Latest / Palafox Media Network / Meet the Candidate: Trevor Tucker for Flagler County School Board
Transcript
- speaker-0: Hello folks and welcome to the political matrix news and power flux media networks version of meet the candidates. So we have today Trevor Tucker who's running for school board over here in Flagler County. I think we had talked to Ron Long a few months ago and before Trevor jumped in the race and so now we got Trevor in the race now. And so Trevor why are you willing to get back involved in politics? I guess you were elected here before. Why do you want to do this all over again? speaker-1: Well, the main reason is there's lots of staff ⁓ community members who've asked me to run and I don't feel like the board is very cohesive right now ⁓ and you ever watched me in the past the one thing I try to do is make board meetings more If you can't get along ⁓ on minor issues what a real big issue comes up? speaker-0: Right. So you were elected for three terms though, right? So what was the, I mean, ⁓ biggest issues that you faced, I mean, when you got elected for 12 years, what was the biggest issue that was, you know, just smacking you in the face and smacking the board in the face that they couldn't really get along with without people coming together? speaker-1: Yes, 12 years. COVID was very divisive. So you had half the community with masks, half the community didn't want masks. half the members wanted masks, half the members didn't want masks. So you ended up, and I ended up being the tie-break vote on a lot of those scenarios. But ⁓ importantly, have to be able to listen to the, everybody involved and try to the best of decision for everyone involved. speaker-0: Right. And so, I mean, and so how did that end up going? mean, I'm actually new to the area here. So how did that go for the mask issue and the vaccine issue and the COVID issue? speaker-1: Um, so the vaccine issue, the schools didn't have to do anything, so the state said, you know, you could create a policy where people can opt in for masks. Um, that was the most you could do as a school board, um, or opt out. I'm sorry. They can opt out if they didn't want to wear masks. Um, and after talking to administration and other folks, it would be really hard to know who opted in and who opted out. especially when you're in high school, students are changing classes. So it would be a logistics nightmare. So at that point in time, with the advice of some administration, I voted to keep masks, you you can wear one if you want. ⁓ of being, hey, you have to wear one. And then if a parent opted out, it be really hard to ⁓ find the, you know. ⁓ speaker-0: yeah. Right, exactly. Especially when I was in aging class. I'm assuming the managing of that process would be almost nightmarish because mean teenage kids and middle school kids do whatever the heck they want as much as people don't realize they do ⁓ ⁓ to enforce that I think would have been very, very difficult. speaker-1: think it would have been almost impossible. But, you know, the schools didn't, the schools, you know, we said, hey, you can wear a mask if you feel uncomfortable, wear a mask. At least you're protected if you wish to. speaker-0: Right. And now during that 12 years, mean, Flagler County has grown greatly. And so there's been a lot of population shift to this county. So what, mean, since you've been out of office for the last, I guess, two and half, three years, or since the last election cycle, the shift has grown exponentially, ⁓ more recently, what big challenges do you think are going to face the school board with funding and schools and so on and so forth with handling the growth? speaker-1: So the strange part is the community is growing very fast. So the school district yesterday said they actually lost students from the October count to the spring count. speaker-0: How? How? speaker-1: vouchers. ⁓ ⁓ there's 1,900 students on school vouchers here in Flagler County. If they were in the school district in public schools then you would end up having a massive increase. But ⁓ the who've moved here there's more people who've decided to go with the voucher route. speaker-0: I And what do you think that is? speaker-1: ⁓ multiple reasons I think a lot of the vouchers parents say, Hey, I want to try this private school. because they always feel the private school is a better option, whether it is or not, it's different. Um, you know, my thing with vouchers is I just wish everybody had to take the same test at the end of the year, because if the state is funding it and the state says, Hey, these are your state standards, the public schools have to teach, Then if you're getting public money, shouldn't you probably have to take the same speaker-0: standardized test at the end. And so that's interesting that there was a drop in student population and an increase in regular population. so... speaker-1: Very large. mean, part of it is there's a older community moving to Flagler as opposed to younger communities. And ⁓ probably the birth rate is down as well. So. speaker-0: That's true. Yeah, so I guess in their way they can just excuse like they're not, you know, not going to be prepared for all the growth because they don't really care about it, I guess, is their whole approach. But the reality is that the growth is going to happen regardless. I mean, this might just be an anomaly here of ⁓ job and population because there are going to be a lot more jobs coming here that employ people who have younger children. And so, I mean, are they have any steps prepared to take that all when it happens? speaker-1: I don't know. mean, there's a five year capital plan, but right now it's on hold for any new student schools. The last I knew. but they, should be planning for the growth. Also what happens, you know, you could end up having a private school closing for whatever reason, and you would have a shift back to the public schools ⁓ if the state at some point in time changes their minds about the vouchers, we would probably have a massive influx. how do you prepare for that? You know, you have to get Make sure you do have those contingency plans. Whenever I was on the school board, 300 students went to a charter school that shut down during Christmas break and didn't let us know about it. So 300 new students flowed into our school district in the beginning of January. And you know, it's really hard to find seats for those students. speaker-0: Wow. ⁓ yeah, and so I think those are the steps that need to be taken at the school board level here on contingency plans and fallback plans on how to project going forward. And so how do you think you differ from the incumbent right now on preparing for that? speaker-1: Well, so I was on the board. When I first was on the board, we had a downturn in the economy. And with that downturn in the economy, know, we had a lot of financial implications. 2010, middle of the downturn of the economy. And so I've had where, you've got your per student funding was being cut. And I've also had it where, hey, we've got an increase in student funding. I have a lot more experience than any current board member. speaker-0: 2008 or... Okay. speaker-1: And besides that, I'm not coming with an agenda. I'm there for the students first. speaker-0: Right. I mean, it's not having an agenda. I'm putting the students first. What do you think ⁓ first thing that you want to tackle whenever you get elected is going to be? speaker-1: want the very first thing would be to work on board cohesion because if board cannot give a clear message to the superintendent as to how to drive curriculum education standards then how is the superintendent then going to be able to drive those standards and education in the school district? speaker-0: Where are the seniors at now compared to where they were before? Where are the rankings at I guess? speaker-1: We were a B this year. ⁓ We've a B as a district for quite a few years in a row. They did move up in quite a few categories. So the teachers, the staff are doing a wonderful job, but ⁓ if the doesn't cohesive and can't send a clear message, then it's really hard for the superintendent to relay, ⁓ is our Or the superintendent is doing their plan on their own without the board support. speaker-0: So with the school system, how prepared are they right now with technology? And ⁓ I noticed in the school system, they're a lot of Mac computers and they seem to be very well-versed in lot more technology than a lot of other counties are ⁓ in this local area. And so what level do you think you can enhance at? ⁓ speaker-1: So we had, let's say the Flagler County School District ⁓ when I was on the board was a Apple Distinguished District for using technology multiple With that, the half cent sales tax, which is used for technology and capital improvements in our school district, really drives the ability for students to have that updated technology. Technology. Let's just be realistic, it's intertwined in our lives and it's going to move more towards students. So a student who comes out not prepared to be able to use email, documents, any of these tools ⁓ not be prepared for the workforce. speaker-0: Right. I guess preparing them for the workforce is a primary goal here for the school board to do. I and so are ⁓ any in vocational programs or decrease in vocational programs or funding for that that's going on right now with ⁓ getting ready for the trade area, the workforce as well? speaker-1: Um, so last I knew they are shifting there, there's a good bit of focus on that trade because, uh, right now in Florida, the amount of trades are lacking. Um, you know, if you're an electrician, plumber, HVAC tech, you can get a job tomorrow and you can get top dollar. Um, those, trades right now, um, are really not enough people. Right. So, and as that trend continues, uh, those will probably be some of highest paying jobs out there. speaker-0: Yeah, because know you and I were back in high school. We had a shop class and a word working class and mechanic class and stuff like that. And so, mean, I don't really see a big trend going in that direction with the school systems nowadays. Everybody's trying to push everybody towards cybersecurity or cyber this or cyber that. Do you think there's going to be a strong trend toward broadening that to all the different skill trades? So, like the electricians and the workers like you're talking about? speaker-1: So a lot of that depends on what the state allows for Cape dollars they allow the if they allow you to create a program ⁓ We get the funding for it then yes And we've pushed it before Whenever I was on the board they want to do heavy equipment training and so, you know flagger schools has a simulator for heavy equipment bulldozers dump trucks all those types of equipment, but the only problem is ⁓ Insurance wouldn't let us allow the students to actually use equipment. speaker-0: I've used it before and I never should speaker-1: You know, you see, we had the simulator, but that's not exactly the same as actually using the actual piece of equipment. right. So there's, you know, even whenever you have great ideas and, and the state even gave us funding for it, ⁓ then insurance or something seems to always try to hold you back. speaker-0: See, a lot of people don't know that, that the state actually directs that or funds that. And so whenever people always talk about the different school districts having those programs in their local schools, I guess a lot of them just are ignorant to the fact that the state's the one that okays it or doesn't okay it. speaker-1: Yes, they necessarily okay or not okay. ⁓ speaker-0: can't or funded or not funded or not because if it's not funded it doesn't happen speaker-1: Correct. So we're the only school district I know in the state that has a firefighter academy where they can actually get their firefighter, you know, they can get everything except for they have to be 18 to do the actual firehouse. Right. But they can get all their prerequisites to become a firefighter whenever they graduate. speaker-0: Okay, that's great. Well, you have anything else you want to tell people about why you're running for school board and how they can help you or how they can ⁓ contact you to donate or to support the campaign? speaker-1: Sure, definitely. ⁓ So other reasons I'm running for school board is, you know, I have a family. I have a family that attends school here ⁓ I have a four year old son who I hope goes through the school district. Besides my family, I'm here, was born and raised here. I attended public school here. I love the public education here. And I really hope that, you know, ⁓ my daughter graduated, son's going to graduate in 27 or. Yeah, 27. So I really hope that people understand that I invested in the educational system in Flagler County. Without quality individuals, I can't find a great workforce. I own a business as well. So I'm a really big fan of that quality education. speaker-0: And you're also a business owner too, right? speaker-1: Yes, I own Shoreline Turf and Pest and Sun Country Pest Control. It's one company, but two different names. So yes. So if anyone wants to donate, ⁓ can go to my website. goodness. I got to... Yep. ElectTucker.com. And you go to my website or you ⁓ can go if you would like to email me, ⁓ Trevor at speaker-0: www.electrucker.com Right and if anybody wants to get a yard sign or anything like that just we'll go ahead and have the number here at the bottom of the screen here for anybody to contact you and also the contact information will probably be on your website as well. Yes. speaker-1: please contact me if you would like a website or, ⁓ sorry, ⁓ campaign site. That'd great. speaker-0: Great. Well, thanks a lot for joining us today, Trevor. speaker-1: Nope, thanks for taking the time to interview me. Have a good day.