Name: Shawn R. Frost
Age: 41
Marital/Family Status: Married
Where child/children attend(ed) school: Currently: Sebastian Charter JHS, Indian River Charter HS.
Years living in Indian River County: 38
Occupation: CEO / Strategy Consultant
Civic Involvement (memberships, duration, positions held):
- President/ Founder- The Green Patrol.org Since June 2012
- Treasurer, SCJHS, 1 year
- Vice-President Economic Development, Ft. Pierce Downtown Farmers’ Market, 1 year
- PTA- IRCHS, 1 year
- Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Coach Team in Training, 2 years
- I’ve donated thousands of hours and dollars assisting with events the past two years to:
- Habitat for Humanity
- American Cancer Society / Relay for Life
- Firefighters Charities
- Oceanside Business Association
- Mainstreet Vero (downtown Friday)
- Sebastian Clam Bake
- Hibiscus Festival
- Domestic Violence Prevention
- A Florida Outdoor Center – youth outdoor programs
- Healthy Start Coalition
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What issue(s) prompted you to run for Indian River County School Board and how do you plan to address it/them if elected?
Generally the decrease in quality of education, federal intrusion into local schools, combined with an increase in cost. It would be addressed through the F.R.O.S.T. plan.
F. Fiscal Responsibility
R. Removing Common Core/ Fed. Ed., and over use of high-stakes testing
O. Open public meetings and Communication
S. Smarter School Spending- focusing on delivering a world-class education to students
T. Teachers and Technology- focusing on these two factors proven to increase student gains
Why do you believe you are qualified to hold a seat on the School Board?
I am uniquely qualified to sit on the board by having a robust combination of experience and education. I have a master’s degree (MBA) and business background, I’ve actually taught in our public schools full-time, I’ve been a leader and leadership coach for over 20 years, and I view my most important relevant role as that of father and advocate for my two school-aged children.
I know what it means to be on the front-lines of education. I’ve had my bonus tied to measures that were completely beyond my control so I understand the frustrations our teachers are facing from this federal intrusion into our schools and the unfair assessments they face.
My greatest assets are a servant’s heart and a mind for common sense. These seem to be what are desperately needed on the board.
Given the escalating numbers of shootings occurring on school campuses – from elementary schools to colleges – across the nation, do you believe the Indian River County School District is doing enough to protect its students and staff members or does more need to be done to secure the campuses? If more needs to be done, what would you propose?
While some are calling for infringing upon our second amendment rights, I think they are missing something fairly obvious to those with common sense. Most of these guns were obtained illegally and used in “gun free zones”, which would still happen if many of the proposed measures were put in place. Secondly, in every case of school shootings, there was a human shooter operating the trigger.
It doesn’t take my undergraduate degree in psychology or doctoral coursework I’ve taken in abnormal psychology to know that the first line of defense is in addressing the human shooter, not the weapon. That’s just common sense.
When I was teaching, I was surprised to learn that the guidance counselors were primarily focused on career or educational planning and preferred to stay away from counseling distressed teens. There are certainly many who do this, but we must at least make certain that we facilitate the transition to qualified mental health care professionals when issues arise. The student I helped was able to work with a social worker that visited our school. Improving that flow-through from classroom to professional help and educating all those in the critical path how to help the distressed child is one area to make certain that those who need help receive it. I don’t think this means hiring more guidance counselors, but simply refining our process.
For physical safety, I strongly support the Resource Officer program and feel that increasing its capacity would be money well spent. Moving from reactive to proactive measures is always money well invested. That’s what the S. in the F.R.O.S.T. plan stands for, Smarter School Spending. Even one child harmed is one too many.
Various school districts across the nation have considered and implemented policies allowing teachers and/or staff members to carry firearms with the intent of deterring school shootings. Is this a policy you would support at Indian River County schools – why or why not?
I don’t think guns in the classroom are a good idea. Many who know my pro 2nd Amendment stance are surprised to read this. If the goal is to deter mass shootings then this is somewhat unreasonable based on simple threat analysis. The probability of a mass shooting (active shooter scenario) happening in our schools is relatively small. I think we are still hovering somewhere around zero incidents. However, there are physical altercations with much greater regularity. I personally jumped between two students who were beating on each other and one used a backpack as a weapon. If I were carrying a gun, I would have had to decide between putting my gun down on the desk (or taking time to lock it up) before jumping in to break up the fight or introducing a loaded weapon into their altercation. Neither of those options improves student safety.
I would propose providing teachers and administrators with expert training in active shooter scenario counter tactics and the use of improvised weapons while bolstering our partnership with local law enforcement.
A compromise between risk and reward might be to arm well-trained administrators, on a voluntary basis, with less-lethal weapons such as Tasers or bean-bag guns in a locked cabinet to be accessed only in the event of an active shooter. These have lower risk of collateral damage while still improving the staff’s ability to respond to a threat and defend themselves and our children.
The “Good guys with a gun” taking on the “bad guys with a gun” on campus should be sworn law-enforcement officers. If there is a credible threat of an incident occurring, we should augment the Resource Officers with regular patrol officers during critical transition periods such as before and after school. These officers have access to serious firepower beyond what could be accomplished by teachers or administrators concealed carry weapons and LEOs are trained how to more safely discharge a firearm in an occupied or crowded space.
We should always endeavor to provide safety for our children, but we have to apply common sense to the equation and look at the real threats and the best ways to responsibly mitigate those threats. Our kids should always feel safe at school.
The Indian River County School District, in the past, has been accused of being less than open with the community – whether it is criticism of discussion sessions not being televised and public comment not being allowed during non-business meetings or not alerting the community to potential safety issues at individual schools. Do you believe the criticism is unwarranted or do you feel the District should/could do more to invite the public in?
It is a fair and valid criticism. The O is the F.R.O.S.T. plan for taking back our schools stands for Open meetings and communication. The residential impact fee issue is a perfect example. For years, concerned citizens have tried to raise this issue for consideration. It took the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) sending a letter to SB Chairman Johnson requesting an “open” meeting to explain the process to the citizens. My opponent insisted that the meeting be held in “our house, our rules”, meaning the School Board meeting place and under their restrictive rules of engagement with the public. Luckily cooler heads prevailed and the meeting will take place in the County Administration Chambers and will allow for citizen questions and input.
This is, sadly, a departure from the way the School Board does business. My opponent says that they can’t verify facts during the meeting so citizen input isn’t considered.
As I travel around the county, or simply try to navigate the grocery store, parents and grandparents stop me and report feeling “denigrated” when they speak before the School Board. They cite comments made about citizens after they have stepped down from speaking about the concerned community member being “misinformed” about Common Core and a number of issues. This unfriendliness also deters interaction.
Even the teachers’ union has had difficulty getting responses to records requests, some taking several weeks. The state language says a reply to a records request will come in a “reasonable” amount of time. We need to operationally define “reasonable”. I propose a response of some kind, even a receipt of request or acknowledgement of a concern, should come within 24 hours. Documents, when available should take no longer than 10 business days to receive and the goal should be 5 business days. Aggregating data and reproducing files is usually accomplished by very entry level, and inexpensive, team members in the business world, so better customer service shouldn’t be a financial burden.
I would propose making the meetings operate like the Board of County Commission meetings, where meaningful and respectful citizen interaction occurs, and refine the policies to improve customer service and community communication by working with staff to define “reasonable response time”. We need and deserve open and transparent communication.
In recent years, the School Board seemingly has improved its relationship with the county’s various charter schools. Do you believe the Board is doing all it can to support and encourage charters or can more be done? If more, what would you suggest?
I would like to begin by addressing the elephant in the room. Thinking Charters are the enemy of the district “regular” schools has held us back for too long. We have had a “but” mentality. We would like to help Charters BUT we have to maintain our commitment to non-charter schools. Moving from BUT to AND frees up our thinking. Similarly charters thinking the district is the enemy has held back their mission. We aren’t enemies, we are neighbors with essentially the same mission.
We’ve had BUT solutions for too long. We need to end the competition and move to AND solutions.
One of the defenses I’ve heard for some of the controversial construction spending issues is they must use the capital funds or risk losing them. Since much of the growth within the district is happening at charter schools, why not turn the policy from “may” share capital funds language to “shall” share? The least that could be done is making certain that when we “may” share the funds that we do so when it will improve learning gains for our students, before spending those funds on a $13 mil Support Services Complex and a $7.3 mil administration building that a student will never set foot in.
The Charters, because of their relaxed government interference, are centers of innovation. Study Skills first pioneered at Sebastian Charter Junior High School are now being adopted at Storm Grove. Their innovation is benefitting the district.
It has improved AND we need to work together as a community to provide the best possible education for our children. This means getting off our big BUT and working hand in hAND to find solutions that better serve our students, teachers, and taxpayers. The F.R.O.S.T. plan is the way we accomplish this.
Though the economy seems to be on the mend, local government budgets are still tight and municipalities are looking for ways to enhance services without increasing costs. To that end, some cities have explored the possibility of partnering with local schools to provide community meeting space or make use of the athletic fields. Is this a partnership that you would support – why or why not?
Absolutely! If we have under-utilized resources, in business terms excess capacity, then we should be working together as a community to pair needs with resources. One thing I would propose, is a pilot study at three schools or perhaps at the $13mil Support Services Complex, partnering with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to encourage entrepreneurship. The economy may be on the mend, but small businesses account for 85% of jobs. Fostering small business is in the best interest of everyone.
I recently learned that the Support Services Complex (SSC) has a number of conference rooms for educating would-be business owners and even has a “test kitchen”, which would be a great resource for those considering opening a restaurant. They could meet with investors and learn the ins and outs of business on the weekends when the SSC building is sitting vacant. At present, they have to travel all the way to Ft. Pierce for this guidance. We could be using it as an economic incubator, creating jobs and a path forward for our graduates.
As for recreational facilities, I 100% support their further utilization. These are community resources that should be deployed as such. PTA volunteers can assist with equipment check-out and a liability release can be required, but we say we want healthier and more connected communities so let’s do something that’s so simple to do; open up the schools for weekends. We can essentially multiply our parks and recreation opportunities exponentially with very little effort. I would propose we try this at three schools for a year and see how it goes.
With Schools Superintendent Dr. Fran Adams’s retirement, how would you go about finding a new superintendent. The School Board, in the past, has searched nationwide as well as internally. Which route would you recommend and why? What qualities would you look for in a candidate for the post and what qualifications would you expect that applicant to have?
Our kids need the best that there is. Period. I’ve asked everyone with whom I interact whether it should be an internal or external candidate and encouraging them to visit my website VoteForFrost.com and take the survey. That’s part of the communication I spoke about earlier. Left to my own devices, I would look internally first, then broaden the search.
The qualifications I would consider most important are a demonstrated commitment to personal growth and the ability to earn the trust of subordinate leaders. Turn-around experience would also be important given the recent developments. An understanding of the driving forces behind school grades would also be helpful. The most important trait would be a “student first” mentality.
How would you rate Dr. Adams’s performance as the Superintendent? With one year left for her to serve, would you propose any changes to how she conducts business on behalf of the School District?
Dr. Adams has served the community in many capacities for many years. Like many leaders who have developed from within an organization, she has faced challenges in new roles and can be a bit polarizing. While I haven’t agreed with all of her choices, I think she should be proud of her signature program, which is “Moonshot Moment”. This a partnership with the private sector designed to improve reading proficiency to 90% before 2018. While others have taken credit for this program, anyone paying attention knows that Dr. Adams was the driving force and catalyst for this change.
She’s essentially the CEO of the district and does a good job lobbying for the needs of her team. My criticism of spending decisions rests with the board as it is their job to set policy and approve or guide Dr. Adams’ requests. She is simply looking out for her team, as would any good leader.
As for her performance in the final year, I expect her to remain a diligent administrator and disagree with those who have said she might take a scorched earth approach or rest on her laurels. It is hoped she will be an integral part of the decision in selecting her successor as she is a tremendous source of local knowledge.
It has come to VeroNews.com’s attention that, with a new board seated, anyone on the board could raise the issue of the new administration complex and wellness center and request a new vote. This means the two projects might not be the “done deal” some have suggested. If elected, would you raise the issue of either project and ask for a new vote in an attempt to stop the project? If so, why?
I’m not certain that we can raise these issues for reconsideration, but I would certainly suggest doing so if the opportunity presents itself. These specific spending decisions are what drove me to seek office.
I think building portables for students at Citrus Elementary while simultaneously building a $7.3 mil administration building is just wrong headed. Experts in data management have asked if the need is to protect data and our servers why we aren’t co-locating with the County to leverage scalability and economies of scale. If the issue really is the servers, there are more reasonable responses than building a new administration building.
As for the health care clinic, I question the assumptions upon which the decision was made. Specifically administration acknowledges that for the health care clinic to save taxpayer money it will require significant participation by the district employees. I wonder if any research has been done to determine if teachers and employees are willing to leave their current physician.
There are plenty of private sector solutions already in place and the government shouldn’t be duplicating private services. If the issue is the difficulty of teachers getting away from school to see a doctor, we should work with teachers and the medical community to expand hours of existing opportunities rather than reinventing the wheel.
Our decisions should put the needs of the student first. This means building school wings, not portables, for them before building an administration building. Is the primary aim of the SDIRC administration or is it student learning?
What do you want readers to know about you or your candidacy that they might not already know?
I’m not a politician I’m just a concerned father and taxpayer who has the leadership skills, education, and experience combined with common sense. In order to give our students a world class education we must give the teachers the tools to teach while at the same time respecting the concerns of the parents.
This race isn’t about Shawn Frost. My candidacy is an extension of my service that began in the Marine Corps and continues to this day. I consider it my duty to provide an alternative to the decisions we’ve seen made for the past 8 years.
If you have had enough of increasing budgets and decreasing school grades, you have the opportunity to hire an MBA with classroom experience who is passionately committed to putting the kids first in all decisions.
I humbly ask that you vote for Shawn R. Frost for the District 1 School Board seat, and I promise that I will work on your behalf to bring about the needed change.
