- July 14, 2025
Following majority rule during a workshop on Tuesday, June 24, the Volusia County School Board will restructure their calendar to hold one regular meeting a month, rather than two.
On June 3, School Board attorney Gilbert Evans had recommended a series of changes to the board's meeting structure for efficiency and time management. These included eliminating the board's opening remarks and limiting board member comments to five minutes during discussions.
The monthly School Board meeting will be composed of both a workshop and regular business meeting, and a second meeting for consent agenda items only can be held if needed.
Currently, the average Volusia County School Board meeting lasts three-and-a-half hours, according to district staff.
"The numbers speak loud and clear that we're not being efficient," School Board member Krista Goodrich said.
One substantial change to the meeting structure may be reducing the amount of time spent on student recognitions and administrative appointments.
Two School Board members weren't on board with this. School Board member Ruben Colon said the recognitions may be "very Volusia" but it is a good thing.
"People get to give really heartfelt words of encouragement," Colon said. "They get to thank everybody, starting from God to the last person that impacted their lives, appropriately so."
Could that go away? Absolutely, Colon said. Administrative appointments could be placed in the consent agenda.
"Or, is it a very Volusia thing that makes a world of difference to their families, to their community, to the community they're leaving, to the community they're going to," he said.
School Board member Donna Brosemer said the district could decide which recognitions should continue to happen at the board meeting, like statewide achievements, and which can be done at schools. As for administrative recognitions, she asked if they could be made more efficient.
"Maybe all we have to do is tighten up our process for doing that so that we limit how much time we're spending on them," she said.
Goodrich said that sometimes it feels like the district is holding an "assembly" at the board meeting. Some families struggle to be present for the recognition, she added, and students often have to sit for an hour or two before they're called up.
"The board meetings are for the business of the board, not for award ceremonies and recognitions," Goodrich said. "And while that may be something Volusia has always done, as we can see by the times that we're looking at, it's not efficient."
She said she'd rather do the recognitions in schools, or holding an east and west side recognition event twice a year — once in the spring and once in the fall.
"Very few people actually watch these meetings," Goodrich said. "Very few people get to see them recognized by the board, but in their communities, that's a great place to recognize them. So I do think that should be scaled back."
School Board Chair Jamie Haynes countered that people do listen to the meetings, particularly to administrative appointments to find out who is coming to their schools and who is leaving.
"When we are putting people up and they're being promoted into a position —they're going to be an [assistant principal] for the first time, we have them here," Haynes said. "If they're going to be a principal for the first time, if they're moving into a district position for the first time, we have them here. This is the right place to do it."
She's OK to streamline the process, but doesn't want to see that go away.
School Board member Jessie Thompson suggested rather than vote on individual appointments, the district read them into the records.
On recognitions, Haynes said they're the positive part of the meeting, and "the why."
"That's why we're here," she said. "We're here to show community the wonderful and great things that are happening here on our campuses."
District staff will be evaluating the board member recommendations and bring back an action item at a future board meeting.
