Questionnaire: Chris Canter, Broward County School Board District 1

Name: Chris Canter

Residence: Hollywood, Florida

Educational Background

Georgia State University, 2000.
Bachelor of Arts, Major: Double Major in Broadcast News and Public Relations, Minor: Spanish
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Additional Degrees & Educational attainment
-Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), Area: Secondary Education, Concordia University, 2005
-Specialist in Education (Ed.S.) degree, Area: Educational Psychology - Gifted & Creative
Education, The University of Georgia, 2009.
-Specialist in Education (Ed.S.) degree, Area: Educational Leadership, Georgia State
University, 2011.
-Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Area: Educational Leadership, National University, In Progress.

Have you ever been arrested? No.

Have you ever been convicted of a crime? No.
Have you declared bankruptcy in the last 7 years? No.
Are you a first time candidate? No.
Offices you've run for or have served in. If you were elected, list the years/terms you served in that office. School Board, District 6, 2022.

Candidate's Net Worth
-$350,000.00

Campaign Information

Campaign Website
www.votechriscanter.com

How much has your campaign raised to date? Approx. $10K
How much has your campaign spent to date? Approx. $3k

Cash on hand: $7K

Campaign Email Address: chris@votechriscanter.com

List all endorsements
Broward Teachers Union
AFL-CIO
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) - Local 6020
Distinctions:
-Stop Moms for Liberty A+ Seal of Approval
-Candidate for Common Good (by Vote Common Good)
-Moms Demand Action Gun-Sense Candidate
-School Board Integrity Project Candidate Pledge Seal

Do you currently serve, or have you ever served on any municipal, county, or school
board appointed committees/boards? Yes

‍
List the committee/board, who/what entity appointed you, your terms on that board, and your position.
-Broward Schools District Advisory Committee, August 2022 - Present
-Broward Schools Facility Task Force, August 2022 - Present
-City of Hollywood Education Advisory, July 2024 - present
-Broward Schools Superintendent Interview Committee

List all civic associations, nonprofits, private associations and organizations that you are active in.
-Broward County Council of PTAs and PTSAs
-Democratic Public Education Caucus of Florida
-Florida PTA/PTSA
-Gran United Community - District 5 PTA
-Rotary Club of Hollywood, Inc.
-Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity
-Optimist Club of Cooper City, Inc.

Introduce yourself to our readers by telling us why you're running for School Board.

‍I am a polished educator, a social justice champion, and the father of two children, one of whom is a Broward County Public Schools student and a two year old who will soon join her when is of age. I have had the opportunity to work in some of this nation's finest school districts and to see what works for students. I have also sat in numerous board and committee meetings and seen the loopholes, minutiae, and lack of internal controls that have caused many issues within the Broward School District. During many of those meetings, academic progress, teaching, and learning, were never mentioned. This is not okay . . . for my children . . . or for yours. When it came time to take action, no one had to ask me or convince me to run: I knew I had the professional knowledge and political acumen to change things and I knew the time was now. I am not okay with any of our children attending unmaintained schools. I am not okay with sending the message to many of our black and brown communities through our lack of action and inequitable handling of facility and operational matters that they are second-rate citizens. I am not okay with any student losing one day of instruction and with the lack of urgency so prevalent in our district's culture. I'm running because I want more for my children; I want more for yours! I want to see Broward become one of the nation's best school districts and I possess the professional and personal experience to lead that work!

What specific experience or qualifications do you bring to this role that makes you the best candidate?‍

I am an educator of 20 years. I have served as a classroom teacher (High School English, Newspaper, Yearbook, and cheer coach -- winning awards in all), assistant principal, principal, and district administrator. In my most current role, I have facilitated the use of $46 million in federal funding to increase student academic outcomes for disadvantaged and underperforming students. This has included budgeting, ensuring compliance with state and district regulations, providing coaching for school leaders on best practices for federal fund implementation, and building comprehensive Schoolwide Plans that result in student success. I am fully versed in Florida Department of Education regulations and red book rules for finances. This has fully prepared me to take on the work of a school board member to guide the direction of our district.

Additionally, I have served the community at large (and our entire district) as both a PTA treasurer and president of a local school unit (Nova Blanche Forman PTA). What's more, as the Vice President of Leadership for the Broward County Council of PTAs and PTSAs, I have served the leaders and members of all 124 of Broward's PTAs and PTSAs through leadership and advocacy training, advocating on their behalf with the school board, connecting individually with school board members and lawmakers on their behalf (on a consistent basis), and visiting their schools and communities to gain a broad sense of what each community needs. I also served on the BCCPTA/PTSA legislative committee, collaboratively drafting legislative priorities and visiting with each of our legislators to advocate for student-centric policies that maintained each student's individual dignity and worth. I am not a newbie to school board meetings, having attended them for the past few years on behalf of BCCPTA/PTSA, delivering monthly reports to the board, and speaking on items of importance at each meeting.

I have been fortunate to serve our district as a member of the District Advisory Council and the Facilities Task Force. In these roles, I represented all PTA/PTSA members and provided a voice for them on matter of curriculum, operations, and facilities management. I have been a present and vocal member of both of these committees for the past two years, fighting for a positive future for all of our children. I have also worked alongside members of both of these committees to produce recommendations on policy and operational matters to our school board (corporately and individually) and our district at-large. I am intimately familiar with not only the faces of our district, but with its landscape and frameworks, as well. I am the only candidate in this race with this high level of institutional knowledge that is required to make meaningful decisions moving forward. This work is not new work to me.

Bettering education is not just ART of what I do with my life; it IS my life's work. It's what I do professionally and voluntarily-- 24 hours a day, day in . . . and day out. For this reason, I will not experience the steep learning curve coming into this office that others might; I will be able to hit the ground running on day 1.

From your standpoint, what are the top three issues impacting the district? What is your plan to address these issues, and what specific initiatives or strategies will you champion?

‍The first issue is getting the budget in decent shape. My plan is to do a thorough budget review and to lead my colleagues first through a discussion and investigation as to what initiatives and efforts can be cut (before any schools are closed). I plan to specifically propose a strategic plan with SMART goals, benchmarks, and milestones, to my colleagues and to periodically assess and publicly share that information, along with year to date
financials -- actuals to budgeted - to help our community see the progress that we are making/not making in being on track. The second issue of importance is gaining a laser-like focus upon student achievement so that our goal isn't just each school attaining an "A" rating but that every single student in Broward County achieves a level 3 (passing) or higher on end of year FAST tests. While standardized tests are not the end-all/be-all of education, they are a reality of our world...and we must ensure that we have rigorous and engaging instruction that will get them across the finish line. I will champion innovation in learning, such as utilizing virtual learning across the county to connect students from different schools into one online classroom to fill specialized classes and to increase academic offerings. I will champion adding to our innovative programs and ensuring that they aren't offered at just one school or in one area, but that the offering is equitable across the county AND within each community. I will propose benchmarks and goals in terms of academic performance as part of my strategic plan, with measurable outcomes that we share regularly.

Finally, the third major issue is maintaining and upgrading our facilities. Way too many are falling apart, moldy, etc., with work orders growing older by the day. I plan on working alongside the facilities task force and the building and facilities departments to aim to build a comprehensive plan, within budget, of building updates and repairs that also becomes part of the strategic plan and reported regularly. I plan on continuing to attend Facilities Task Force so that I can best see issues as they arise. And, I plan on visiting each site on the master plan regularly to inspect for myself our progress toward the work. What's more, I will monitor the progress of the Long Rage Facilities Committee (or lack thereof), report on it at each board meeting, and direct the superintendent to convene it more often, if required. I also plan on being present at each meeting of this important committee.

Ensuring community engagement and transparency is crucial in government. If you were elected, how would you go about involving residents in decision-making processes and ensuring accountability?

‍One of the greatest disservices we provide to our community is the lack of community engagement into the decision making processes. We hold school board meetings during the day while people are working and have very long agendas. This presents a challenge for working families, with work easily (and rightfully) winning every time. My aim will be to make school board matters more accessible to my community. This begins with bi-weekly community meetings at schools and locations within district 1. I will present upcoming agenda items to my constituents, ask for the feedback, and provide opportunities for them to share concerns on other matters. Not only will these meetings rotate locations, but I will make them accessible in a participatory manner online (such as through Zoom). What's more, the times will vary so that we can provide night meetings, weekend meetings, early morning meetings, etc., to meet the needs of all families, especially those of the working class. I am committed to having not only in-district office hours (where I am available at a school or other site for the day, at least once per week), but also virtual office hours so that members of the community can drop in (via Zoom or another platform) to discuss needs. I also plan on ensuring that my cell phone number is made public and that anyone that needs it has it. Additionally, I plan to publish "Board Briefs" after every board meeting in a one-pager format to provide my constituents with timely information immediately after a board meeting occurs. I will produce a similar one-page as early as possible before board meetings to alert my district as to the big issues coming up on each agenda, so that they don't have to read through each agenda to know what's occurring. In addition to a regular monthly newsletter, I will send these publications through email and text message (as well as any messenger service available through the district) to all district 1 constituents. Finally, I am committed to assessing myself. This will include creating SMART goals that I publicly share and measure publicly as we progress through my term. I will use "pulse check" surveys to measure stakeholder satisfaction, and I will continue attending the numerous community events that I do now, and others, to gain critical anecdotal feedback from all of the families with which I am able to interact.

Broward Schools has faced turmoil over the years. How will you ensure that the district stays on track?

‍I would work along side my colleagues to build a strategic plan that contains measurable benchmarks, milestones, and goals. The board continually discusses guard rails, but it lacks a truly measurable strategic plan that contains direction and focus to which it can refer in each board meeting. I would work to advocate for such a plan and to have an assessment of the plan occur at least quarterly or monthly so that we can ensure we stay on track and that we have a single focus. Continuing to operate in reactionary mode is going to keep us in the shape we are in. When we can respond in proactive mode, we will truly better this district and serve as true community leaders.

In what ways are you similar of different from your opponent?

‍I have two opponents in this race. I am different from the incumbent in the fact that I am a supporter of all students, not just those who hold a similar faith. I have consistently advocated for policies of inclusion for all children, including those among the LBGTQ+ community (or whose parents are), and advocating for the proper teaching of American history in terms of slavery, teaching truth of the horrors of slavery. The incumbent is a DeSantis appointee with no educational experience, compared to the 20 years of professional educator experience that I possess. I am similar to my other opponent in that we both have school-based and unit-PTA-based volunteer experience. I differ from her in the fact that my experience has been at the county level, with participation on two district committees, regular reports to the school board, and consistent one-on-one and corporate communication and advocacy with our school board members and lawmakers. While she is employed as an attorney for corporate interests, I have consistently served as a public educator and an public education advocate for the past twenty years. She has lived in Hollywood for 20 years and has shared with others that I have only lived in District 1 for 9 months. That information, however is incorrect. Since moving to South Florida in 2015, I have lived in District 1 for nearly four years; we moved to Hollywood in 2015 and then to Davie, a mere 1.2 miles away from our current home in Hollywood, in 2018. We are renters, just like 52% of our community, and our landlords decided to sell our house. So, when the opportunity arose, we moved back to Hollywood in October 2023, because we had loved living her so much before. While I may not have 20 years building equity in a home (I wish I was as fortunate), I have spent every day of those same 20 years (nine in Broward) bettering outcomes for children at the macro level, not just the school level or within one cluster of schools, but the entire district. In fact, I have been attending school board meetings (actively participating) for years. My opponent's first school board meeting was after she filed to run, in February 2024. Because of my experience, I will not have the steep learning curve in getting to work as a school board member that my opponent will have. She simply doesn't have that experience or the institutional knowledge that is vital to make urgent impacts upon our children and community.Recently, Broward schools have been in the headlines for plans to close some of its
schools and educational facilities. What are your thoughts on the proposal? Are there any
schools in particular you think should close? Why or why not?

‍At this point, I am not convinced that any individual school should close. That is because we, as a community, have yet to be presented with raw data to show a number of factors that need to be considered. We continue to get the administrative staff's "findings" but very little comparative data. We need to see the following (among others): 1. Current Enrollment, 2. Permanent Capacity, 3. Status of construction projects (when was the last one? How much has been spent on construction in the last few years at each location? What is the overall cost of each school to bring up to modern standards?), 4. The cost savings that closing each building would produce annually, per school site, 5. The number/percentage of zone-bound and out of zone students in each school, 6. The specific programs offered at each school, 7. A financial analysis of each school's redistricting upon transportation costs, and many other factors.

There has been little cooperation with municipalities to analyze trends and projections of population growth/decrease in each. This needs to occur so that each community can share the number of new communities each is building, etc. While schools in the southern (and eastern) part of the county are "under-enrolled", we have many in the northern part of the county that are over enrolled. Closing schools will never help the over enrollment problem. We need to look at a plan for boundary changes to relieve those over enrolled schools (adding programs parents want to new bound schools), ensuring equitable "fill" rates, continuing to work our way down, changing boundary lines equitably in a way that statistically spreads out the over enrollment.

Then, we should look at school closures, if needed, based upon cost savings and budgetary needs. We have seen a plan that is moving way too fast and that doesn't consider the myriad of moving parts that will be required to close a school. To give ourselves a year or less is short sighted. We need to see a built out, comprehensive plan that shows a tiered approach over a number of years, not to mention the budgetary evidence to show that school closures are needed. Finally, I have not witnessed our board conduct a deep dive of the budget, working to eliminate or redesign as many programs/initiatives as possible to trim the budget before closing schools. School closures should be a last resort, starting with such a budgetary
review before such a decision is made. Otherwise, we are shortchanging our children and the future of our district's growth potential.

Broward County's school district is often in the headlines due to its reluctance to go along with much of the Governor's social agenda, namely on cultural issue such as LGBTQ+ visibility, and so called "wokeness" in public education. What are your thoughts on this, and do you believe that the district should follow these measures?‍

The district must absolutely follow state law; that goes without saying. But, the district does not have to adopt the "spirit" of the law on these cultural issues, which is to disenfranchise and marginalize LGBTQ+ people of all ages. We should not over-comply with the law by embracing the culture and climate that such laws create. For example, we can still work to have inclusive clubs and organizations, we can honor recognition days and months, and we can show respect and dignity for ALL families, without breaking state law. What we must do as a board is to adopt and follow the law, but to also find meaningful solutions that our families and children want, ensuring that those follow the letter of law, but not necessarily its spirit. This means working one-on-one with LGBTQ+ families to determine needs and to find ways to creatively meet those needs in spite of the spirit of current law, while still
maintaining the letter of the law.

Do you believe that transgender students in Broward County's schools should be allowed to use bathrooms that correlate with their gender identity, be referred to by their chosen names, using the pronouns associated with their gender identity, and play sports that correlate with their gender identity?

‍This is an extremely complicated issue. I believe that we are looking at this issue too much as a "one-size fits all" approach and not enough about how we can get to 'yes' in a way that comes to consensus for both sides. For example, gender-neutral private restrooms should be available to all students so that all have a safe restroom space, just as family restrooms are available in airports and other facilities. I also do not see any harm in calling students by their chosen names or by the pronouns that correlate to their identity. I lose nothing by referring to someone in their preferred pronouns, and that person gains respect. Using them causes me no harm. At the same time, we must abide by state law that negates such use. While I disagree with the law, we must follow it by not forcing others to comply. However, compliance with the law does not negate a staff member's ability to use the preferred pronouns, it just says that a staff member cannot be forced to do so. Only compliance . . . not OVER-compliance with the law is necessary. As such, I would find ways to be more inclusive, offer as many private restrooms as possible, and use and encourage (not force) others to use the students' chosen names and preferred pronouns. I also believe that we must protect fairness in girls' sports and protect them. The state currently does not allow a biological male to participate on a girls' team, and again, we must follow state law. But, if there are solutions such as the creation of coed teams, we should consider such or other solutions that allow transgender students to participate in scholastic sports in an equitable manner. With that said, I commit to abide by state law, yet to work with individual families and stakeholders in my community to understand how current law affects them and leverage relationships politically and organizationally to help families and communities advocate for changes in law that they see as necessary.