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Office Profile:
Office Title: Orange County School Board - District Four
Term: Four years
Salary: $40,887
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Candidate: Vicky Bell
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Educational Background:
- 1972 BS in Education with a Minor in Art from Brigham Young
University
- 2006 Master's Degree in English Literature from UCF.
- + approximately 64 additional college credits in various colleges
keeping my Florida teaching certificate current to 2013, plus
additional literature courses.
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Age: 58 years old
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Current Occupation: I am an adjunct professor teaching five
classes in English Composition at Valencia Community College during
each of the last two semesters (which is considered a full load).
This summer I taught two more classes. Education has been my vocation
and I have been a certified teacher since 1972. I teach because
I love to teach. My husband of 32 years has a good job as a computer
programmer. My four children are grown.
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Civic Organizations: Although in the past I belonged to
many different organizations, presently I am only on the executive
board of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee.
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What are the top three challenges facing Orange County Public
Schools?
- We need to improve our high schools. We have a high drop-out
rate, and those that are graduating are still finding it difficult
to enter college classes. These students should be prepared for
jobs in the real world. Fifty percent of those who graduate here
go to Valencia CC. Out of all the students that go to Valencia
CC, 80-90 percent need remediation in either language arts or
math before they can take credit courses.
- We need to handle our finances more efficiently. In 2007-08
we received about $22,000 per student, and yet, only $4000 to
$5000 per student was given to our middle schools and high schools.
We need to get more money down to our schools.
- We need to be accountable to our public, whom we work for, and
hold our staff accountable by following the policies already in
place based on our state statutes.
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Are you in favor of/opposed to an elected, countywide school
board chair, and why?
I am in favor of an elected countywide chair. An elected chair would
bring more order to the school board because he/she would know that
he/she is accountable countywide for that purpose and to run the
school board more efficiently. He/she could take the reins of control
for and with the school board making all more representative of
the public, rather than a board that appears to be controlled by
its staff. My initial reaction was against the elected chairman
for the reason of taking power from individual districts, but then
I realized that except for the "flip," I haven't seen
any split votes. This unanimous voting does not show us individual
representation of different districts. The whole consent agenda
is always passed with a 7-0 vote with few exceptions. "When
two people always agree, then one of them is unnecessary."
What are they afraid of; a 7-1 vote?
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What are three things "going right" for Orange County
Public Schools? How will you continue forward progress?
- We are improving in our school grades and ranking. For example,
almost all of our middle schools received A's. Why would we want
to suddenly switch their starting times to two hours earlier?
- The success of Orange Center and Rolling Hills Elementary schools
are great examples of how to help schools to succeed despite the
difficulties in their communities. We need to study their success
and duplicate it in all schools that need it.
- Our arts and music programs have given our students a more rounded
education, and we have had some remarkable successes in these
programs. For example, the West Orange HS Choir received national
accolades for their excellent choir. Reading, writing and math
are all tied to the arts. In fact, I teach art design principles
to my college students to help them with their critical reading
and writing.
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Campaign Contact Information:
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Email: vickybell4@yahoo.com
Telephone no.: 407-297-3758
Web: www.geocities.com/vickybell4
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