- December 4, 2025
Volusia County Schools Superintendent Carmen Balgobin has been named a finalist for the National Association of School Superintendents' 2025 Superintendent of the Year award.
During her tenure with VCS, one of the state's largest districts, Balgobin has led the district "through a period of unprecedented academic growth, innovation, and community engagement," a press release stated. This includes celebrating the district's first "A" grade in 16 years from the Florida Department of Education, achieving a 93.7% graduation rate and having no "D" schools in the district.
“I’m deeply humbled to be a finalist for the 2025 NASS Superintendent of the Year," said Balgobin in the press release. "This honor belongs to our entire Volusia County Schools team, every superintendent across the country who champions public education, and organizations like NASS that provide crucial support and advocacy for superintendents. It truly takes a village, and this work is fully realized through the engagement of our students, parents, all staff, community partners, volunteers, mentors, School Board, and stakeholders.
"Through collaborative partnerships and servant leadership, we’ve achieved remarkable progress with our first ‘A’ rating in 16 years. This recognition reinforces my commitment to the collective work we do to transform public education for every student we serve.”
Balgobin also regularly shares scalable frameworks for instructional improvement, strategic alignment, and sustainable district transformation with other districts, the press release states. Under her guidance, initiatives such as “Synergy Walks” and clear instructional “look-fors” have strengthened instructional capacity and fostered a culture of shared accountability across more than 70 schools.
Additionally, she has championed strategies to address teacher retention, safety and security, technology integration and chronic absenteeism.
The 2025 NASS Superintendent of the Year will be announced on Sep. 10.
