WUFT asked candidates running for office across north central Florida a series of questions about their background and plans if elected.
Below, find the answers from Chris Cowart, who is running to become the Levy County Superintendent of Schools.
Why did you decide to run for this office?
"Twelve years ago, I was approached by a School Board member asking me to run in 2016 after she completed one more term. A couple weeks later she changed her mind and we hit the ground running fast and furious and 9 months later the Levy County citizens elected me to serve them. Four years later I was re-elected unopposed. Over the course of my second term as a Levy County school board member, I had numerous individuals in the county and throughout the district asking me to run for Superintendent. After much prayer, our family committed to this calling.
Over the past four years our district has risen to new heights. Because of the dedication and hard work of every employee, no matter their position, our students excelled and helped our District earn a “B.” Then we increased again to maintain a “B” even when the state changed the school/district grading scale last November. In all the years of school and district grades, Levy has achieved a “B” four years straight , only one other time. Our whole LEVY TEAM deserves kudos for their hard work.
What are the three most pressing problems happening in your district or jurisdiction?
1.) Retaining and Recruiting highly effective staff and then supporting them.
2.) Continuous Academic Improvement
3.) Be the Voice for LEVY in Tallahassee and throughout the State.
Your suggested solution for the top problem:
Our district will continue to strive to reward all of our employees with competitive pay and benefits, like we have for the past four years. We have met the governor’s goal of $47,500 starting pay for new teachers rising almost $12,000 these past three years. Our legislators listened to us and gave us the freedom to work on rewarding our veteran teachers, and our district has been able to hire many new veteran teachers and give raises to our most loyal employees who have chosen to work in Levy. We must continue to reward all of our employees for their efforts. We have also supplemented salaries with bonuses to all employees for their efforts during COVID.
Our district has made it a goal to be servant leaders and help all of our staff. One of the ways we have been able to retain new teachers and lower our vacant positions is by our district mentor positions. These are veteran teachers who travel throughout the district to support our new hires and teachers with less than three years of experience. The return on investment from these district mentor teachers has led our Levy district to be the highest in the Northeast Florida Educational Consortium for teacher retention and teachers finishing the course work to earn a professional teaching certificate from the Florida Department of Education.
Your suggested solution for problem two:
Over the past four years, we have worked to grow district and school leadership teams that have the knowledge and ability to support teachers be their very best. Seeing change in these practices does not occur overnight. Since my time as Superintendent started in the middle of COVID, we had an additional hole to crawl out of in Levy. English Language Arts has been the most affected by learning loss of almost two years. We have improved in proficiency from 44 percent to 46 percent, while math has moved from 46 percent to 55 percent. One of the practices that has helped us make these gains is curriculum mapping, where our teachers have a voice in planning each quarter of the school year.
Every year, our district comes together to analyze our data to plan for how we move the district forward. The team we have in place is truly the Dream Team and this includes all levels of staff from school to district. With this data, we will engage our instructional staff in the planning to highlight what we did well and how we as a district can support our schools to fill the gaps and continue to move us forward.
District and school leaders (including reading and math coaches) met this summer regularly to plan this upcoming year. Over the past three plus years, our goal has been for district staff to be in our schools on an almost daily basis to support our school admin, teachers and aides. We have shown this effort to collaborate across the district by bringing our teachers together five times a year throughout the school year for designed professional learning opportunities at our school improvement and professional development days we built into our school calendar. These days provide time to come together and plan for courses they teach or by grade level. It also provides an opportunity for our secondary (6th-12th) teachers to come together for school improvement days to collaborate, because many of them are the only teacher on their respective campuses to teach these courses. This provides them the ability to share strategies with one another.
We have also created after-school Cadres where all teachers benefit from the collaborative work of school selected participants throughout the district.
Your suggested solution for problem three:
WE must continue to communicate the GREAT THINGS our Students and Staff are doing daily. The vision our citizens and students have shared with us throughout these past 12 years has helped Levy to having some of the most well-rounded and respected staff and students. In a world that has so much negative, LEVY is doing big things.
We have brand new facilities for our kids. Our students are excelling in Clubs (FFA Chiefland graduate Hunter Sharp just completed a year as a State FFA officer, plus numerous state championships across the district. CKS DECA Club traveled and participated at National Convention in California and BMHS FBLA has competed at Nationals the past two years.), Sports (WMHS Back-to-Back Boys Basketball Championships). Other successes are Band at WMHS and Drama at CMHS. We recognize these all help many of our students be the reason they come to school so we can help their future be brighter. Great things are continuing to happen in LEVY!
If elected, what is the first part of your agenda you intend to accomplish?
We will continue with the path that has helped our District rise each year and are getting closer to becoming an "A" district for the first time. Our goal is to have well rounded students who leave us at graduation prepared for their bright future and are great citizens.
What else should voters know about you and your candidacy?
I humbly ask for your prayers, support and your vote on August 20th.
Our LEVY Team is ready to work from day one. There is no learning curve, that would hinder the steady improvements our District has made. PROVEN LEADERSHIP!
Education: Bronson High School, Santa Fe College – AA degree, University of Florida – Bachelor’s of Science with a Specialization in Administration.
Community Involvement: Member of Bronson United Methodist Church, currently attend First Methodist Church of Williston. Active Member of Cedar Key PTO since 2006, volunteering at every festival for the past 18 years. Member of the The Rotary Club of Williston for 15 years, having served as President three times. Assistant District Governor for Rotary District 6940. Active Member of the Levy County Schools Foundation since 2007, have served 2-1/2 years as President. Florida School Boards Association Board of Directors for six years. Committee Chair of the Leadership Development Committee for new School Board members. Chair of the Small District Council for three years. Member of the Small School District Council Consortium Executive Board for nine years and just recently elected Chair for the 39 small rural school districts.
For the past twelve years I have consistently led our district efforts in Tallahassee to increase extra dollars back to Levy and we have successfully accomplished this task to the tune of almost 80 million dollars in projects (New CMHS &WMHS schools and most recently playground equipment at all elementary schools) or revenue. This proven leadership has helped move our district forward and allowed us to have a healthy fund balance.
As a board member, I served in leadership on the Board of Directors representing 5 rural districts (Levy, Dixie, Gilchrist, Taylor and Lafayette) for the Florida School Board Association for 6 years. I also served as chair for the Small District Council and on the executive board of the Small School District Council Consortium. I have recently been elected chair of this group which represents the 39 small and rural districts across the state of Florida.
I love being the biggest Cheerleader of our students and staff accomplishments.
I have been endorsed by:
Former State Education Commissioner & Florida State Senator Jim Horne
Speaker Pro Temp State Representative Chuck Clemons
State Senator Keith Perry
State Representative Stan McLain
State Senator Jennifer Bradley
I don’t share this information to brag, but to educate our voters that a vote for Chris Cowart on August 20th is a vote for proven leadership of a team that is ready to continue to move Levy closer to an “A” district.