Michael Gordon
Hello people of Hernando county, thank you all for reading this. First off I am a 3 time Veteran for 2 states, the US Navy and the only Veteran in this race. I have lived in Florida since 2002 and lived in Hernando county since 2008. I was at my first School board meeting back in April of 2011 wondering if I should run for School board because most people I knew did not like the way things are going. So my wife said why don’t you go to a School board meeting, so I did. The first person that got up, talked about how her son was being held down by 3 students and he defended himself. Well he was punished for this, somethings never change even in 40 years. She stayed till the end and I walked up to her and said I have a choice to run for School board; she said run for school board . So I did and was the anti bully fighter for 2012 along with fighting to getting all the busing back. Now it’s 2016 and I am back fighting to be a Hero for Students and a voice for Parents and Teachers that are afraid of getting repercussions for voicing there problems. I also dislike the FSA testing. Teachers have not been able to teach for a very long time, all they do is teach to a test for the better part of the school year. Special needs children can not be expected to do as well and teachers are graded down . But are graded as if they did not have any special needs. They need to fully bring back recess outside. They talk about obesity and think the Michele Obama lunch program, where inmates in jail are fed better than students. Let them have recess. For the last year I have been speaking your mind to the School board and will do so in a fuller capacity when elected. I will visit 2 to 3 schools a week to write down concerns of teachers and parents that I meet. I will never go along to get along. I am here for Teachers, Parents and Students and will strive to do that to the fullest. I will do this with a firm and steadfast resolution So help me God and keep me steadfast . Thank you.
William J. Vonada
I believe that education is the most important factor in determining the long-term future of our community, our nation, and our world. Over the past decade, I have witnessed a distortion of the purpose of public education, leading to misallocations of resources, a decline in the number of passionate people willing to work in it, and an overall lapse in its effectiveness. It is for these reasons that I have decided to run for the District 4 School Board seat in Hernando County.
If elected, the residents of our county will be able to count on me to make decisions not according to what will make me popular or bring me power, but according to what I believe will be fair and in the best long-term interest of our county and our nation. Our students, teachers, and parents will be able to count on me to stay in touch with what is going on in our schools, so that my decisions will not be like those of many law-makers and designers of educational mandates, who make choices in distant offices with little knowledge of their grass-roots impact. Furthermore, I will specifically work in the following areas:
The education of the whole student—In our obsession with standardized testing, as well as school and district grades, we have lost sight of the importance of ethics and behavior, developing the specific passions and gifts of our students, and teaching healthy lifestyles. We need to bring these areas back to places of importance.
The employment and retention of qualified, passionate people—Other than parent involvement, I believe that the workers in the schools have the most influence on the success or failure in a child’s education. They must believe we are there to support them.
Making our county a voice for change—We can no longer afford to sit idly by and allow our schools be ruined by others from afar.
We all know that in most endeavors, the person who has the greatest stake in the outcome is the one likely to work the hardest to ensure its success. As the father of 3 former and current Hernando County students, a graduate of Hernando County Schools, a 38 year resident of our county, and a 27 year teaching veteran, I strongly believe I am the most invested candidate for the District 4 seat of the Hernando County School Board.
Gustave Guadagnino
It has been my honor to serve as both a member and Chairperson of the Hernando County School Board over the last three years. This year, I will be back on the ballot for re-election and am looking forward to continued progress in the effort to become an A+ School District.
My quest for excellence in Hernando County schools started in 1987 when I co-founded the Manufacturer’s Association of Hernando County, which, among other things, provided educational programs in the classroom. Our volunteers demonstrated technology and career paths available in manufacturing fields. Eventually, these programs would become formalized with the opening of Nature Coast Technical High School. Since my election to the School Board in 2012, Suncoast Technical Educational Center opened to provide additional career training.
I serve as Immediate Past-President and a 25-year leader of the Hernando County Education Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks financial support to provide for the unfunded needs of teachers in our County. This year, the Foundation procured over $500,000 in private contributions and grants. In March 2016, we debuted “Tools for Schools,” a teacher resource for free classroom supplies.
I ran for the School Board in 2012 because, as a Board member for both the Early Learning Coalition and the Pasco-Hernando State College Foundation, I saw a big “disconnect” from early learning to college. Pre-K programs did not prepare children for kindergarten. Middle schools were offering students programs that had little, if any, sequential courses at the high school level. The Pasco-Hernando State College Foundation was spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to prepare high school graduates for college-level courses with remediation programs. Since my election, improved curriculum integration better prepares students for the next level of education.
I believe that teachers deserve respect, parent/student accountability is important, and legislators need to stay out of the classroom. We must reduce the focus on testing, and realize that arts education is integral to the development of well-rounded students.
We are making improvements since I took office. The “Parent Academy” opened as a resource for parents. The District grade has improved to a “B” (on our way to an “A”). Graduation rates have improved, and I am in the development stages of a Performing Arts Center. I ask that you vote for Gus Guadagnino so that I can continue working to improve the lives of our children.
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The information below is total contributions, in kind and expenditures until 4/30/16. The figures were obtained from the Supervisor of Elections website hernandovotes.com
Michael Gordon:
Contributions: $5,205.95
In Kind: $0
Expenditures: $3,189.59
William Vonada:
Contributions: $894.58
In Kind: $89.00
Expenditures: $400.43
Gustave Guadagnino:
Contributions: $635.00
In Kind: $78.00
Expenditures: $28.20