Q&A with Victoria L. Smith, Candidate for Citrus County School Board District 2

WUFT asked candidates running for office in north-central Florida a series of questions about their backgrounds and plans if elected.

Below are the answers from Victoria L. Smith, who is running for the Citrus County School Board in District 2.

Why did you decide to run for this position?

“I have been an educator and advocate for over 25 years.

I believe that, given the many challenges the education system still faces, my experience can help inform future policy, budget and student issues to ensure the best outcomes for students.”

What are the three most pressing issues in your district or jurisdiction?

Investing the right money in the right place to achieve the right results.

Students and teachers are expected to be strict and responsible.

Provide students with the opportunity to be successful in their learning process.

Your proposed solution to the biggest problem:

Administrators and district administrators currently receive the same percentage salary increase as technicians and support staff.

This means that people with low incomes constantly have financial problems.

The board should focus on reducing the percentage pay increase for the highest levels for a short period of time. We can instead use the money to increase salaries for the lower levels and provide much needed relief, while still increasing everyone’s pay.

Your proposed solution for problem two:

Current policy does not allow primary school students to achieve less than 50%.

This has been proven to be negative in many ways, one of which is work ethic as they get older.

My solution is to eliminate this policy and at the same time increase the professional training of our employees in best evaluation practices.

This gives teachers the opportunity to assess better, for example by having students test multiple times, taking alternative tests and other things.

Each of these lessons emphasizes the importance of capturing learned knowledge and encourages student engagement.

Finally, it is important to have a policy in place to hold students accountable for false accusations against staff. This will enforce a certain respect for teachers and staff. It will show that they are supported by management.

Your proposed solution for problem three:

Every student should feel safe in the classroom and be given every opportunity to learn.

The current status is a simple anti-bullying video at the beginning of the year.

The policy should provide for improved professional training so that employees can recognize bullying and learn how to address or prevent bullying.

This also includes training on classroom management and helping to develop best practices for dealing with student discipline to avoid disruptions to the learning process.

Policies should also be put in place to allow teachers to have uninterrupted time to better prepare their lessons and review past data, which creates unnecessary stress for classroom management.

If elected, what is the first part of your agenda that you want to realize?

Professional learning could begin immediately.

By organizing a workshop, we can immediately start working with staff and other members to address the policy.

This can also be done to prevent bullying and to protect staff from false accusations.

This allows realistic solutions to be found in a timely manner.

What else should voters know about you and your candidacy?

I am the most qualified.

I invest in schools and have a demonstrable love for public education.

I have been teaching for over 25 years and have been the president of Citrus County Education for over 10 years. I have consistently been rated as a highly effective teacher and have always advocated for the interests of students and staff in the school, the district, and the state.

I have served on many different committees, been a department chair, been nationally certified, and have led professional learning for both the local district and state.

I am the only candidate with extensive experience and qualifications in the education system and I am ready from day one.