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Volusia outlines recruitment, leadership pipeline and evaluation changes under 'high‑quality staff' guardrail
Summary
District officials told the board about expanded recruitment events, bus driver and ESE teacher pipelines, leadership development cohorts and new evaluation alignments intended to recruit, develop and retain staff.
District leaders briefed the Volusia County School Board on March 11 about actions under Guardrail 1 — recruiting, supporting, developing and retaining staff — including targeted hiring events, new career pathways and updated evaluation tools.
Tiffany Fuller, recruitment lead, said the district widened recruiting efforts and hosted targeted hiring events such as three bus‑operator career events that met 287 candidates. Fuller said transportation salary adjustments and focused marketing contributed to rapid hires and that the district expects to have all bus routes staffed by the fourth quarter.
On special education staffing, Fuller described the Volusia Associate Teacher substitute pathway (job description approved and application portal open) as one deliberate effort to build a pipeline into ESE teaching roles. She said principals have already recommended candidates into the pipeline.
Brandy Hogue, director of leadership development, presented outcomes for leadership programs: three cohorts of the Aspiring Leaders Academy produced 68 participants (29 promoted into leadership roles), and four cohorts of the principal preparation program resulted in 37 new principals over recent cohorts. Hogue said about 57 percent of current principals have five years or less of experience, a fact she framed as a reason for continued intentional leadership development.
Alisa Fedegen reviewed changes to evaluation systems: the Volusia System for Empowering Leaders (VSEL) and the Volusia System for Empowering Teachers (VSET) have been updated to align with Florida educational leadership and educator practices; observation cycles and student‑linked performance metrics were adjusted and newly adopted weighting was discussed. Fedegen said 56 percent of instructional staff received an “effective” observational mark last school year and 43 percent “highly effective.” For school leaders, 74 percent were rated effective and 26 percent highly effective under last year’s standards.
Why it matters: Fuller and Hogue framed the work as intentional, districtwide efforts to reduce vacancy rates, support novice leaders, and align performance feedback with student outcomes. Board members shared positive anecdotal feedback from principals and colleagues who had moved into leadership through district pathways.
What was not decided: The session was informational; no policy votes or budget approvals occurred during the workshop.
Quotes used in this article come from the named district staff presentations at the March 11 workshop.
