- November 8, 2024
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Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Vasquez hosted a Town Hall meeting to answer the community’s questions Thursday, Oct. 5, at Dr. Phillips High School.
District 5 School Board Member Vicki Felder, who used to be a teacher at DPHS, also spoke. Several other OCPS officials, including Jackie Ramsey, principal of DPHS; Michael Armbruster, deputy superintendent; and Doreen Concolino, chief financial officer, also attended.
Vasquez gave a presentation that included history about Orange County, changes that have taken place as a result of the feedback the school district gathered last year and answered questions through a ThoughtExchange survey.
“Last year, the purpose of our Town Hall really was for me to gather a lot of information around three areas, and we used that information to make changes for this school year,” she said. “Tonight is really more about answering your questions.”
SUPPORT SYSTEM
Based on the feedback the district received from last year’s Town Halls, OCPS reorganized how the schools are supported.
“It used to be that the schools were in a learning community, and we had the East Learning Community, the Southwest Learning Community — all of our K-8s were divided that way,” Vasquez said. “Because we only had 22 high schools, they were put together in one division. It allowed them to collaborate more, to learn best practices and to really have discussions about how to best educate our high school students. What we found out is that schools needed more support. In the learning community, we could have up to 38 schools with an area superintendent, so the support that was available to our schools was not what was needed. Now, with our new organization, we have ratios of one to 12. The principal leader has no more than 12 schools.”
TEACHER RETENTION
“In Florida, we tend to see a little bit more (issues with retention) because of some of the political implications of some of the new laws,” Vasquez said. “Teachers are feeling more stress that the laws are jeopardizing some of their certificates. So … it’s become a little bit harder to recruit and retain teachers. We do have a very aggressive recruitment campaign. We have teams that go out and recruit at different colleges. We have great partnerships with Rollins, UCF and now with Valencia. … We are also in the middle of signing agreements with some of the colleges and universities on programs that would allow a teacher that has an AA degree to be able to take courses and teach under the supervision of another, like a master, teacher.”
OCPS currently is in negotiations with the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association on a new agreement. OCPS has offered a package that includes a 9% pay increase, but the district is at an impasse with CTA.
VAPING
Regarding drugs in schools, Vasquez said OCPS is installing vaping detectors in the secondary bathrooms. However, the installation process will take more than a year.
“We do have a drug problem, and specifically, we have a vaping problem,” she said. “That’s where we have seen the greatest increase in drug use, and they have gotten so clever at what the vaping pens look like that your child might have it sitting right next to you and you don’t see it.
“What I can say to you as a parent is that you need to educate yourself on what your child is doing,” Vasquez said. “Who are they hanging out with? You need to read up or look on the internet about vaping. They have become very clever with how they market it, the flavors, the high that they get.”
SAFETY IN SCHOOLS
“People ask me what keeps me up at night, and that’s what keeps me up at night,” she said. “Ensuring that we don’t have a fatality or an incident at our school. I can tell you that no system is full proof. None. What I can tell you is that I believe our schools are among the safest, if not the safest, in the country. … Every year, we have more conversations to see what else we can do. What I can say is that if you, your child hears something, they see something, I need for them to say something.”
