Conversation with John Colon

Conversation with John Colon

A longtime financial adviser, University Park resident John Colon moved to Florida in 2000, at which time he delved into local volunteerism. Since that time, Colon  has served as a member of the 13th Congressional District Classroom Committee, a mentor in the Take Stock in Children program and on the city of Sarasota Police Chief’s Advisory Board, among other organizations.

Gov. Rick Scott appointed Colon to the State Board of Education in 2013, and reappointed him this year to serve until 2018. Colon, however, has resigned his post on the state level to take on his new responsibilities as East County’s representative on the Manatee County School Board — a post awarded to him by Gov. Scott following the death of board member Mary Cantrell July 12. The school board inducted him as the District 5 representative Sept. 8 — just in time to adopt the board’s new budget.

I’ve always been interested in education, and I feel you can’t get a good job if you don’t have a good education. When Gov. Scott first appointment me, that’s one of the things he tasked me to do. He wants all students to be college and career ready. 

A lot of people were surprised I put in for the school board position. Most people feel that’s a bigger job. I wasn’t interested in notoriety. I felt Manatee needed a board that could work together, and I wanted to be the person to attempt to bring them together. 

The most important thing is to be civil to one another, to have open minds.

The spirit of compromise is what boards are all about. You listen to other board members, you process the information and once a decision is made by the board, you move forward as a board. 

The basic job of a board is to set policy, not to micromanage a district. The Manatee School Board takes a more hands-on approach, which sometimes can be problematic. We have a great superintendent. We need to allow her to bring all her ideas out and work with the board to bring the district forward. We have some very talented individuals on the board and as we begin to work together as a more cohesive unit and a board, I think we can continue to move the district forward under the leadership of (superintendent) Dr. Greene.

The biggest issue the district has is finances, which have begun to come into line. Hopefully, there will be more savings we can find. I also think the board needs to come together so we present a more unified front when listening to the community and taking the needs of the students and parents into consideration.

What got me interested in education is some of my neighbors were teachers. The public schools had fine teachers, but they felt it was an uphill battle to get things done in their schools. I think our teachers need to be supported for the hard work they do. 

I went to a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) high school in New York. I took differential calculus, solid geometry and advanced algebra to graduate. That was minimum standard. These are subjects that are college level. Our children today are very lucky to have dual enrollment. It’s a great way to jumpstart their college career.

It’s important different perspectives are presented to the board. A few of us have jobs and that gives fresh perspective on a daily basis and some of the board members are retired, and that’s great, too.

The district has a lot of challenges before it, and these challenges are not insurmountable. But they are going to require a firm commitment from everyone.