News
By George Miller, 6-18-24
Local civic group We The People sponsored a candidate forum for Nassau County School District Superintendent candidates Dr. Kathy Burns (incumbent) and Curtis Gaus (currently a school board member), on June 17 at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Fernandina Beach (see original announcement).
Although Burns and Gaus seem to agree on most issues, in summary, Gaus feels he could make improvements in certain areas, such as: more effective spending, teacher retention (200 left last year), discipline and morale. Burns pointed to such things as her “A” rated-school record, managing expansion, providing trade career training and recognized high quality of teachers and staff. Both candidates are highly qualified, intelligent, articulate, experienced and accomplished. So, the question to resolve is which has the best leadership abilities and is willing to address the priorities of the voters & needs of students? We hope that this account of the event will help you to decide.
Organizer/moderator Deb Boelkes posed 13 questions, plus candidates did introductions and wrap-ups as well. These were not the usual wimpy questions we often see at such events. They had a strong Conservative orientation, just as other events might be oriented to various interest group audiences as the campaign moves along. The event finally got underway at about 6 pm and finished close to the target time. No redirect/follow-up was done nor were audience questions taken.
Many, many words were uttered, so I’ll just try to summarize the higher points here. Attendees/candidates: please let me know if I got anything wrong- the words were coming real fast.
Question 1*- Introduction– Candidates introduced themselves, background and accomplishments. Given 3 minutes each, they did it in about a minute each. See backgrounds in the original event announcement.
* This is the order questions were asked in, not the question numbers, due to a card draw approach used to pick questions.
Burns: Eight year Superintendent Burns mentioned that a medical facility director told her that he uses the schools to attract doctors to come here and she proudly pointed out multiple year statewide “A” ratings and high rankings of the schools. She emphasized successful use of technology, teachers, land and managing growth.
Gaus: Offered his 26 year navy service (never mentioned what he did there), his fiscal responsibility, safety orientation, budget transparency, stakeholder engagement/partnerships and experience as teacher, designing/building programs in career tech. & training. He said we have challenges and he is willing to address them.
Question 2- Objectionable approaches– What is your stance on CRT (Critical Race Theory), DEI (Diversity/Equity/Inclusion), racism, Marx, Humanism?
Burns: Our state govt. has taken a stand on these. They are not apart of our teaching. That direction comes from the state and it’s not the direction we’re going either. She didn’t state her preference and says just adhere to the law.
Gaus: Agreed with Burns, but added that he has a firm belief that history needs to be taught accurately so we won’t repeat mistakes of the past.
Question 3– What’s your position on HB 931 which provides for school chaplains? What to do to provide student access, hiring plan?
Gaus: He told a story of an autistic kid who always asked for prayers for him. Agrees on the need. Said they would be volunteers and district must do such paperwork and vetting.
Burns: She remarked that they have 36 new laws to comply with and this is just one, that they already had some volunteers (?), need more guidance, since different sects have different ideas on what a good chaplain should say and do, scope of duties, etc. She said district must also get “resiliency” coaches. We were unable to extract from her what that means, so I had to look it up.
Question 4- What do you think the biggest challenge is?
Burns: Growth. Can’t build new schools until permission is granted. Must first do surveys/projections. Need an additional high school, middle school. Have 11 portable units.
Gaus: Fiscal/financial long-term health. Growth and capital outlay is flat/level. Enrollment not increased sufficiently. Students, parents opting for homeschooling, private schooling. The one mil tax increase initiative is a short-term solution, since it has an upcoming sunset date.
Question 5- Florida is #3 in human trafficking, grooming, gender transition. Nationwide, school actions are supporting kid gender changes, without parental knowledge, maybe not even teachers. HB 1135 was to have addressed this but it died in 2nd reading. What do you intend to do about unlawful sex/gender actions, lewd conduct/teaching/grooming (in schools?)?
Gaus: Notify parents, unless parents are perceived to be a danger to child. Parents are most important part. Help parents navigate through mental health issues.
Burns: Parents are partners and #1 advocates for their children. No unlawful grooming, trans prep, other lewd, lascivious actions. Strongly vet volunteers. Phones, computers give access to the whole wide world. Gave example of an outside predator brought in via a phone. Trying to restrict phone use at school. Future legislation coming?
Question 6- Your stance on public charter schools?
Burns: Our goal is to be the best so that there is no need for them. State money is available, so students can go to private, homeschool, charter schools.
Gaus: Parents have school choice. Our teachers, staff, are very good, but we are still losing trust of parents. So, homeschooling, private schooling are increasing, all have waiting lists. A charter school is on its way. We can partner with it. Assume that not everyone fits the Nassau (school?) mold.
Question 7- What about Prager Kids age-appropriate videos? Free, never mandatory. U.S history proficiency is only 13% in U.S. high schools. Students admitted they never saw some things in school that they saw in these videos.
Gaus: Don’t know if we are using them. Teachers could work with district to evaluate them. Maybe use them to cover gaps in materials. Teachers need time to cover the standards. Government to institute literacy standards? He would be for it.
Burns: Saw this mentioned on a TV show. We are now #6 in history (in state?). Adopted another civics program. Not aware of Prager use here.
Question 8- What about computer/cellphone harmful access? HB 3 on line protection for minors? Savvas (text publisher) online content not vetted. What do you intend to do about 14-15 year-olds media access on school property/district devices?
Burns: We have multiple firewalls, security team, observation.
Gaus: Work with parents to help navigate to make sure students don’t access objectionable materials. Kids are a lot smarter than us technically and can circumvent firewalls. Need to look for outside best practices- cell phone lockers, lots of unique ways to mange things.
Question 9- For or against a dedicated Citizen budget advisory committee?
Gaus: Wasn’t initially for it, but people have lost trust in the District’s fiscal responsibility. It’s up for authorization in b 2 years (only referring to 1 mil tax increase?) Need to open the books to Citizens on where we are financially, to be open, honest, fiscally responsible.
Burns: Board did not vote for it it (there is now only a review board for the 1 mil increase expenditures). She believes they are fiscally responsible. District has gone from 2 to 20 budget workshops. Established a state of the schools council After 3 meetings, they said if something comes up, let us know. Have tried to engage people. She touted the “Council of 100 ” as a sounding board.
Editor’s note: no one chose to address the Savvas vetting issue.
Question 10- Encourage more volunteers?
Burns: Already doing much- need more! Need to continue thorough vetting of volunteers. Need volunteers in every classroom.
Gaus: Love volunteers!
Question 11- Thoughts on 1 mil ballot measure described as $13.7 million, but really $16 million? They knew this all along.
Gaus: Make sure to not overtax residents. Either lower capital outlays or tax more to cover them. Take a long hard look at budget to reduce millage as much as possible without removing salary increases.
Burns: (board member) Gaus only made recommendations at the 11th hour. Appraiser wrote a letter saying the numbers were higher, but the initial numbers used were lower.
Editor’s note:
- Appraiser said the District had the correct numbers and that Burns is wrong. She disputes that.
- There was no discussion about the ballot measure being sold as teacher salary increases, but only about a third actually went for that purpose.
Question 12- What characteristics make a successful district/school?
Burns: 1- Classroom teachers, 2- Strong leadership, 3- Relationships with students, employees, board.
Gaus: Agreed with above, plus relationships with anyone who comes in contact with students, from the bus driver picking them up, teachers, staff, administrators- all make a difference in a child’s life. “My door was always open.” Losing the trust of our teachers- 200 resigned last year, we are OK at recruiting, but it is hard to keep them. need to treat them with respect, provide resources, support. Teachers tell him “we need help, our voices are not being heard.”
Question 13- What about homeschool, private school help, HB 1403 school choice, FL tax credit scholarship program? What to do to ensure parents are aware of alternative opportunities?
Gaus: State legislation provides avenues of scholarship. Schools are required to provide info on these. Teachers and staff do a phenomenal job. Top level issues cause us to lose students in the cracks. From last March to this march, only Wildlight students increased, while all other district areas are decreasing in enrollment. Many parents think that student needs are not being met. he is very proud of this high-performance district, but some think that the district is not meeting all the needs of students. Need to provide a quality education for all, but we’re losing students at an alarming rate.
Burns: Said that they are meeting the needs of students. They provide parents all the information about alternatives. Parents have choice. There is a huge kindergarten enrollment. Students are coming back to our schools. We want to get even better.
Editors note: There was no discussion about the impact of demographics- age, “empty nests,” or how COVID was handled, all of which could also impact enrollment.
Question 14- One thing you’d say about Nassau Schools that we didn’t ask about?
Burns: Lots of good questions. NCSD is a great school district. She was born here and watched it grow and change. It’s a phenomenal opportunity for students. We had 80% (retention?) last year, 86% this year. “The cost of hiring is a barrier…. Money is not everything, but it helps pay the rent.” “Talk to the kids.” She touted the vocational training program, a growing national need. There is a Navy ROTC program and early college. Re: safety: she said this is one of only 7 districts mentioned of 3000 schools, for 100% safety requirement compliance. Mental health services were expanded.
Gaus: We do have a great, fantastic school system, from the bus drivers, class teachers, maintenance workers, etc. He applauded the career tech programs progress. He wants a career center to better serve students, not just in Fernandina Beach
Question 15- Freeform wrap-up, pitch
Gaus: He has wide and varied experience, in career tech, adult education, built or helped with many of the existing programs. was a coordinator, administrator, teacher, leader, principal. A schools under his responsibility went from 78-91% graduation rate over four years. He took over West Nassau High close to opening day when there were many unfilled openings, schedules incomplete and other issues, which were resolved by opening day. Graduation rate under his leadership went from 89 to 97%.
Burns: You want your team to win. we are winning in spite of the challenges. We take every student, from every walk of life, to see their future, walk into high school. Some families’ children came from a cycle of poverty, but graduate.
Citizens Journal Florida did not fact check the candidate claims reported herein.
FYI
Curtis Gaus
https://www.instagram.com/gaus4superintendent2024/
On Facebook as Gaus4superintendent2024
Kathy Burns
Kathy Burns for Nassau County Superintendent
George Miller is Publisher and Co-Founder of Citizens Journal Florida, based in Fernandina Beach. He is a “retired” operations management consultant, software and publishing executive (10 years) and manufacturing management professional.
