hire. Teacher hire or units are based on student population, but support staff are not necessarily viewed that way. When funds are down, some educational support professionals (ESP) are terminated; this is not fair to the teachers or the students. I believe administrative positions should be reviewed before terminating those closest to the students, teachers and paraprofessionals.  Alachua County has been known for being top heavy so a careful review of these positions is needed. Alachua County provides an excellent health package which is included in compensation. Comparing nearby counties the pay scale does not look competitive, but in fact, our health benefits make our county’s pay more lucrative.

If you plan to implement raises, how would you go about it and would class sizes be affected?

Board and union collaboration is required in raising salaries. In the proposed 2018-2019 budget, the General Funds top three expenses are 78 percent salaries and Benefits, next we have purchase services 12 percent and then energy services 4 percent. The last portion of the general funds budget consist of supplies 3 percent, capital outlay 3 percent and other expenses, 1 percent. If the highest expense is addressed with detail: Who is getting paid? And what is the county’s benefits from that employee? District office administrative positions can be reduced and more money is available to increase teachers’ pay. Class size should not be affected because teacher units are dependent on student population.

What are your views on high-stakes testing?

I believe too much emphasis is place on  yearly tests. Teachers and students are getting stressed and the love of learning is lost. Accountability in necessary but not at the expense of student actually learning the material to use it for years to come. Learning or teaching for the test is counterproductive for both parties involved. High-stake tests are tied to common core curriculum which developmentally some students are not ready to do. Common core curriculum is tied to businesses profiting from students not grasping the curriculum. The common core curriculum requires new materials, and new technology for testing. Failing students equal more money for the companies selling remedial products, textbook, tutoring agencies, math apps, and more tests. Teachers are also frustrated because the combination of preparing students to take exams on the computer is another layer  teachers along with students have to learn.

Share your stance on basing teacher pay off of performance reviews. VAM (Value added-model) is a very unfair component of evaluating teachers; 50 percent makes up teacher evaluation). Some teacher are given the most struggling students and work the hardest yet this is not reflected on students tests scores. The mathematical formulas included FCAT and now FSA test result to determine  teachers’ success. I don’t believe any other profession has an evaluation based on so many variables; students performance on math and reading tests and the prediction of how they are expected to perform. The scores changed once the state switched from FCAT to FSA testing and it entails more paperwork for teachers because of other components: Team meetings, book study, principal’s observations etc. Teachers’ performance should not include VAM scores.  

What is an example of a policy or issue you have changed your view on in the last 20 years?

I thought teachers had freedom to teach the core subjects but I have learned that government and corporations determine what is taught and how it is taught in the schools.  Freedom of thought in public schools is not so free.

Do you support voting on college campuses?

Yes, if it allows easy access for citizens to vote.

The campaign

Is there anything you want us to know about your opponent(s)?

One opponent is running because she is a parent. The other opponent is running on past goals and experiences. I am honored to be  in the company of my running mates since we all worked hard to get to this point.

Why should voters vote for you?

I am the only recent teacher, a parent and represent a population not found on the board, I am bilingual. My personal experiences as a  teacher is a benefit when making policies with other board members and elected officials. My opponents experiences are obsolete to the challenging time faced on school campus with school safety/drills, facility and maintenance issues and excessing testing - our new normal. As a teacher, I have first hand experience on  all these issues. As a parent I navigated the challenges of equity and access for my child yet did not prevail. Now, I have a voice and compassion for parents and students. I have penalty of experience to fight for these causes and others students’ needs; students with disabilities, English language learners, gifted students, economically challenged and the general students. I have experience teaching students in various programs: volunteering in 21st Century after school program, Math Olympiad, UF Gator TRAX, and Sunday School. Experienced in career and technical programs teaching biotechnology, forensic and biology in CFK at Santa Fe College for seven years. A volunteer union representative for six years. I also touch the needs of this community volunteering at Catholic Charities food pantry.  All these experiences prepared me to be seated on the school board. I ask for your valuable vote. Please vote for Judy DeJesus McNeil.

Miscellaneous

What type of student were you in college?

Goal oriented: pray, family and friends, study, work

What is the last music concert you saw?

Greenhouse Church, Easter At the O’Dome

Who is your political hero?  Why?

Jesus. His love and words speaks to all people. He is a champion for the excluded, the poor, the stranger, the rich, the sinner ... for all.

What is the best advice you have ever gotten?

Life is too short not to forgive.