Campaign Issues
Increase Board Transparency
- Dr. Grooms respects the rights of citizens to offer input and suggestions to the Nassau County School Board. Cindy will continue to seek input and involve citizens in the development of the budget, plans for dealing with growth, and the development of plans to provide a high-quality education for all Nassau County students.
Board member Cindy Grooms was the only member to vote for the committee idea. She said she saw the issues with the process and the committee’s possible necessity.
“Secondly, I can see an advisory board being something we should look at moving forward, only because our district is in some financial issues,” Grooms said.
“We have a lot of issues facing us — we have issues that I think we need to share more with the public and get their input, so we know that the decisions we are making are the decisions that the people want us to do.”
Budget
- Cindy believes that expenditures recommended in the budget should be driven by the district’s strategic plan and focused on student achievement rather than limited resources. She favors a pro-active approach rather than a reactive one. Cindy will encourage the Board to review the current budgeting practices and begin to tie all expenditures to increasing student achievement.
Nassau County residents are divided over the school district’s decision to buy 10 acres of land in Yulee. Those in favor see it as necessary to accommodate growth.Those opposed are concerned that the vacant land sold for $1.4 million in May 2021 and now – less than a year later – a majority of the School Board members think it is worth 3.75 million taxpayer dollars.Ten years ago, it was worth $250,000. Government entities generally pay more than a private individual in land purchases, but the difference in this case has some people scratching their heads.
There has been no improvement to the property during the past 12 months, and no announcement of gold being found beneath the trees on the non-descript land. Furthermore, the board doesn’t seem to have a firm plan for using the land and in addition it will present access problems because it is located on busy State Road 200. Cindy Grooms is the only board member to show any curiosity about the rapid increase in value. She began asking questions and when other residents also curious about the proposed purchase were stymied by the estimated cost of obtaining public records she made the extraordinary decision to pay for them herself.
After reviewing all the information she gathered, Grooms made a motion at the March 31 board meeting to rescind the existing offer to buy the property that had been made Jan. 13. With the school superintendent and other board members clearly in favor, Grooms could not even get a second to her motion. Grooms said there are three appraisals of the property pegging the value at anywhere from $1.4 million to $3.75 million. But she does not think the appraisals compare similar properties and says the higher figure, which is what the board offered, is for what the property would be worth if it were developed. Developer Robert S. Allison of Progress North Florida LLC is the owner of the property. He purchased it May 17, 2021, from Gibson’s Home Store for $1.4 million. It had been sold to Gibson’s by the First Coast Community Bank in 2012 for $250,000. Exactly one month after buying the land, Allison wrote Kathy Burns, the Nassau County school superintendent, offering to sell the land
Dirt Is Expensive In Nassau County When Taxpayers Are Buying, April 7, 2022, Eye On My City, Lloyd Brown
https://eyeonjacksonville.com/dirt-is-expensive-in-nassau-county-when-taxpayers-are-buying/
Success For All Students
Cindy is committed to the academic success of every student enrolled in the Nassau County School District.- She believes that the progress of individual students should be the primary focus of the district rather than school or district grades.
- Dr. Grooms will ensure that all Nassau County educators are provided with high-quality instructional materials, professional development, and the technology needed to provide students with the instruction needed for success.