Melody Bolduc, Stacie Dern, Lori Hershey, Greg Tison, Barbara Toscano and John Turner are running for the District 7 Duval County School Board seat freed up by Jason Fischer.
The six faced off at Mandarin High School Tuesday night, during a forum hosted by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, WJCT and 20 other partners making up the Duval County School Board Elections Coalition.
ABOUT THE CANDIDATES
- Melody Bolduc has taught elementary through high school-aged students in Florida for 16 years. She said she feels she has the experience to make policy decisions for the district. She said she stepped down from teaching last year partly because she doesn’t like the way it’s going in Duval County.
- Stacie Dern is a wife and mother who is earning her bachelor’s degree in early education. She said she’s passionate about education and research. She said she can do more as a policy-maker than a classroom teacher.
- Lori Hershey calls herself a "common sense conservative." She’s a Jacksonville native who works for the Jacksonville Children’s Commission and has served as a school volunteer, mentor and on the DCPS School Safety Advisory Committee.
- Greg Tison is a Jacksonville native and manages the Jacksonville Farmers Market. He considers himself a business and community leader, chairing the Duval Agricultural Council and is vice chair of the Community Redevelopment Agency for the airport.
- Barbara Toscano is a teacher at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. She said she’s written curriculum and policies in three different counties and two different states. She has a Master’s degree in education from Pennsylvania State University.
- John Turner is a retired Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman. His children attended Duval schools and he attends many school board meetings and workshops.
The candidates were first asked what they feel is the biggest specific issue facing Duval Schools.
Tison and Hershey both said school safety and security. Hershey said disruptive behavior interferes with learning. She said she also wants to instill more mental health services in school.
Dern said her main concern is the budget. She wants to work on allocating resources to provide proper instruction and intervention so students are on grade level.
Toscano said Common Core aligned curriculum is the biggest issue in Duval’s schools. She said, as a teacher, the guides and scripts teachers are given are lacking and teachers aren’t able to adapt it to each individual class.
Turner said reading proficiency is the biggest issue. He said it affects Duval’s economy when students are behind in reading. He said the district hasn’t provided proof it’s using an adequate program for phonemic awareness. He said he won’t allow another bad curriculum in Duval schools if he’s elected.
Bolduc said all of her concerns are wrapped up in too much federal government involvement in schools. She said she believes in accountability but not the way districts are required to test and measure students’ success. She said it causes teachers to focus on standardized tests instead of cultivating critical thinking skills in classrooms.
Candidates were also asked about school choice, including recent legislation allowing Florida students to cross county lines and go to any public school in the state beginning 2017.
Turner addressed charter schools. He said they give parents a false promise. He said most of them are only in the business for money, not to raise education expectations. He said charter school leaders want public schools to fail. He said school choice is good, but not with the charter component.
Bolduc said parent choice is important, but the state open-enrollment law creates logistical issues.
Dern believes the new law is going to be a huge problem in Duval County with the number of students they may enter or leave the district. She said she isn’t a proponent of more charter schools, but thinks magnet programs are a good way to give parents choices.
Hershey, who recently wrote her Master’s thesis on how charter schools are changing public education in Florida, said her concern with open enrollment is an increase in segregation, citing other areas of the country where this policy has been implemented.
Tison said parents want school choice. He said the charter school issue is something that’s been setup by the state. He said neighborhood schools should be able to fulfill parents’ want for school choice by offering options like vocational classes.
Toscano said Duval already is a county of choice with its magnet programs. She thinks districts should have more skilled-labor and trade programs for additional choice. She said not every student wants to go the four-year university route.
Candidates were also asked if they believe children are safe in their school restrooms. The question comes after the Departments of Justice and Education sent a letter to every public school district in the country in May, instructing them transgender and non-transgender students "can all enjoy a safe and discrimination-free environment," the Obama administration said.
The letter advises public schools how the Department of Education Title IX nondiscrimination policy is to be interpreted. Since schools receiving federal dollars aren’t allowed to discriminate based on a student’s sex, they can’t discriminate against a student based on gender identity.
Duval is complying with a directive and has since be sued because of it.
Tison said he does not support “proposals to integrate male and female bathrooms.”
Toscano said, as a teacher at Douglas Anderson, students have come out as transgender and the school has never had a problem. She said the school offers respectful accommodations for all kids. She said in education, every kid matters.
“Does that mean a transgender child is going to decide one day that they are male and go into the female restroom?” she said. “No, that’s not how that works. This is an agonizing experience that these children go through.”
She said Douglas Anderson offers gender neutral restrooms.
Hershey said Duval’s had an LGBT-inclusive policy in place for over a decade. She said children need to continue to be treated with respect.
“It’s my understanding that it is a case-by-case, individual-by-individual issue,” she said.
Dern said she is for Duval’s current policy. She said adding more gender-neutral bathrooms is a good idea. She said this can open a conversation for all students who desire more privacy at school.
“Not everyone wants to change in the locker room in front of other people,” she said.
Bolduc said she is also for Duval’s current policy that allows students to have individual needs met on a case-by-case basis. She said she is concerned about any further move toward legislation that will allow any student to use any bathroom. She said she’s in favor of gender-neutral bathrooms.
Full video of the forum can be found on the Jacksonville Public Education Fund’s Facebook page, and candidate questionnaires can be found at Schoolboard2016.org.C
CORRECTION: The location listed that the forum was held at was incorrect in the article. The article has been updated to reflect the correct location.
