Loudoun County Public Schools

Montgomery Township School District

Bedford County Public Schools

Fayette County Public Schools

Douglas County School System

Norman Public Schools

Santa Barbara Unified School District

Portland Public Schools

Seattle Public Schools

District of Columbia Public Schools

Anne Arundel County Public Schools

Fairfax County Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools

Broward County Public Schools

Los Angeles Unified School District

seminole-county-sd

The School Board consists of 5 members that are elected to 4-year terms on a staggered basis in even-numbered years. 

screen-shot-2021-08-04-at-2-11-10-pm

Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 2.11.10 PM

Board Chair

Kristine Kraus is the mother of four children, all of whom graduated from Seminole County Public Schools. She was a YMCA Preschool Programs teacher for 18 years, retiring in 2015 to care for her sick mom. She is a graduate of Medix Technical and Vocational School in Towson, Maryland, Catonsville Community College and Seminole State College.

As the 2018 election season approached, and following the Parkland event, she felt students in Seminole County would benefit from her energy and devotion to service, and ran successfully for the Seminole County School Board. When Kristine was a 15-year-old middle school student in Des Moines, Iowa, she survived a school shooting in her own classroom. She remains grateful that no one was seriously injured that day, and the experience led her to deep understanding of the fears that parents and students have about school safety. She believes in comprehensive school safety and security, including protections against bullying.

Kristine has been an active volunteer in Seminole County Public Schools for over 20 years, attending Seminole County School Board meetings and volunteering with Rainbow Elementary to support implementation of the i-Ready program for kindergarteners. Kristine assisted in event planning, teacher appreciation activities, yearbook, and field trips. She provided leadership as a School Advisory Chair, and served on the High School Rezoning Committee and on the District Governor's Junior All-Star committee.

In addition to providing rigorous support for college-bound students, Kristine believes in the power of vocational, career and technical education to improve lives and career outcomes. Kristine has always been passionate about creating the best environment possible for students and teachers, and is a dedicated, full-time advocate for students, families and teachers.

Kristine is also a local and civic leader and volunteer. She led her homeowners' association as president for 14 years, and once gathered the support of 5,000 neighbors in 14 subdivisions to protect their last neighboring parcel of undeveloped land. She has spent countless hours volunteering and supporting numerous community events.

Kristine's husband of more than 30 years, Mike Kraus, is a principal at KMI International, a worldwide project and construction management firm. Their four children, Matt, Allison, Ashley and Tyler, all attended Rainbow Elementary and Tuskawilla Middle School. Three graduated from Lake Howell High School, and Tyler graduated from Crooms Academy of Information Technology.
This board member's biography was taken from the Seminole County Public Schools website.

screenshot-2025-03-14-at-4-28-07%e2%80%afpm

Screenshot 2025-03-14 at 4.28.07 PM

Board Vice-Chair

Autumn Garick co-founded the educational theater company, Tales Two Tell and has worked in nearly 200 schools and libraries throughout Central Florida including most of our Seminole County elementary schools, exciting children about language and learning.

Our premiere school district brought Autumn, Bob (her husband of 34 years) and her family to Seminole County in 2001. As mom of 3 daughters who attended SCPS for elementary, middle and high school Autumn has volunteered extensively in every grade. Favorite memories include leading art lessons at elementary school, coaching middle schoolers to the Odyssey of the Mind World Championship and announcing the Oviedo Marching Lions at football games and festivals. Autumn is proud to share that thanks to a strong academic foundation her daughters will each soon be graduating with master's degrees. Sydney is at Yale School of Drama studying Technical Design. Piper is pursuing her degree in Speech, Language and Pathology at UCF. Bryn is at Temple University where she'll earn her master's in Media Studies and Production.

Autumn is passionate about educational opportunities in and out of the classroom. She serves on the board of the Midway Coalition in Sanford and helped Midway/Canaan City secure $18 million dollars to update stormwater infrastructure and build local parks. She is a long time member of Storytellers of Central Florida, has served as President and was awarded state recognition as an ambassador of storytelling.

She knows it takes a team - teachers, parents and the community to ensure every student reaches their fullest potential.
This board member's biography was taken from the Seminole County Public School website.

screen-shot-2021-08-04-at-2-12-25-pm

Screen Shot 2021-08-04 at 2.12.25 PM

Board Member

Abby has been a resident of Central Florida since 1999. She holds a Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education from Florida State University, has twenty-six years' experience teaching elementary age children and was the recipient of the "Beginner Teacher of the Year" in Tallahassee in 1992. She has been married to her husband Bo, a civil engineer, for twenty-six years and has three children who have attended Seminole County Public Schools. Abby currently lives in Sweetwater Oaks with her husband, her son Jake, two dogs and three cats. Her daughter Jessica is a BSN Registered Nurse in pediatrics in Jacksonville, Florida. Her eldest son, Joshua, is a Business Entrepreneur student at Florida State University. Her youngest son, Jake, is a senior at Lake Brantley High School for the 2016-17 school year and is enrolled in the school's Institute of Finance program.

While being a mother, wife, and teacher, Abby has been an active member of the Seminole County community. She is a long-time member of PTA/PTSA of her children's schools including seven years as president of Lake Brantley's PTSA, and currently serves as Vice-President in charge of legislative matters. She was selected and served on the SCPS Superintendent Search Advisory Committee in 2011- 12, and has worked tirelessly for various charitable organizations throughout Seminole and Orange Counties. Abby has served in several positions of Pop Warner programs for a number of years including fund manager, cheer coordinator and coach. Abby has helped raise millions of dollars for cancer research while serving as a member of the Cattle Baron's Ball Committee and a board member for the Norma DiMarco "Tee Up for Life".

Staying true to her roots of growing-up in rural Davie, Florida, Abby enjoys riding horses and caring for her therapy horse, "Gator", who helps military veterans cope with PTSD. Abby is currently an active member of the Seminole Chamber of Commerce, Sanford Chamber of Commerce, Oviedo/Casselberry Chamber of Commerce, Altamonte Chamber of Commerce, League of Women Voters, Junior League, Delta Kappa Gamma-Beta Chi (Women's Educator's Society).
This board member's biography was taken from the Seminole County Public Schools website.

screenshot-2025-03-14-at-4-24-56%e2%80%afpm

Screenshot 2025-03-14 at 4.24.56 PM

Kelley Davis is a longstanding advocate for students of all ages. As a member of the US Army, she specialized in Qualifications Training, Small Arms, and Supply. Stationed in Panama, Kelley developed and implemented a swim training program for young soldiers to reduce the risk of drowning and increase proficiency of soldiers in their water-bound environment. After graduating from the University of Central Florida where she majored in Mathematics and Education, Kelley taught mathematics at Seminole High School for five years. During her time there, she initiated a community support group for teen parents focused on raising graduation rates, lobbied for exceptional education students, and engaged with students involved in the disciplinary process.

Kelley went on to earn her law degree with high honors from the University of Florida. While attending school herself, she served as an Assistant Professor in the Virgil Hawkins Program designed to assist incoming minority law students with their transition to Law School.  Now with over twenty years of legal experience, Kelley has an active private practice in the fields of family law and criminal defense where she has been involved with hundreds of cases, many of which involve students in both the civil and criminal court systems.

All the while, Kelley was raising two sons as a single parent, both of whom attended and graduated from Seminole County Public Schools.  Kelley engaged with the public schools at every level throughout her sons’ education and brings that experience to her position on the Seminole County School Board. Now her two grand-daughters are beginning their journey in the public school system and Kelley is as determined as ever to support, promote, and enrich Seminole County Schools for the benefit of all our children for years to come. She recognizes that each student is an individual bringing unique strengths and challenges which can be served by a strong educational system.

Kelley will utilize her background in education to advocate for a safe and caring environment where students can reach their highest potential, recognizing that success comes when students, parents, teachers, and staff work together to provide the best learning environment possible. She has a particular interest in increasing college-level and career training opportunities in the high school curriculum and finding pathways for behavior change in students with discipline issues at all grade levels.
This board member's biography was taken from the Seminole County Public Schools website.

screenshot-2025-03-14-at-4-26-31%e2%80%afpm

Screenshot 2025-03-14 at 4.26.31 PM

Robin Dehlinger retired from SCPS in 2022 after 34 years serving the district as a high school history teacher at Lake Mary HS, assistant principal at Teague MS and South Seminole MS, principal at South Seminole and Lawton Chiles Middle Schools and as an assistant superintendent.  Prior to employment with the district, Dr. Dehlinger worked for 6 years with the Diocese of Orlando, teaching at St. James, St. Mary Magdalen and Bishop Moore HS.  Dr. Dehlinger decided to run for the School Board to put her experience to work in support of the district and public education.  As a passionate advocate, Dr. Dehlinger supports open communication and engagement with parents and the community and innovation in program development to meet the challenges ahead for school districts in Florida.

Dr. Dehlinger earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Texas, and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and doctorate in Educational Research, Technology and Leadership from the University of Central Florida.  Dr. Dehlinger worked with the school district to achieve unitary status, supported the development of reading, math and civics curriculum initiatives and served on the district’s Discipline Committee and Insurance Committee for many years. As an assistant superintendent, Dr. Dehlinger supervised the district’s 12 middle schools and 20 elementary schools.

Dr. Dehlinger and her husband, Charlie, have been married for 48 years and have lived in Seminole County since 1976.  Charlie has practiced law in Seminole County for almost 50 years. Their three children graduated from Lake Mary HS and their oldest grandson graduated from Lyman HS. Their younger grandchildren attend SCPS elementary schools.  Dr. Dehlinger is looking forward to working with staff, students, parents and the community to support the continued success of Seminole County Public Schools and the opportunities and access it provides for all students!
This board member's biography was taken from the Seminole County Public School website.

Published &#8211; October 4, 2021
In June 2021, the Florida Board of Education voted unanimously to <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/florida-education-leaders-ban-critical-race-theory-in-schools/ar-AAKT0bt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban Critical Race Theory from the Florida state K-12 curriculum</a>. 
In July, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/07/30/gov-ron-desantis-bans-florida-school-districts-from-requiring-masks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning school districts from requiring students to wear masks</a>. The Seminole County school board itself announced that while <a href="https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/07/22/heres-what-seminole-county-students-parents-need-to-know-ahead-of-the-upcoming-school-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">masks would be recommended for all students</a>, they would not take steps to require them. 
The school board recently faced controversy for voting to hire Chad Farnsworth as superintendent, only to <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/update-seminole-county-school-board-votes-to-select-serita-beamon-as-next-superintendent/ar-BB1e81mK" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rescind the decision and vote to hire attorney Serita Beamon</a> after following public criticism. 
_____________________ 
<a href="https://www.scps.k12.fl.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seminole County Public Schools</a> has 66,680 students enrolled in Pre-K through 12 across 81 schools.

400 E Lake Mary Blvd

heres-what-seminole-county-students-parents-need-to-know-ahead-of-the-upcoming-school-year

Seminole County School Board votes to select Serita Beamon as next superintendent

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bans school districts from requiring students to wear masks

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce WFLX-TV  Florida education leaders ban 'Critical Race Theory' in schools

Good News!

Seminole County Public Schools

Seminole County Public Schools

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Board Members:

Relevant News:

heres-what-seminole-county-students-parents-need-to-know-ahead-of-the-upcoming-school-year

Seminole County School Board votes to select Serita Beamon as next superintendent

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bans school districts from requiring students to wear masks

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce WFLX-TV Florida education leaders ban 'Critical Race Theory' in schools

Board details:

TAGS:

RioSlum Studio

Seminole County Public Schools

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Board Members:

Relevant News:

heres-what-seminole-county-students-parents-need-to-know-ahead-of-the-upcoming-school-year

Seminole County School Board votes to select Serita Beamon as next superintendent

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis bans school districts from requiring students to wear masks

West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce WFLX-TV Florida education leaders ban 'Critical Race Theory' in schools

Board details:

TAGS: