AskFlagler School Board Interview: Vincent Sullivan

Vincent Sullivan is one of two candidates running for the District 5 seat on the Flagler School Board. Neither he nor his opponent, Lauren Ramirez, are the incumbent – Cheryl Massaro decided against running for re-election after initially filling to run.

The elections for both this year’s School Board races will be held on the August 20th primary ballot. There will be no runoffs, as each race has only two candidates. The elections are nonpartisan, and therefore will be open to all registered voters in Flagler County regardless of party affiliation.

Other Candidate Interviews

Flagler County Commission:

• Andy Dance – Flagler County Commission, District 1
• Fernando Melendez – Flagler County Commission, District 1
• Kim Carney – Flagler County Commission, District 3
• Bill Clark – Flagler County Commission, District 3 (Did Not Complete)
• Nick Klufas – Flagler County Commission, District 3
• Ed Danko – Flagler County Commission, District 5
• Michael McElroy – Flagler County Commission, District 5
• Pam Richardson – Flagler County Commission, District 5

Flagler School Board:

• Derek Barrs – Flagler School Board, District 3
• Janie Ruddy – Flagler School Board, District 3
• Lauren Ramirez – Flagler School Board, District 5
• Vincent Sullivan – Flagler School Board, District 5

East Flagler Mosquito Control Board:

• Julius ‘Jules’ Kwiatkowski – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 1
• Perry Mitrano – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 1
• Lance Alred – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 3
• Ralph Lighfoot – East Flagler Mosquito Control Board, Seat 3

Palm Coast City Council:

• David Alfin – Palm Coast Mayor
• Peter Johnson – Palm Coast Mayor
• Alan Lowe – Palm Coast Mayor
• Cornelia Downing Manfre – Palm Coast Mayor
• Mike Norris – Palm Coast Mayor (Did Not Complete)
• Kathy Austrino – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
• Shara Brodsky – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
• Ty Miller – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
• Jeffery Seib – Palm Coast City Council, District 1
• Dana ‘Mark’ Stancel – Palm Coast City Council, District 3
• Ray Stevens – Palm Coast City Council, District 3
• Andrew Werner – Palm Coat City Council, District 3

Interview Criteria

• The object of the interview is not to grill the candidate, nor to give them softballs. Ideally, in their answers the candidates provide to voters a useful insight into their ideology, their priorities, and their knowledgeability and preparedness for office.
• These questions are sent to each declared candidate in Flagler County’s local elections. All candidates running for the same office received the same exact questions.
• The only edits made are for spelling, formatting and basic grammar (i.e., ‘their’ when it should be ‘there’). Censorship of profanity may also be applied if it were applicable. Otherwise, answers are presented in their full form as the candidate provides them.
• Answers are subject to fact-checking if they contain information that’s blatantly misleading or untrue (misrepresenting factually verifiable information, misquoting a statistic, etc). Clarifications will be added underneath the candidate’s answer if applicable. The answers will still be presented as given even if a fact-check or clarification is needed.

Candidate Interview

Date of Birth: August 18, 1990

Hometown: Modesto, California

Career/Educational Resume: V. Sullivan Resume – 2024

1. Order these three groups according to how strongly you feel a School Board member is tasked with serving them: students, teachers, and parents.

1. Students
2. Teachers and Parents

2. Describe any career experience you have in which you directly worked in or with the public education system. If none applies, explain how any other experience you have would directly apply to the education aspects of School Board duties.

“I have worked with our public education system with both my current employment and with the Flagler County Education Foundation. These interactions range from working with District Staff to plan and prepare for situations like easements, student planning, and obtaining other various approvals from the District. With the Education Foundation, I have been involved in numerous facets from mentoring students to planning and preparing for fundraising events to supply teach grants to our teachers.”

3. Flagler Schools received a B rating in December from the state, its ninth such rating in the last ten years that one was given. The district has had at least one, usually multiple, C schools every year since 2015. What’s within the School Board’s power to galvanize those ratings upward?

“The only thing I believe that is within the School the Board’s power is to set objectives and policies for elevating these grades. Specifically, if I was on the Board, I would like to propose a motion that directs our Superintendent to provide a report to the Board on the areas in which our C rated schools can be improved and how the overall grade of the District can be raised back to its A rating.”

• Editor’s Note: Flagler Schools’ 2024 grades were released after this question was sent out, and the C schools did improve to Bs.

4. How would you want district staff to handle a large student protest walkout such as the one that occurred at Flagler Palm Coast High School in 2022? Keep in mind the scope of authority as a School Board member.

“I would want District Staff to abide by the policies that were implemented by the School Board and as adopted in the Student Code of Conduct handbook. My background as an attorney makes me keenly aware of student’s rights to protest is protected by the First Amendment, but, does have a parameter that the protest may not disrupt the school day (amongst other items). If the situation is not handled appropriately, the review needs to start with the School Board’s policy to determine if it was complied with by District Staff. If it was, then it is a policy flaw the Board must fix.”

5. With neither of the School Board’s two most tenured members running for re-election this year, all five members will be in their first term on the Board. Does the School Board have an experience problem? If so, how might you propose addressing the challenge?

“I don’t think the Board has an experience problem. All three of the remaining Board members have experience in their personal and professional lives that provide a different viewpoint to bring to the decision-making process. I do not believe that long serving government officials make a Board experienced, but rather, the quality of the Board member’s prior experience that the Board member brings to the Board.”

6. The Flagler School Board parted ways with a Board Attorney and a Superintendent in the last couple years, with both processes spawning great political strife in the public eye. Do you feel those incidents have hurt Flagler Schools’ ability to attract top talent to its administrative positions? If so, how can the district be made a more appealing place to work?

“I believe the Board made a decision that they did not have faith in the only two employees the Board employees – an attorney and a superintendent. The Superintendent’s contract was up for renewal and it simply was not renewed. There were individuals that supported our prior Superintendent, however, compared to our current Superintendent, I believe the Board has taken a great step forward to helping Flagler County Schools. As for the Board attorney, I agree, this did make lot’s of headlines in the news outlets. However, the Board only acted on its employee. District staff are employees of the Superintendent. The Board is not supposed to be involved in hiring and/or retention decisions of District employees. While I believe it is important for District Staff and School Board members to have a good working relationship, I do not believe they should be deterred from coming to Flagler County.”

To be fair to the reality of that situation, there was overwhelming public support for renewal of former Superintendent Mittelstadt’s contract with only a few individuals voicing their opposition to renewal in the meetings. Independent of how well the choice itself aged (i.e., the qualities of LaShakia Moore), how well do you feel the School Board did with considering public opinion when weighing their decision in that instance?

“In excluding how well the choice itself aged, I believe the current Board did a good job of listening to the public opinion regarding former Superintendent Mittelstadt. Public opinion is one component of the decision making process that needs to be considered when the Board makes decisions.”

7. Consideration has been given to adopting a ‘guardian program’, employing armed guards in an attempt to increase readiness for a school shooting. When compared to the current arrangement with the FCSO and its School Resource Deputies, what’s the right path for Flagler Schools to ensure the safety of its students and faculty?

“First, we have to make sure we keep our School Resource Deputies in our schools. Plain and simple, our School Resource Deputies do a fantastic job protecting our students, but also creating a positive rapport between law enforcement and the youth community. As for a Guardian Program, I am an advocate for this type of force multiplier to support our School Resource Deputies. I would revive a motion that has already been in front of the School Board and was denied in a 3-2 vote which asked our Superintendent and our Sheriff to work together to determine which version of the Guardian Program (as there are multiple different versions) is appropriate for Flagler County Schools.”

8. Are there any new or underutilized revenue streams you can name that Flagler Schools could tap into to support its operating budget? If so, expand upon your plan for implementation.

“I think a comprehensive review of the Districts expenditures is the first step in getting the District’s budget back into line. Making sure expenditures are appropriate and as cost effective as possible is the first step. After reducing expenditures as much as possible, yes, additional sustainable funding sources should be looked for. If the funding sources are not sustainable, then new programs should not be built around the funding sources and the funding source should be used to fill temporary needs. I would ask that our Superintendent work with District Staff to identify all available funding sources to supplement our current revenue stream so that we can create a financially stable school District.”