Elect Jodi D. Wood for Alachua County School Board District Three

I see many budget concerns looming on the horizon. We all know that at times such as these when we are dealing with our economy contracting we must all look inward at our budgets to see where we can cut in order to “break even” or possibly even cushion against future cuts. The most important thing we must keep in mind is in this area of our public sector we are dealing with our most valuable asset -- our children.

We must deal with extreme caution when considering cuts in these areas. Our children are not only our future – this is their future. We must not allow them to be “slighted” due to our generation’s financial mistakes.

It is my belief that through a line by line look at the Alachua County School Board budget we will find areas to conserve without letting go of our quality programs. Furthermore we need to have a focus for the future to install and advance programs and goals such as the following.

Better teacher/student ratio
Support and expansion of our charter school programs
Support of dual enrolment for our high school seniors
Support of programs to assist in our seniors getting college applications together and directing them to grants and other financial aid programs
Development of programs that will help our high school graduates be able to find stable employment (designed for those who are not planning on college)
Advancement of our after school programs with goals of making it more possible for parents to maintain better employment
Designing afterschool programs to be more self-sufficient in order not to be a “drain” on school budgets
Creating more opportunities for advanced students to be able to move forward to achieve their full educational capabilities
Advancing programs for our slower learners to have smaller classroom sizes for more direct attention to assist them in keeping up with their grade level in order not to fall behind in the ‘jungle’ of the greater system

It will be my goal in office to always keep an ‘open door’ policy for parents and other concerned citizens to bring ideas and suggestions to me for review. It has always been my belief that listening to 101 other people’s ideas is better than just promoting my own ideas. For this reason I encourage you to contact me with yours both before and after I am elected.

*** You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore ***