Orange County School

Orange ponders election change

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Orange County supervisors will hold a public hearing in August on a proposal to return to quadrennial same-term elections for all seats on the Board of Supervisors and School Board.

The county now holds staggered elections every two years, with two district seats on one cycle and the other three on the other cycle. If the change is passed, all five district seats on each board would be up for election every four years.

Supervisors adopted the staggered-year elections in 2003.

Restoring concurrent elections requires an amendment to the county code, which requires the public hearing. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a public hearing at its Aug. 23 meeting.

Reverting to a single quadrennial cycle would not affect this year's elections. Three seats are open on each board this year--in Districts 2, 3 and 5--and each successful candidate will be elected to a four-year term.

Incumbent Supervisors Zack Burkett, Teel Goodwin and Lee Frame have indicated that they will run for re-election this year. School Board members Judy Carter and Jim Hopkins plan to run for re-election, but Donna Waugh-Robinson will not seek another term.

To even out the staggered terms that now exist, candidates for the District 1 and 4 seats on each board would run for two-year terms in 2013. From 2015 forward, all candidates would be elected for four-year terms.

There doesn't appear to be any opposition from supervisors or School Board members to this proposal. According to county Registrar Raymond Cady, about 40 percent of the state's counties have boards with members all elected in the same year for four-year terms.

Although some supervisors mentioned that it would cost less money to hold all the elections together every four years, Cady noted that state and/or federal elections are held in the county every year so the savings would be negligible.

"There are arguments for both points of view," said Cady, "but personally I think it's a good idea in that it creates an atmosphere that everyone can focus attention on.

"It's the opinion of some people that if all the candidates are running at the same time they will be more apt to listen to what people are saying."

Each of the five members of the county's Planning Commission is appointed by a supervisor for a term to run concurrently with the appointing supervisor's. If the quadrennial plan is adopted, the commissioners' terms will be adjusted.

Orange County School Grades Drop | West Orlando News Online 2011 ...

The district missed getting an “A” grade by five points.

Of the 176 schools in Orange County, 120 received A’s and B’s.  Six schools in Orange County received a “D” rating and there are three new “F” schools in 2011.

In Orange County, three schools–Aloma Elementary, Eagle’s Nest Elementary and Lockhart Elementary–increased their grades from C’s to A’s.  But no school has seen a more dramatic turnaround than Rosemont Elementary on Point Lookout Road, which went from grade “D” to “A” for the very first time.

Orange County Superintendent Ronald Blocker, who celebrated Rosemont Elementary School’s meteoric rise on Thursday, said that he has 120 reasons to be happy about the A and B school grades.  Blocker added that he would not be satisfied until all school in Orange County are high performing.

Rosemont Elementary principal, Patty Harrelson explained that the turned around in performance was due to a number of factors, including the addition of an extra half-day of tutoring, new teachers and rewards as incentives for strong performance.

OCPS officials said they would be reviewing what lessons might be learned from high performing schools and those that have made remarkable progress.

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