Volusia School Board talks wage adjustments, book review policy, rezoning

By Mary Ellen Ritter 

The Volusia County School Board Tuesday voted on wage adjustments for transportation personnel, policy amendments, the superintendent’s contract and potentially renaming its chair. 

Additionally, amid a plethora of public comments that evening, some community members raised concerns about the district’s rezoning. 

Here’s what to know. 

Volusia School Board approves wage increase for student transportation services team

Motioned by Jamie Haynes and seconded by Donna Brosemer, the Volusia County School Board unanimously agreed to approve wage increases for student transportation service employees. 

Bus assistants will see an increase of $1 per hour. And bus operators, transportation/bus dispatchers, vehicle tech assistants, mechanics, audio-visual technicians, auto body technicians, and vehicle technicians will see an increase of $3 per hour. 

This would be an almost $1.3 million investment, according to Stephanie Workman, Volusia County Schools’ executive director of human resources, payroll and employee benefits. 

Workman said that making this investment would set Volusia County Schools’ starting rates ahead of those in neighboring districts, which would hopefully incentivize employees to join the team and stay.

The district typically has 30-40 vacancies in this department each year, Workman reported in her transportation analysis, which has forced the district to decrease the number of routes it offers. 

Brosemer said she is “delighted” to see this change. 

“We have the job of getting the kids to school, and then we have the job of making the classrooms a place where the teachers can teach and students can learn. And this is half the battle they have,” she said. “They have a really difficult job, and I didn't want us to continue to be the training ground for Votran.” 

Ruben Colón echoed Brosemer. 

“I am grateful that we are able to do this, not only for our employees but also for our students, as we recognize that our bus drivers are essential, as are all of our employees,” he said. 

Volusia County Schools advances policy amendments 

The board unanimously agreed to advertise the proposed amendments to School Board Policy 320, Media Selection of Print and Non-Print Materials. 

According to Desirée Rybinski, the district’s coordinator of instructional materials and media services, the advertised changes seek to update definitions and terminology while also clarifying the district’s procedures for selecting, managing and challenging material in school libraries. 

Some of the suggested changes include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• The principal of a school no longer needs to consult with the media specialist for overseeing compliance with school district procedures for selecting school library media materials. 
• Materials will now need to be evaluated and considered for removal from school libraries regularly based on the material’s physical condition, rate of circulation in recent years, lack of alignment to state academic standards and curriculum, and timeliness. 
• Florida principals may direct removals of reviewed material he or she deems in violation of Florida law. 
• The procedure for school-level appeals has been expedited. The review committee only has 10 school days – previously 15 – to read and re-evaluate the challenged material. The principal then must inform the complaint of the committee’s decision within 10 – previously 30 – school days. 

“This is something that I can definitely work with and move forward with,” said Moms for Liberty – Volusia Chair Jenifer Kelly. “The definitions put out here – thank you. It's very clear. Consolidating everything that was repetitive in the last time we went through this – very helpful.” 

The board last amended this policy in June. 

Community members weigh in on Volusia County Schools’ recent rezoning

During a meeting full of public comments, a few community members spoke up to raise concerns about the district’s rezoning plans. 

Last year, Volusia County Schools rezoned more than 1,700 students, and currently, the board is discussing implementing more changes in upcoming years. 

Elizabeth Albert, Volusia United Educators’ union president addressed the board on behalf of teachers and staff from Turie T. Small Elementary, Campbell Middle and other impacted schools. 

Since there was “limited” “proactive and intentional action” to integrate new and existing students on campus, Albert said, there have been “catastrophic” consequences, including the following: 

1. Larger class sizes are impacting student education and causing behavior problems. 
2. Schools are seeing violence and behavior issues among students. 
3. Instructional personnel are leaving impacted schools. 

“There needs to be true, proactive actions taken to … get in front of some of the issues, and those actions need to include the voice of the teachers and the staff and the community members who live around these schools,” Albert said. “If not, I think, unfortunately, we're going to continue to see negative impacts.”

Frances Davies, a career and technical education instructor at Ormond Beach Middle, said the district’s last round of rezoning has created struggles for her and her fellow elective teachers because their class sizes are now too large.