Brevard County School Board District 5 Candidates

RELATED STORY:  Teachers' Union Backs Brevard County School Board Candidates




Name: Denise Coyle


Website: http://democracy.com/DeniseCoyle4schoolboard/bio.aspx



Name: Dale D. Davis


Website: http://www.daledavisionbps.com

Name:  Dean Paterakis

Age:   46

City of Residence:  Palm Bay

Occupation:  Brevard County Substitute Teacher - UPS Loader- Air Driver - Home Investor

Website:  www.deanforschools.com

 

Education:  

2001 BS Education, Cleveland State University
2004 Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Cuyahoga Community College
1996 AS Scientific Technician, College of the Air Force

Experience:

2005 - present: Brevard Public Schools, Teacher and Substitute
2009 - 2011: Patrick AFB Officers/NCO Club 'The Tides', Duty Manager
2007 - 2007 Royal Palm Charter School, Palm Bay, Teacher 3rd grade
2001 - 2004 Constellation Charter Schools- Teacher
1989 - 1998 USAF - AFTAC Patrick AFB 1990-1998

 
Other Experience and Volunteer Work 

2008 - present: Volunteer parent for Cub Scouts Den 9 pack 337
2009 - 2011: Guardian ad Litem also known as CASA
2008 - 2010: Hope Episcopal Church- MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers)
2007 - 2010: Sunday School Director at St. Katherine Church
2007 - 2010: Volunteer Sherwood Elementary
1999 - 2001 Volunteer Camp Cheerful- camp for children with autism
1991 - 1996 Patrick AFB Honor Guard
1993 - 1998 Volunteer Neighborhood Watch and Melbourne Police Citizens Academy
1991 - 1992 Brevard Big Brother Big Sisters Volunteer/Mentor

 

What makes you the best candidate (300 words or less)?

I’m the only candidate with a degree in education, and the only candidate that has consistently had classroom FCAT scores in the top 1% in state of Florida. I’m the only candidate with two children in Brevard County schools. I am also a USAF Veteran. For years I have been exposing the corruption and the misspending that has plagued our schools. As an employee of the Brevard Schools I have seen and experienced first-hand the fraud, waste and abuse. I am absolutely against Common Core and I made national news when I was removed by the sheriff’s deputy from the BPS board room when I spoke against it.

Unlike the current school board member, I would not have voted for the recent $8 million dollar NO-BID computer software contract which was unnecessary. I am 100% against the 1⁄2 cent sales tax. Before we consider any tax we need to fire the people that put us in this financial mess to begin with, including the current CFO.

Bea Fowler, former Brevard County School Board Member and Author wrote this, “I endorse Dean Paterakis for school board because he has integrity and will honestly represent the interests of the students and taxpayers.”

Scott Ellis, Brevard County Clerk of Courts, wrote this “Dean Paterakis is a man of integrity whose independent thinking can be counted on to look at all sides of the various problems facing our schools. Dean combines a passion for education with a skeptic’s eye on school finances.”

Name: Andy Ziegler

Age: 54

City of Residence: Unincorporated Brevard (West Melbourne mailing address)

Occupation: Account Manager for Artemis IT, Technology/Business Automation

Website: www.andyziegler.com


Experience: 

6 years on School Board, 2 years School board Audit Committee, 13 years School Improvement Committees, Chamber of commerce board of directors, Central Florida Boyscout executive council, extensive experience on non-profit charity Boards of Directors


What makes you the best candidate (300 words or less)?


I, Andy Ziegler, am the best candidate due to proven effectiveness which has developed from experience acquired through dedication to the mission of education. This is evident as BPS is one of the most successful school districts in Florida despite having close to the lowest funding per student in the state. I will continue to work hard to help students, families and teachers by listening and assisting to address their concerns. I will also continue to take council from experts in the community who can provide direction on how to improve BPS. Most school district operation is dictated by the state. Which makes it necessary to work with our legislators to enhance education. This is possible through the strong relationships I have developed over the years. There needs to be continued diligence in analyzing all aspects of district operations to develop greater efficiencies. Health care, transportation and facility operations are just a few areas that offer opportunities for efficiencies. I have the experience, knowledge and understanding of how to be effective. Such as a recent success of mine from an initiative that I started 2 years ago. This involved getting the district’s Pharmacy Benefits Management contract to be rebid with contractual changes. One change was demanding the district receive pharmacy rebates, rather than them being kept by the management company. Based on our first rebate check of $492,000.00 for 3 months, the district could recognize close to $2M in revenue from this effort in the first year implemented! I am working on similar efforts that I anticipate to be even more financially rewarding for Brevard Public Schools!



Editor's Note:  A request for candidate profile information was sent out to all of the candidates for this office. Andy Ziegler was the only candidate to respond. Dean Paterakis' profile information was obtained from his 2012 School Board candidate profile on Brevard Times.