Curtis Gaus is running for Nassau County School Board – District 3 in this year's general election.
Curtis Gaus
Website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082541793835
Email: curtisg0306@gmail.com
Phone: 904-887-9071
CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
With Nassau County growing so quickly, how would you use your position on the school board to ensure students are accommodated for?
Work with the district on their comprehensive plan to ensure we are getting ahead of the growth curve.
Even though Nassau County has been doing relatively well in regard to teacher retention in comparison to other districts across the state and the country, many teachers are finding jobs outside the Nassau County School District. As a board member, what would you do to help them stay?
Teacher and Staff retention is a complex issue that will take a comprehensive plan to remedy. From my conversations with teachers and staff, I have found three main reasons employees leave the profession:
Salary: We must improve the salary of all staff in order to keep quality employees. Offering competitive wages for similar skill level, experience, and education level is one piece of the solution.
Workload stress: Teachers and staff have expressed a concern with being inundated with paperwork that must be completed outside working hours. We must find ways to streamline the paperwork to help teachers balance their time.
Support from administrators with student discipline: Teaching is a hard job, but when you add constant student discipline issues to the stress, it can become too much for teachers and staff. As a district, we must take a look at our response to student discipline and make sure we are firm, fair and consistent with our discipline. Students need to understand they are in school to learn and not infringing on the rights of other students who are trying to get an education.
How will your specific background help your efforts to make the Nassau County School District the number one in the state?
I am the only candidate that has extensive experience with the Florida School Grading System. In addition, I have led a successful school in the district that earned an A rating 6 out of my 8 years there. Looking at the current school grades, the high schools are where we need to focus attention in order to move to the number one spot. I would be willing to meet with the high schools to help look for areas of improvement, provide assistance, and help develop a plan.