- December 20, 2024
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Dr. Colleen Conklin was the first School Board member to take her seat in the Flagler County commission chambers on Oct. 14. She was settling in for what was to be her final Flagler County School Board meeting after 24 years on the board.
Then Bunnell city officials started filing into the room. It turned out that Bunnell also had a city commission meeting scheduled in the chambers that night. So, Conklin’s final business meeting was held in the cramped workshop room upstairs.
It was typical of the topsy turvy Flagler County School Board meetings in which you never know what might happen next. During her six terms on the board, Conklin built coalitions and had more than her share of tussles with other board members. One thing her allies and adversaries would agree on is she was always passionate about her beliefs. Her final meeting will be a workshop on Nov. 12, after which Superintendent LaShakia Moore is planning a celebration.
Conklin is the executive director of the Gaetz Aerospace Institute at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a dual-enrollment and outreach program encouraging students to pursue aerospace and aviation careers. Now that she is stepping down from the School Board, she said that for the first time since she was a teenager, she will have only one job.
Dr. Conklin sat down with the Observer before her final business meeting and discussed some of the board’s triumphs and challenges over the past 24 years and what her next challenge might be.
How will it feel to sit at the dais for your final school board business meeting?
To be really honest with you, it’s very emotional right now for me. The district's been part of my life for 24, 25 years, even teaching before I ran for the board. So to not be part of the school board is going to be really odd for me.
During the past 24 years, what were the board’s most significant accomplishments?
When I first came on the board, we had about half the schools that we have now. So we've built quite a few brand new schools over the years. And I was exceptionally proud of the new Bunnell Elementary School, because there was a lot of stigma around Bunnell unfairly, and they were the oldest school. And ensuring that they got a new school was important. I was very grateful to see that.
I was happy about our one-to-one technology, really proud of the team and the half penny sales tax for being able to support that for our students. Now it's not such a big deal because everybody has the technology, but we were one of the very first school districts in the state to be able to issue one-to-one technology for our students.
I think changing our mental health plan into a tiered system to try to catch students and connect our students to therapy and counseling services and wrap around services for them and their families.
And we've increased our graduation rate.
What made you want to run for school board 24 years ago?
I think about all the reasons why I ran in 2000. And it was about a lack of updated curriculum, no technology in the schools, teacher salaries. We were amongst the last in the state. Just even involvement with parents and communication. We still have a lot of work to do in some of those areas. But if you look at our our classrooms, they're Innovative. They're creative spaces for students. Technology, salaries. When we didn't have everybody in the state at the same salary level, we were amongst the top seven for beginning teacher pay. So a lot of the things that I was interested in improving we’ve addressed. Graduation rates have increased, but there's still so much more to do.
What have been some of the most challenging issues that have come up during your six terms?
Well, the most challenging and most heartbreaking, I'll say, has been seeing the school shootings across the country. And as a school board member, I can honestly say there were many nights that you just worry about your student body. You just worry about their families. You worry about the teachers and the staff. Sandy Hook was devastating to me. To think that something like that could actually happen.
And then, a couple regrets here and there. The cell phone tower deal that we ended up getting into. Other school districts across the state did much of the same. We didn't know, but getting locked into a long-term agreement like that was definitely in hindsight a regret. And I think sometimes I could be a little tough on some of our superintendents.
But I,100%, loved serving the community and representing people who are uncomfortable with sharing their voice or feel they need someone to advocate on their behalf. I'm going to miss that.
What were some of your personal triumphs on the board?
I was honored to serve as chair a few times and vice chair. Of course, I was most proud being the chair when we had the Gap Commission, which was made up of community members and school board members and we focused on closing the achievement gap, opening the opportunity to more students. So I was really proud of the work that group did. And also, Graduate 100 was probably one of the Initiatives I’m most proud of because the focus was on having 100% of our student body graduate with either a traditional high school diploma, industry certification or at a minimum, a GED.
And Schools to Career. Working on trying to build career pipelines from elementary to middle to high school students to explore. And the Education Foundation was a great partner. Joe Rizzo was a great partner. And the Foundation is still, of course, an integral part of our system.
With the university, I do a lot of work around the state and even around the country. So I get to see a lot of different schools and school districts. And I really truly don't think people realize how really fortunate we are to have what we have here. We have beautiful facilities and great educational programs. So, sometimes, when you leave and you go see everything else, you get to really appreciate what you have back home.
Had you thought about stepping down previously?
The last election I toyed with the idea, because I didn't want to become one of those people where everyone was like, ‘Oh my goodness, she’s running again.’ Like, ‘we're done with her.’
But a lot's changed in my personal life in the last three to four years. I lost my father-in-law, my mother passed away, my dad passed away. Going through a divorce. It's just a lot. So, It's been a time. It's been an interesting time. So, I'm looking forward to kind of rediscovering myself. And, I wouldn't say public service in the future is out of the cards.
Just right now think I need to kind of step back. And give other folks an opportunity to lead. And, you know, sometimes I'm like a lightning rod at the board meetings, because I have various opinions that not everybody agrees with. And maybe it's just time that if I remove myself from that situation.
How are you going to occupy your free time now?
I don't really know. This is going to be the first time in my entire life, since I was a teenager, that I have not had two jobs. So, I would imagine I'll be looking for something else, or to be honest, I just may take the next year or two and discover a new hobby.
I know you have talked before about following your two sons who travel quite a bit.
It's going to be interesting, because a lot of times I couldn't travel because of board meetings. So if I were to travel I had to always try to kind of jockey it in between meetings. So I do hope to do some traveling and kind of follow the boys a little bit. They have a surfboard company. And they travel basically all over the world and shape surfboards and do surf videos. So they're entrepreneurs and learning their way as they go. My youngest right now is in Australia. And who knows how long my oldest will be home for the moment, but we'll see. So, a lot personally has changed for all of us, so I think spending the time in the next couple of years, just kind of focused a little bit on the next chapter of my journey.
