Gearing Up for School With District Two School Board Member Daryl Flynn
This month marks the beginning of the 2009-10 Orange County Public Schools school year. After an immensely busy, and successful, year in 2008-09 complete with school bell flip times, budget cuts and a whopping 21 out of 30 District 2 schools receiving an ‘A’ grade from the state, Daryl Flynn, your school board member for District 2, is ready to do it all over again this year.
“I’m excited, sure,” she says. “I’m excited for the District 2 schools. I’m excited to see them staffed with great principals and teachers for another successful year.” This year brings several new challenges, one of which includes adding more ‘A’ schools to the district and maintaining that standard set by schools from last year. OCPS overall received an “A District” rating. Flynn notes that the grading system can be controversial, but nonetheless it does show the schools are on the path to success. “As it stands, the ‘A ‘ rating shows that our district is on track delivering quality education to our students,” she says. “I think it’s positive that we are meeting the educational benchmarks set by the Department of Education for school districts. Of course, we can’t stop there. It’s important that we ensure a challenging and aggressive curriculum in all our schools, as well!”
Over the course of the past year, Flynn says she has learned many things regarding her position, but the most important one was the role effective communication can play. “I learned that it’s imperative that the school district work with the community and the state legislature to fund our schools,” she says. “I learned how important it is that we communicate with our state legislatures that we value education. They won’t know unless we tell them.” She goes on to say the school board must maintain contact with the legislature now that all parties involved are better connected with each other than before “The crisis of last year made us realize how difficult and important all of our jobs are,” she says. Last year, Flynn saw first hand what can happen when people come together. “When the parents came together and rallied for our schools, for the education of our children, it was powerful,” she says. “It made a difference.”
Going into this school year, she hopes to apply many of the lessons she learned from last year to make this year even more successful. “My main goal is to keep open communication between the district and the community,” says Flynn.
Another goal of Flynn’s for the year is to be there when she’s needed. She says: “Whenever anyone has any questions or doesn’t understand what’s happening within the school system, they can call or e-mail me. If they have a concern or problem then they shouldn’t have a problem coming to discuss it.”
Article by Corey Gehrold
District 2 Supply Drive
Join Daryl Flynn and the East Orange County Kiwanis Club for a Classroom Supply Drive August 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill. They are looking for copy paper, dry erase markers and hand sanitizer. Donations will be divided equally among schools in District 2 unless designated to a specific school by donors. To learn more go to www.ocps.net or contact Daryl at daryl.flynn@ocps.net.
