This story is part of a statewide partnership of 27 nonpartisan newsrooms and universities working to help Florida voters make informed decisions in the 2026 school board elections. Learn more about the Florida Elections Reporting Partnership.
Volusia School Board District 5 race is underway as candidates tackle declining enrollment, proficiency rates and teacher turnover
As Volusia County Schools face declining enrollment, teacher turnover and low student proficiency rates, current chair holder Ruben Colón and challenger Dean Condon are competing for the District 5 seat on the Volusia County School Board.
Ruben Colón, an Epic Ambulatory Analyst for Unified Clinical Communications at AdventHealth, is running to retain his position on the School Board. Colón has served on the School Board since 2018, defeating Melody Johnson with 50.8% of the votes in 2018 and won re-election in 2022 with 51.3%.
Dean Condon, who works as the development director at Boys Town Center, has criticized the current School Board and emphasized his variety of educational experience. Having raised 8 kids through various forms of education such as homeschooling and private schooling, and being the only candidate with children enrolled in the Volusia County School system, he says he has seen first hand that by far the Volusia County public school system is the weakest.
Declining Enrollment
Enrollment in Volusia County’s public schools has declined in recent years as more families have used state-funded school choice programs, including vouchers for private schools and homeschooling.
Condon said families are leaving because they are dissatisfied with the public school system.
“The most important thing is that you need to become competitive with the other schools,” Condon said. “What I support is that we come up with a strategy that makes the public schools so attractive that people don’t need to exercise their voucher.”
His strategy focuses on creating a value centered classroom with a major focus on safety. He also plans to increase funding for arts and athletics, working to eliminate participation fees for extracurricular activities.
Colón said the district should continue expanding educational opportunities, making public schools more attractive to families.
During this terms, Colón has supported expanding career and technical education programs, including HVAC(heating, ventilation and air conditioning), welding, plumbing and a finance academy that includes a student-operated bank branch.
Teacher Retention
Teacher retention remains a challenge across the district
Colón said changes to Florida’s Teaching Salary Increase Allocation created salary compression, with new teachers earning salaries close to those of seasoned educators.
He said this year’s funding shifts the focus to teachers with more than 10 years of Florida teaching experience but excludes some educators, including those who recently moved from other states, teachers without student rosters and educators whose salaries are funded through grants.
“So that teacher who has been teaching for 10 years but has only been in volusia county for three years? Oh ya, they’re not reaping the benefits,” Colón said.
Colón said improving compensation for all teachers is essential to retaining experienced educators.
Condon agreed that salary is important but said classroom conditions are a large reason teachers are leaving.
“You have teachers who enter the profession because they love kids, and they love teaching, but they don’t love managing difficult classrooms and bad behavior,” Condon said.
Condon’s platform focuses on three solutions to removing these obstacles: Order, Oversight and Outcome.
To create order in the classroom, Condon said teachers and administrators should receive additional training in behavior management and schools should implement intervention specialists to work with students displaying disruptive
behaviors. This works on building relationships outside of the disciplinary moment, replacing bad behavior with good ones.
“Teachers are being attacked,” Condon said. “I talked to a young decorated teacher who was literally attacked with a stick in her classroom, and these problems are not far between.”
He also called for greater financial transparency and said teachers should have more authority over classroom decision-making.
Proficiency Rates
Student proficiency remains a concern across Florida, including Volusia County.
Colón pointed to improvements in graduation rates during his time on the board.
“When I started in 2018, the year prior our graduation rate was 76%,”Colón said. “It is now 98.6% in my district.”
Colón said the district has emphasized phonics and the science of reading to improve literacy. While proficiency scores are still not at desired levels, he said the district has begun to see improvements.
Condon argued that the district places too much emphasis on advancing students through grade levels instead of ensuring they master the material they are taught.
He said improving student achievement begins with giving teachers greater authority to develop instructional strategies and providing them with the resources needed to implement those plans.
“Each grade has its own strategy but it requires giving the power to the teachers to come up with the plans, give them the resources to execute and reevaluate that after a year,” Condon said.
Regardless of the outcome, the next school board will face the challenges of addressing declining enrollment, low proficiency rates and an increase in teacher turnover. The District 5 School Board members will play a major role in shaping how Volusia County will navigate these everchanging issues in the coming years.
Early Voting is scheduled for Aug. 8-15 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Election Day is Aug. 18.
Valeria Havrylets is a third year journalism student at the University of Florida.
