Public educator Jacob “Jake” Petroski, who recently left the classroom to run for office, is taking his vision for Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) to the next level. Even as he has never held public office before, Petroski, the parent of a rising freshman at Olympia High School and a fourth-grader at Thornebrooke Elementary School, was first to file, putting in his paperwork for the District 4 seat on the Orange County School Board in May 2023.

“Schools are going through a real change in the state of Florida, specifically Central Florida, with some of the legislation that has come down, and with vouchers and school choice becoming more prevalent,” Petroski told VoxPopuli. 

“We need leaders that are going to see opportunities and make OCPS the ultimate schools of choice, given that we have all these options out there now for kids, whether it's homeschooling, or things of that nature.”

The Gotha resident faces fellow educator Anne Douglas and business development manager Kyle Goudy. The winner of the Aug. 20 nonpartisan election will take the school board seat. If no one wins more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off will be held Election Day, Nov. 5.  Early voting takes place Aug. 5-18, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., daily. See our list for locations. The last day to request a mail-in ballot is August 8. Return it to the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office by 7 p.m. on Aug. 20 to be counted.

Petroski’s educational platform focuses on maintaining student safety, increasing student literacy at all grade levels and enhancing technical education and career vocation programs. He has been endorsed by the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, the top teacher’s union in the county with more than 7,500 members.

School safety

“I’m 46 years old, and I can tell you I don’t even remember hearing about a school shooting in high school,” he said during a recent meet-n-greet. Data shows the United States experienced 348 incidents of gunfire on school property in 2023 alone. Safety in schools is a hallmark of Petroski’s campaign. A productive educational environment can’t exist if students and teachers don’t feel safe, he added.

He also mentioned a weapons detection pilot program that is being tested at seven Orange County high schools. It aims to prevent classroom tragedies before they happen. However, at a recent town hall meeting, Petroski said the superintendent didn’t seem “optimistic that the board would go forward with adding more weapons protection,” in part, because of the higher costs and increased staffing needed. Petroski said he believes more cost-effective solutions are available, including dogs trained to detect weapons and artificial intelligence that can work in tandem with school security cameras to detect guns.

Technical/vocational programs

Four-year universities aren’t for every student. They’re expensive, and according to new data from Pew Research Center, only 1 in 4 of U.S. adults now say it’s very or extremely important to have a four-year college degree to get a well-paying job.

Enter technical and vocational programs, an area where Petroski is especially well-versed.

“Increasing our current technical and vocational programs is where I feel my skill set will really come in, especially in building those strategic partnerships with industries in the greater Metro Orlando area,” he said. “Career and technical education really expands those pathways for a lot of kids that maybe don’t want to go to a four-year university or can’t find it affordable.”

Reading proficiency

“We’re not up to par with our reading proficiency, which means statistically, students are going to struggle in college or after school,” he said. In his experience as a teacher, Petroski said problems with students who struggle academically or exhibit behavioral issues in the classroom stem from reading difficulties.

“They may know the material fine, but if they get bored or frustrated on a test because they can’t read it, they lose interest,” he said. He added a 2023 law that promotes reading instruction, especially for K-2 students, will be “an investment that will change the trajectory of our education for the better.”

Partisan school board elections

Voters will be asked to consider changing how school board officials are elected, shifting from nonpartisan elections, like this one, to partisan elections where candidates run with their party affiliation known. Florida’s school board races have been nonpartisan since 2000. Currently only four states — Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Alabama — hold partisan school board elections.

Petroski said partisan school board elections would be “a detriment” to students. “We [have] become so divided that partisan politics seem to have seeped into our schools,” he said. “It wasn’t like that 10 years ago. We have to focus on creating pathways of success for kids, regardless of anybody’s political beliefs.”

Book-banning legislation

Book bans, a topic Petroski called “nonsensical,” are often labeled as the product of the recent partisan turn in public schools. “It is a problem that wasn’t there,” he said. “There was never pornography in our school libraries. We’ve trusted media specialists to put age-appropriate books in our libraries. So, to me, it’s disappointing that so many people outside of education can influence what types of books are inside our public schools.”

He recalled a recent visit to his daughter’s elementary school where he compared sparse library shelves in classrooms to five years ago when every teacher had their own set of classroom books for students. 

“Most teachers don’t want to be burdened with having to verify every single book they have in their classroom,” Petroski said. “Besides, it is hours and hours of resources being put into cataloging books we didn’t have to before. The amount of resources being spent to try to comply with this legislation is really taking away from the schools – and they don’t have the budget for these things.”

Laptop initiatives

Recently, OCPS officials admitted that providing laptops for students in the district is causing financial strain. “I would assume most [school laptop] damage occurs either in transit or at home,” Petroski said. “I also believe that younger students should probably leave the devices at school unless there is a specific reason for the student to take his or her device home, for example, illness. Having a device on standby for each student is important … in case the district is ever forced to quickly pivot to online learning.”

Nanny lawsuit

In 2011, Petroski and his wife Christin were sued by the woman they'd hired to care for their daughter after they fired her for routinely missing work. According to the complaint, the nanny had expected to work from Aug. 9, 2010, through June 15, 2011, and was terminated a month early on May 16. Petroski told VoxPopuli the nanny was "terminated ... with cause, for not showing up, multiple, multiple times." The nanny sued in small claims court for breach of contract, seeking $2,240.  

"Because I gave her my schedule as a teacher and the best days she would have available to take her vacations coordinating with mine, she thought that was an implied contract for the entire year," Petroski explained. "That's just not how it was. At least not in Florida." [Florida is an "at-will" employment state, which means that both employers and employees can terminate employment for any reason.] 

The case was eventually settled out of court, with the Petroskis writing the nanny a letter that did not admit liability but conveyed "regret" that the manner in which she'd been let go had caused distress and expressed gratitude for the care she'd given their child. 

"It was unfortunate, but we needed regular care for our child, and it just wasn't being provided, so we had to find someone else," Petroski said.