Mark Stanoch

Q. What is your top priority for the district as a candidate for School Board and what strategies do you suggest to address it? 

Nearly half of our students cannot read at grade level. Reading is essential to learning and we need to ensure that all our students can read at grade level. While recent preliminary results show some slight improvements, Manatee County generally underperforms the State in English Language Arts (ELA). I believe that one solution which holds promise is early intervention. There are several programs that introduce reading as early as Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK). This should be explored further. Awareness of the available programs should be widely promoted so that more families can take advantage of them. Further analysis should also be focused on how family income level affects ELA performance with an eye towards designing programs to address the needs of these children. We also need to capitalize on community organizations dedicated to improving reading scores. John and Amanda Horne’s “Dive into Reading” is an excellent example of one program (I was a volunteer in this program this summer). Efforts should be made to engage and collaborate with other groups looking to achieve similar goals. We should also recognize that the district has several students enrolled where English is not their native language. In fact, 19% of the entire student population are English Language Learners (ELL). These students typically score in the lower quartile on standardized ELA tests. There is an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program in place which acquires grants to fund an extensive list of programs to support these students. But we should do even more to ensure that these students become productive learners. Perhaps a dedicated charter or even a “Microschool” can be established to help accelerate their mastery of English.

Q. What is the biggest opportunity that, if embraced by the district, would lead to an improvement in student achievement?

The district possesses an enormous variety of educational options, all of which are guaranteed by Florida Statute. Our schools are staffed by inspiring and capable teachers and our schools have an extensive list of resources and feature-rich programs, from Ballet to Video Editing! These resources when used properly can significantly improve the achievement level and enjoyment of the educational experience for our students. But to take advantage of these resources, parents must first be made aware of what is available. Doing so would enable parents, along with their children, to make the best educational choices for our students. Matching the resources with the student’s interests will, in my view, go a long way toward maximizing their learning experience. There’s another opportunity as well: get kids to school, keep kids in school, and make school a success for all kids. Perhaps we should be investing in that message to parents and guardians, emphasizing the importance of attendance and participation.

Q. How can we ensure our Pre-K through 12th grade district programs and curriculum meet the needs of our business community in preparing students to successfully enter the workforce and/or pursue post-secondary educational opportunities?

I believe that career relevant knowledge and skills must be part of the learning experience. To achieve this, communities need to partner with educators to identify the skills necessary to succeed in careers and help incorporate them into curriculum. This can be accomplished in several ways including hosting “Career Discovery Days”, establishing work/study programs, providing job shadowing opportunities, and creating apprenticeships with local businesses. Local community members who are retired from industry should represent an important resource in these efforts. Programs dedicated to specific industries can be established to address local needs. And, we do not have to invent every solution here: we can learn and adopt successful programs from other districts as well.

Q. What role should local businesses play in supporting our schools to ensure students success and that they are graduating with the skills necessary for successful employment?

Local business would benefit greatly from an education system that is connected to careers. In this way, students would be “job ready” upon graduation. Local businesses must share their needs with educators, and they must facilitate work experiences for our students to help provide a context for their requirements. As a former business owner, I had the opportunity to observe this firsthand by employing high school students and introducing them to various tasks within an IT environment. These employees were paid to achieve technical certifications in networking and other aspects of IT infrastructure. The results were terrific. We created high performance employees who pursued technical careers. Many currently hold executive positions in the technology industry. Some have even started successful consulting practices. Partnering with the Business Community should be a cornerstone of our vocational and technical education platform. And listening to the feedback can only enhance our programs and decisions.