Dean Martin for School Board District 3

05/31/2018

Good Afternoon Folks,

One of my primary campaign goals is to improve communication and transparency in the exchanges between our schools, our school district, and our community. In the next few days the Polk Education Association will conduct interviews with your candidates to better get to know us and our platforms. While I am not able to attend those interviews, as I will be performing my required duties for the Florida National Guard, I hold myself to the expectation of transparency, and so I am sharing here my responses to a pre-interview survey sent by PEA for the candidates. I have expressed to Marianne Capozielllo that I will not be able to attend, but I will attempt to be available for a phone interview.
While I wish that good intentions and merit were enough to push forward through an election, I realize that funds are needed. If you have felt moved by my message and intentions, I encourage you to please donate toward the improving cause for our county’s education.
Thank you,

Dean Martin

PayPal.me/deanmartin3

05/19/2018

Good Evening Friends,

Today's tragedy in the Texas school brings us an all too realistic reminder that change is needed. I come to you this evening with a heavy heart and a simple statement. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, the families, and the friends who have been dealt the hand of this life changing and tragic event.

05/01/2018

The Lakeland Derby pulled in a very enthusiastic crowd. With three swan races, it was easy to become a part of this traditional and local event. The first race involved ten schools from the Polk County Area. A huge congratulations to the Haines City team who took first place and a special shout out to the girls of Bartow’s Fire and Medical Academy who took third place in the event. The derby shines a spotlight to a wonderful organization in our community, the Lakeland Volunteers in Medicine(LVIM). LVIM is a volunteer-run healthcare center that provides medical, dental, and metal healthcare to the working uninsured of Polk County.

05/01/2018

Friday night’s fundraiser event at Tiger Town, Bandaid 4 Puerto Rico, was a great success. Supporters from across Polk County gathered to have a good time and contributed to a great cause. I was able to grab a photo with fellow candidates David Byrd and Martha Santiago. There was a lot going on at the event, and as the photo suggests, we may or may not have seen a squirrel.

04/26/2018

Today, I had the privilege of attending the Lake Ashton Republican Club. Our Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, laid out some very common-sense practices that can be implemented to improve school safety. Some of his statements included “if it’s predictable, it’s preventable”, and the current school district’s reminder “if you see something, say something.” It was nice to hear him commend the school board and superintendent’s collaborative efforts to make a sensible plan to further ensure the safety of our students. He went on to state one of his next goals, having two guardians on every campus. The current hiring alone is sure to put stress on our already strained budget, but I would refer you back to my plan to rejuvenate our financial situation in the district. Between that and a county commitment I seek to push our legislatures to answer the needs for our funding, we can accomplish an even safer learning environment for our students.

04/26/2018

Last evening, I had the pleasure of attending the Greater Winter Haven Democratic Club. Club President Phillip Grinker, offered a warm welcome to all of those in attendance. It was a great opportunity to share and meet with the attending constituents on the needs found within our community.

04/26/2018

The School Board met yesterday with many topics on the agenda. The opening focused on the student-driven competition that the district developed in an effort to create a new logo for the district. Design academy students from Auburndale High, Bartow High, Gause Academy, George Jenkins High, Haines City High, Lake Gibson High, and Lake Region High worked with business partners from across the county to develop the new brand for the district. With many great designs, only one logo could be chosen— A big congratulations to AUBURNDALE high for their winning design, “Students First.” This experience is a testament to what we can accomplish by improving the transparency and communication between our schools, our district, and our community. The students of our county have great promise, we simply have to ensure we are creating the pathways to make them successful.

Also big on the list was the approval of the new safety plan that passed with a 7-0 vote and little discussion. The Polk County School Board will be hiring almost 100 School Safety Guardians that will receive all training from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The Guardians will not be those who continue to act in other positions found within the schools but are being created as stand-alone positions to assist with school safety. Additionally, they will be placed at the elementary schools across the county with SRO’s overseeing the safety of middle and high schools.

04/21/2018

The Avengers Infinity War party is going on right now at Main Street Comics & Memorabilia, downtown Bartow. If you’re in the neighborhood and you or your kids want to score an awesome meet and greet, you should swing by. They will be there until 2pm. While you’re here, support a local business and check out their special on comics, reading material I can never go wrong with for my 10 year old. He hasn’t always been a huge fan of reading, but with some regular trips to the comic store he tears open the pages every time. Whether it be my child or those of our community, it’s about making the students successful.

Photo with: Costumers With a Cause (CWC)

04/17/2018

Good Evening Polk County,
Late last week, the Puerto Rican Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Polk County offered a meet and greet for the local candidates, and I was honored to attend. The meeting was held at the Lakeland Public Library and opened with a warm welcome by chamber president Ana Rivera. The organization is in its 11th year—despite some early speculation it wouldn’t last—an accomplishment that has inspired my post this evening.

As we think about the changes that can be made to improve our current school district, I encourage everyone to join me in a “we can” mentality. Let’s work together to find viable solutions to our challenges and to make great things happen for the betterment of our students, our schools, and our community. The Puerto Rican Hispanic chamber’s motto is, “Community, Culture, and Commerce.” The Chamber clearly sees our community as a priority, just as I do, and I am excited to make our community my priority as your representative for School Board District 3.

Additionally, l wanted invite you all to a fundraiser hosted by the Puerto Rican Hispanic Chamber of Commerce— the “Band-Aid 4 Puerto Rico” fundraiser on April 27th at Joker Merchant Stadium. The event is sure to be a great time and help raise funds for a worthy cause. Check out more information at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sabor-de-polk-bandaid-4-puerto-remembering-21-latin-night-at-joker-marchant-tickets-42819362867. I will be there, and I hope you will too. Dean Martin

Come and join us for a baseball fundraiser for BANDAID 4 PUERTO RICO. We will have a great event for those who attend that night. We are raising funds to send rebuilding equipment to some adopted municipality (s). Items such as Home Depot Cards to gasoline cards for the use of cars and primarily gen...

04/11/2018

I would like to thank the Lake Wales Democrat Club for allowing me to speak with them this evening. The attendees provided me with open ears and encouraged the ideas and values upon which I am running.

I wanted to take time to share with everyone some of the finer points of my platform.

Improve communication and transparency in the exchanges between our schools, our school district, and our community.
- Allow for school-based input before district-wide decisions are made
- Work with local businesses and chambers of commerce to build stronger community-based relationships
- Vocalize transparent successes and tribulations occurring within the schools


Rejuvenate financial situations in the district that lead to a healthier school and work environment
- Lead a strong and unified voice to our legislatures for school funding
- Operate bargaining for school employees with negotiations that meet the compensation they deserve
- Implement a Zero-Based Budgeting philosophy
- Eliminate the “latest and greatest” cycles from occurring

Strengthen the relationship between our graduates and the workforce in their local communities

-Match student interest with the community workforce need
- Create and enhance existing academies throughout our school district
-Give a greater focus to student pathways that allows for success with or without college

04/06/2018

I received a constituent question earlier today about the School Public Safety Act, and thought it was important to lay out my thoughts on this extremely important and sensitive topic.

We’re looking at legislation that includes the option of adding guns to our campus in a capacity never before seen in the state of Florida. As an educator of many years, I understand the many tasks that are placed upon school employees from day to day. Worrying about the concealment of a weapon should simply not be one of them. As a veteran of the U.S. Army and a current member of the Florida Army National Guard, I have concerns as well. While I am proud of the job I do and appreciative of the support that many other jobs in the Army offer, I won’t pretend to be readily competent to take down a gunman in close-quartered, civilian situations. Even situations where armed staff act with the purest intentions can have tragic unintended consequences, and that is not a risk I feel is appropriate.

I am not anti-gun. I firmly believe in the right to protect yourself, your home, and your property. It is important to realize, however, that the issue of school safety goes much further than arming individuals with guns. School personnel and facilities are burdened beyond capacity, and we are doing our students an injustice by allowing our schools to remain understaffed and underfunded. Our students are even beginning to speak out, as they did quite clearly on March 14th across the county. They didn’t walk out of their halls and classrooms because they want a heavy influx of guns on their campus. They want to feel safe with fewer guns, and more support from their schools.

As the Florida PTA suggests, “Teachers should teach, and that School Resource Officers (SROs) should protect our schools.” It is the responsibility of our legislature to ensure that our schools have enough funding to provide one SRO per school, and one SRO for every 1000 students. It is the responsibility of our legislature to ensure that our schools are provided with adequate funding to ensure the highest quality education and the safest schools our children can have. The 47-cent increase in the Base Student Allocation that was recently approved by the House and Senate is not going to cut it. We cannot improve facilities, provide crucial student services, and train or support our staff without adequate funding. We are a strong community and our voices must be heard. Please click on the link I am providing as one way to contribute to sending our elected officials the message that our students matter. https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/FLPTA/campaigns/57735/respond

We currently sit as one of the tenth largest school districts in the state of Florida and we are ranked in the bottom ten counties for funding. As an educator and a parent of two students in our Polk County school district, believe me when I say that I desire the most supportive, productive, and safest school environment we can offer them. I have clearly heard the voices of our students, parents, and educators, and look forward to discussing the perspectives of other involved stakeholders.

Yesterday, meeting in a rare Sunday extended session, the House and Senate approved a state budget hammered out in conference committees over the last 10 days.  Unfortunately, the portion of the budget devoted to K-12 education only provides...