August 12, 2024 • 20 mins
Koch is one of five candidates running for an open seat on the School Board in District 5.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm fur wjno dot com. My election spotlight
(00:03):
is on the Pompage County school Board, very crowded race
for school Board District five. This is the South County.
The gentleman holding this seat. It's been there, I believe,
twelve years and not running for another term. So you
have five candidates running for this seat, including Mindy Coke.
(00:23):
Thank you for joining me, Thank you for having me.
All right, let's talk about you give us some give
us some background. I was thinking of a silly joke like,
did people ever ever confuse you for you know, Cotch
at Cotch from New York? Did you ever get And
it sounds like you might be from New York as well,
(00:43):
but I wasn't going to go there. But that's always
every time I see somebody with the name spelled like yours,
I want to say Cotch, like the old head Cotch.
I don't even know if that's how he spelled it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yes, that's exactly how he spelled it. And I have
often been called Cotch, But I respond to anything. My
line is just as long as you don't call me
late for dinner on good with whatever you want to
call me.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, I feel the same way, and I've been called
a lot of things too. Well, let's let's let's move along.
Let's talk about you. Give us some folks that aren't
aware of who you are. Tell us who you are, Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Well, I've lived in Palm Beach County, in Boca Raton,
actually since nineteen eighty five. I was a teacher for
my career spanned over forty years. I taught here in
tom Beach County for nineteen years and finished my career
in Broward. I had three children, and I was married
(01:47):
for thirty four years. My husband passed away in two
thousand and eight.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I'm sorry and thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And I've been an activist my entire life. My first
active activity was when John F. Kennedy was running for
president and my mother had people around the dining room table.
I was seven years old. They wouldn't trust me with
(02:17):
doing anything but putting stamps on the letters and licking
the letters closed. And that's the way we used to
reach people back in the day. So that was my
job and I've been active ever since.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
All Right, when you talk about active, I know that
you are the former head of the Palm Beach County
Democratic Party, correct, that.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Is correct now we are any more active.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
No, I wouldn't think so. Now when we talk about
things like school board races that currently are nonpartisan. I
know there is a constitutional proposed constitutional amendment that will
be on the back that would make them partisan races,
but currently they're non partisan. Is there any concern Do
(03:07):
you have any concern at all that folks may not
vote for you because they know.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
That well they can certainly voters make decisions, they've done
their own values. That is a concern. But at the
end of the day, I don't think we should determine
announce our party, so to speak, on a ballot, because
(03:35):
we're here to represent all the children and it doesn't
matter where they come from, or how much English they
know or don't know, or where their family lives. We're
just here to represent the children in the fair of
story possible. And so I don't think knowing my party
(03:58):
is a benefit or a negative at all.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And just so that we, you know, get for any
of the listeners you know that may have that concern,
you know you you will be fair regardless of you know,
if parents come out and they wear in a mega
hat for example, or whatever coming out through a school
board meeting. I'm just thinking about anything that could pop up.
You're you're going to be fair to everybody, correct.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Absolutely no question about it. You know, I was a
classroom teacher, and whether I liked the child or I
didn't like the child, they are, Oh, it is the
same opportunities that the children I did like, and none
of the children once I did a little survey because
they all said that's your favorite, that's your favorite, that's
your favorite, and it was always a different child.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So I had the.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Children one day, this was in middle school, write down
who my favorite child was. And there were only two
or three different two or three multiples. Otherwise they have
no idea, and that's the main goal. Everybody has has
the right to express their opinion without any pressure or
(05:15):
undo issues from the board.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, you do have on here as one of your priorities,
you know, increasing parental involvement, and we know that, you know.
I guess it started around COVID. It was twenty twenty,
twenty twenty one. Wasn't as bad in Palm Beach County
though it did. You know, there were some testing meetings.
I did see some of that video, but other places
around the state and other states, especially with parents sometimes
(05:43):
getting unruly. People get pretty vicious sometimes when it deals
with their kids and they feel like something's wrong or whatever.
How do you handle that if anything should happen like that.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Well, I think that we all need to treat each
other with respect. So as long as their conversations are respectful,
they're certainly welcome in my office any time, and on
the phone and at board meetings, because that's the way
we get a real good feeling for the pulse of
(06:17):
the community. If we don't hear from all different people,
then we're not really doing our job.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I don't think the school district was an A school
since twenty eighteen and then last year or not last year,
I guess technically last year, but the year before last,
the twenty twenty two to twenty three school year dropped
to a B and then came back for the twenty
twenty three twenty four school year. We just found out
recently went back to an A. How much of that
(06:47):
when you you know, when we did go down to
a B, do you do you feel was part of
what people call the COVID slide? And what else might
have played a part in it? And what do we
do to insurance stays in a.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well. I think that there's a lot of things that
go into the rating of the school district, but basically
it's testing that determines what happens in your school district.
So if the children this is a new test, the
fast Test is not the FSA, it's completely different and
(07:22):
it's given three times a year. And so I think
that that partially had something to do with the inability
to achieve an A. Because when you change things that
have been the same over long periods of time, people
have to get used to that change. And so that's
(07:45):
one example. I think people were not really prepared to
see a drop in grade because probably they were doing
the same things that they had been doing before, which
were successful. Year they were not successful, but this year
they were successful. So you know, I don't know, it's
(08:07):
kind of a conundrum. And as far as and if
as far as the school district, I think we need
to make sure we have all our classes staffed, which
is very difficult because you know, the teaching business is
not quite what it used to be, and so we
(08:27):
don't have the kind of resources we used to have.
We used to have tons of teachers, tons of people
who wanted to teach in classrooms and that's not the
case anymore. So I think we need to look, give
it a real hard look about what we're going to
do in order to retain teachers here in tom Beach County.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I was going to say, that's that's loaded me with
a question there. Why you say that a teaching industry
is not what it used to be? Why is it not?
In your opinion?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Well, you know, I don't think I don't think society
has really we still back in the day years ago
when teachers used to sweep their own classrooms. Teachers were
valued members of the community. I think over the years
that's eroded, Oh you teach or something similar to that,
(09:21):
although recently people have been saying, oh, thank you for
your service. And when they're talking to me about my
service and they're not talking to me about what I'm
getting done and what's possible in my classroom, that's, you know,
to me a whole different blogging. So I think that,
you know, part of it is the way society deals
(09:42):
with educators. And I think also we need to, you know,
make sure our senior staff are veteran teachers who've been
at this for a very long time benefit as much
as the new team do who Lord knows. They now
(10:03):
get sort of a living wage. But our senior teachers,
you know, when they get a four thousand dollars bonus,
that does not go towards their retirement and so you know,
that's just extra money, which is always very good. I
don't know that there is such a thing as extra money,
but there's more money that they're getting, but that does
(10:26):
not go through their that does not get they don't
get benefit from that in their retirement tires. So you know,
it's I think we need to take a look at
and see if we can do it a little differently.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
There are plans, and again I have not heard the
latest on this, but in school starting we're talking on
Tuesday the sixth, so in just under a week now,
the twelfth, the metal detectors are supposed to be up
in every high school in Palm Beach County. What you
what were you going to say?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
In every high school?
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Right? Yeah, in every high school, right, just in the
high schools, I believe. I don't know if you have
an update, if you've heard anything whether or not that
is going to be the case, but that is the plan.
What are your thoughts on that. Sounds like the pilot
program went off pretty well.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Yeah, it seems to have gone off pretty well. I
don't think there's many minuses to that. You know, we've
all been checked when we go to airports and all
those kinds of places, and you know, I just think
it's part of what we have to get used to today,
even though I wish we didn't.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
So it is sad is that when you see that now,
it's something you know prior to Columbine, you know, I mean,
let's just say that was a line of demarcation. You
never really you never really had to think about that.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
No, that was never something that was anybody you know.
And I have to tell you when I when Columbine happened,
I was and the acreage and I stopped for gass
and across that come from me with a sheriff, Stepanie,
and I said, are you going to work or are
you coming home? He said no, I'm coming home. I said,
(12:14):
how lucky for you. He said where do you work?
And I said in the combat zone And he immediately responded, oh,
you're a teacher, huh. And I said, wow, that's really
something that I would say that, and that he would
know exactly what I was talking about. So, yeah, it's
(12:34):
really kind of sad to me that we have to
do those kinds of things, but we got to do
what we got to do to keep our kids safe.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Mental health services another one of your priorities provide additional
Would part of that be to you know, maybe stop
another potentially future school shooter or what are the other
thoughts there?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Gosh, I would hope so. But I think that children
they have really suffered through this period of COVID in
a way that I don't think anybody really expected. And
I'm not sure serving them with one behavior specialist or
(13:21):
someone a nurse or someone like that is sufficient in
school because some schools have real severe problems with mental
health kids with mental health issues, and I think we
need to be compassionate, and you start to think about
what we do. I mean, we are the parents of
(13:45):
the location for those children for seven and a half
hours every single day. We see them doing great things,
we see them doing not so great things. We see
them joyful, we see them sad. We know what's going on,
and we I think owe it to our children to
make sure that they their mental health is secure. It's
(14:10):
not you know, making them overwhelmingly happy, right.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Right, So you you want additional I guess are they
are guidance counselors? Do they do this? Who handles that
at schools? Well, you're saying nurses? That doesn't make sense, yeah, right, So.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You know, well they're going to go to the nurse
and the nurse is going to say, oh, you look
pretty unhappy today, are you all right?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And they're not qualified the nurse not. I mean maybe
some nurses are, but I mean not, that's not a
qualification of being a nurse, correct, so of having a
mental health exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
And one, but you can that that person can certainly
make the referral to the counselor and you know, start
the process. But I think we need to do one
person can't do it all. And I think we need
to think about how it's best to employ our resources
so that the kids, because after all, you know yourself,
(15:12):
if you come to work and they go how are
you and you know I'm all right, you know immediately
there's something wrong because I can tell by your voice
usually a pretty okay guy, right in my in.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
My case, they just keep walking.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, but we can't do that with our children.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I know.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I think, yes, they say the same thing to me too.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Just okay, well there's that, and you know, and.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
We move on.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
But we're grown ups and these are children that we're
dealing with, and some of them have some real serious
issues that they deal with. And you you know, you
can see this. You saw it with tennis players, right
who said, you're bombarding me, you're absolutely I had that answer, well,
I never mind, I quit and they walk away. You
(16:05):
saw that with Simone Biles, one of the most famous
people on the face of the earth. Right, she had
tremendous difficulty four years ago and worked their way through it.
But it wasn't She didn't do it by herself, and
her parents didn't do it for her, and probably her
husband didn't do it for her. She had to figure
(16:27):
it out and she needed mental health assistance to do that.
And you know, you remember that used to be bad words,
mental health. So you know, this is a good thing
for society ri at large. I think, so, I guess
that'll be funny.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
That'll bring me into the budget budget kind of questions,
because you know that would obviously mean that the school
district would have to spend more money. I don't know
if they have the money to do that, and if not,
then obviously they'd have to get it from the state.
So talk about how you feel the budget is right now,
because some of the candidates in this race and the
other one as well, you know, do kind of call
(17:05):
into question the budget and how they feel. Some of
them are business owners and have business history, and they
feel like they could they could help balance the budget
better than it's being now. How do you feel it's going?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, you know, I'm kind of in the middle, okay.
I you know, there's there's monies that we have to
spend to build new schools here in Palm Beach County,
where Broward County is now closing schools, we're still buildings,
you know, and can you take the money away? And
(17:41):
is there another way to do that? Is there? You know,
although that has something to do with education. I mean,
we have one hundred and eighty three thousand kids or
and then one number I said, with one hundred and
ninety two thousand, So you know, we have to be
very careful with our resources. And I would suggest working
(18:01):
with the legislature to see if we can get some
funding for mental health issues. That is just that and
that alone. It can't be used for anything else. So
you know, I think I think that might be a
way to go as well. So lobbying our legislators might
be a way to go because they have kids too.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, there are five candidates in this race, and my
final question is there's lots of choice here, right, five
names on the ballot. Obviously, this is this is a
non partisanother said, this is everybody that lives within the
South County area. If you're in school Board District five,
it'll be on your voter registration Carter. You could find
out online at the supervisor's website. But five choices here, Why, ultimately,
(18:51):
in a nutshell, should vote folks vote for Mindy Cooke?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Well, here's what I believe. I believe America is the
great nation that it is because of the access we
provide all children and pre kindergarten through their nineteenth birthday.
This is what makes our country so fantastic. And we
(19:20):
give them a free and appropriate public education throughout their
youth and they can do with that whatever they want,
not a limit on just reading, writing, and arithmetic, but
the deep history we have, the scientific knowledge we have,
the math, the science, sorry, the art, music, all of
(19:45):
those things that lead up to a well rounded, what
we hope to be adult who believes in America and
makes it even greater than it is today. And that's
why I think I'm the person they should choose.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
All right, Well, I appreciate you taking the time to
speak with us and of course the voters in District
five Palm Beach County school Board District five candidate Mindy
Cooke here on WJNO dot com. Thanks again, thanks so much,
Hey, Joel Malcolm fur wjno dot com. My election spotlight
(00:03):
is on the Pompage County school Board, very crowded race
for school Board District five. This is the South County.
The gentleman holding this seat. It's been there, I believe,
twelve years and not running for another term. So you
have five candidates running for this seat, including Mindy Coke.
(00:23):
Thank you for joining me, Thank you for having me.
All right, let's talk about you give us some give
us some background. I was thinking of a silly joke like,
did people ever ever confuse you for you know, Cotch
at Cotch from New York? Did you ever get And
it sounds like you might be from New York as well,
(00:43):
but I wasn't going to go there. But that's always
every time I see somebody with the name spelled like yours,
I want to say Cotch, like the old head Cotch.
I don't even know if that's how he spelled it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yes, that's exactly how he spelled it. And I have
often been called Cotch, But I respond to anything. My
line is just as long as you don't call me
late for dinner on good with whatever you want to
call me.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, I feel the same way, and I've been called
a lot of things too. Well, let's let's let's move along.
Let's talk about you. Give us some folks that aren't
aware of who you are. Tell us who you are, Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Well, I've lived in Palm Beach County, in Boca Raton,
actually since nineteen eighty five. I was a teacher for
my career spanned over forty years. I taught here in
tom Beach County for nineteen years and finished my career
in Broward. I had three children, and I was married
(01:47):
for thirty four years. My husband passed away in two
thousand and eight.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
I'm sorry and thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
And I've been an activist my entire life. My first
active activity was when John F. Kennedy was running for
president and my mother had people around the dining room table.
I was seven years old. They wouldn't trust me with
(02:17):
doing anything but putting stamps on the letters and licking
the letters closed. And that's the way we used to
reach people back in the day. So that was my
job and I've been active ever since.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
All Right, when you talk about active, I know that
you are the former head of the Palm Beach County
Democratic Party, correct, that.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Is correct now we are any more active.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
No, I wouldn't think so. Now when we talk about
things like school board races that currently are nonpartisan. I
know there is a constitutional proposed constitutional amendment that will
be on the back that would make them partisan races,
but currently they're non partisan. Is there any concern Do
(03:07):
you have any concern at all that folks may not
vote for you because they know.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
That well they can certainly voters make decisions, they've done
their own values. That is a concern. But at the
end of the day, I don't think we should determine
announce our party, so to speak, on a ballot, because
(03:35):
we're here to represent all the children and it doesn't
matter where they come from, or how much English they
know or don't know, or where their family lives. We're
just here to represent the children in the fair of
story possible. And so I don't think knowing my party
(03:58):
is a benefit or a negative at all.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
And just so that we, you know, get for any
of the listeners you know that may have that concern,
you know you you will be fair regardless of you know,
if parents come out and they wear in a mega
hat for example, or whatever coming out through a school
board meeting. I'm just thinking about anything that could pop up.
You're you're going to be fair to everybody, correct.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Absolutely no question about it. You know, I was a
classroom teacher, and whether I liked the child or I
didn't like the child, they are, Oh, it is the
same opportunities that the children I did like, and none
of the children once I did a little survey because
they all said that's your favorite, that's your favorite, that's
your favorite, and it was always a different child.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
So I had the.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Children one day, this was in middle school, write down
who my favorite child was. And there were only two
or three different two or three multiples. Otherwise they have
no idea, and that's the main goal. Everybody has has
the right to express their opinion without any pressure or
(05:15):
undo issues from the board.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, you do have on here as one of your priorities,
you know, increasing parental involvement, and we know that, you know.
I guess it started around COVID. It was twenty twenty,
twenty twenty one. Wasn't as bad in Palm Beach County
though it did. You know, there were some testing meetings.
I did see some of that video, but other places
around the state and other states, especially with parents sometimes
(05:43):
getting unruly. People get pretty vicious sometimes when it deals
with their kids and they feel like something's wrong or whatever.
How do you handle that if anything should happen like that.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Well, I think that we all need to treat each
other with respect. So as long as their conversations are respectful,
they're certainly welcome in my office any time, and on
the phone and at board meetings, because that's the way
we get a real good feeling for the pulse of
(06:17):
the community. If we don't hear from all different people,
then we're not really doing our job.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I don't think the school district was an A school
since twenty eighteen and then last year or not last year,
I guess technically last year, but the year before last,
the twenty twenty two to twenty three school year dropped
to a B and then came back for the twenty
twenty three twenty four school year. We just found out
recently went back to an A. How much of that
(06:47):
when you you know, when we did go down to
a B, do you do you feel was part of
what people call the COVID slide? And what else might
have played a part in it? And what do we
do to insurance stays in a.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Well. I think that there's a lot of things that
go into the rating of the school district, but basically
it's testing that determines what happens in your school district.
So if the children this is a new test, the
fast Test is not the FSA, it's completely different and
(07:22):
it's given three times a year. And so I think
that that partially had something to do with the inability
to achieve an A. Because when you change things that
have been the same over long periods of time, people
have to get used to that change. And so that's
(07:45):
one example. I think people were not really prepared to
see a drop in grade because probably they were doing
the same things that they had been doing before, which
were successful. Year they were not successful, but this year
they were successful. So you know, I don't know, it's
(08:07):
kind of a conundrum. And as far as and if
as far as the school district, I think we need
to make sure we have all our classes staffed, which
is very difficult because you know, the teaching business is
not quite what it used to be, and so we
(08:27):
don't have the kind of resources we used to have.
We used to have tons of teachers, tons of people
who wanted to teach in classrooms and that's not the
case anymore. So I think we need to look, give
it a real hard look about what we're going to
do in order to retain teachers here in tom Beach County.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I was going to say, that's that's loaded me with
a question there. Why you say that a teaching industry
is not what it used to be? Why is it not?
In your opinion?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Well, you know, I don't think I don't think society
has really we still back in the day years ago
when teachers used to sweep their own classrooms. Teachers were
valued members of the community. I think over the years
that's eroded, Oh you teach or something similar to that,
(09:21):
although recently people have been saying, oh, thank you for
your service. And when they're talking to me about my
service and they're not talking to me about what I'm
getting done and what's possible in my classroom, that's, you know,
to me a whole different blogging. So I think that,
you know, part of it is the way society deals
(09:42):
with educators. And I think also we need to, you know,
make sure our senior staff are veteran teachers who've been
at this for a very long time benefit as much
as the new team do who Lord knows. They now
(10:03):
get sort of a living wage. But our senior teachers,
you know, when they get a four thousand dollars bonus,
that does not go towards their retirement and so you know,
that's just extra money, which is always very good. I
don't know that there is such a thing as extra money,
but there's more money that they're getting, but that does
(10:26):
not go through their that does not get they don't
get benefit from that in their retirement tires. So you know,
it's I think we need to take a look at
and see if we can do it a little differently.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
There are plans, and again I have not heard the
latest on this, but in school starting we're talking on
Tuesday the sixth, so in just under a week now,
the twelfth, the metal detectors are supposed to be up
in every high school in Palm Beach County. What you
what were you going to say?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
In every high school?
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Right? Yeah, in every high school, right, just in the
high schools, I believe. I don't know if you have
an update, if you've heard anything whether or not that
is going to be the case, but that is the plan.
What are your thoughts on that. Sounds like the pilot
program went off pretty well.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Yeah, it seems to have gone off pretty well. I
don't think there's many minuses to that. You know, we've
all been checked when we go to airports and all
those kinds of places, and you know, I just think
it's part of what we have to get used to today,
even though I wish we didn't.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
So it is sad is that when you see that now,
it's something you know prior to Columbine, you know, I mean,
let's just say that was a line of demarcation. You
never really you never really had to think about that.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
No, that was never something that was anybody you know.
And I have to tell you when I when Columbine happened,
I was and the acreage and I stopped for gass
and across that come from me with a sheriff, Stepanie,
and I said, are you going to work or are
you coming home? He said no, I'm coming home. I said,
(12:14):
how lucky for you. He said where do you work?
And I said in the combat zone And he immediately responded, oh,
you're a teacher, huh. And I said, wow, that's really
something that I would say that, and that he would
know exactly what I was talking about. So, yeah, it's
(12:34):
really kind of sad to me that we have to
do those kinds of things, but we got to do
what we got to do to keep our kids safe.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Mental health services another one of your priorities provide additional
Would part of that be to you know, maybe stop
another potentially future school shooter or what are the other
thoughts there?
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Gosh, I would hope so. But I think that children
they have really suffered through this period of COVID in
a way that I don't think anybody really expected. And
I'm not sure serving them with one behavior specialist or
(13:21):
someone a nurse or someone like that is sufficient in
school because some schools have real severe problems with mental
health kids with mental health issues, and I think we
need to be compassionate, and you start to think about
what we do. I mean, we are the parents of
(13:45):
the location for those children for seven and a half
hours every single day. We see them doing great things,
we see them doing not so great things. We see
them joyful, we see them sad. We know what's going on,
and we I think owe it to our children to
make sure that they their mental health is secure. It's
(14:10):
not you know, making them overwhelmingly happy, right.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Right, So you you want additional I guess are they
are guidance counselors? Do they do this? Who handles that
at schools? Well, you're saying nurses? That doesn't make sense, yeah, right, So.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
You know, well they're going to go to the nurse
and the nurse is going to say, oh, you look
pretty unhappy today, are you all right?
Speaker 1 (14:36):
And they're not qualified the nurse not. I mean maybe
some nurses are, but I mean not, that's not a
qualification of being a nurse, correct, so of having a
mental health exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
And one, but you can that that person can certainly
make the referral to the counselor and you know, start
the process. But I think we need to do one
person can't do it all. And I think we need
to think about how it's best to employ our resources
so that the kids, because after all, you know yourself,
(15:12):
if you come to work and they go how are
you and you know I'm all right, you know immediately
there's something wrong because I can tell by your voice
usually a pretty okay guy, right in my in.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
My case, they just keep walking.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, but we can't do that with our children.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
I know.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I think, yes, they say the same thing to me too.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Just okay, well there's that, and you know, and.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
We move on.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
But we're grown ups and these are children that we're
dealing with, and some of them have some real serious
issues that they deal with. And you you know, you
can see this. You saw it with tennis players, right
who said, you're bombarding me, you're absolutely I had that answer, well,
I never mind, I quit and they walk away. You
(16:05):
saw that with Simone Biles, one of the most famous
people on the face of the earth. Right, she had
tremendous difficulty four years ago and worked their way through it.
But it wasn't She didn't do it by herself, and
her parents didn't do it for her, and probably her
husband didn't do it for her. She had to figure
(16:27):
it out and she needed mental health assistance to do that.
And you know, you remember that used to be bad words,
mental health. So you know, this is a good thing
for society ri at large. I think, so, I guess
that'll be funny.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
That'll bring me into the budget budget kind of questions,
because you know that would obviously mean that the school
district would have to spend more money. I don't know
if they have the money to do that, and if not,
then obviously they'd have to get it from the state.
So talk about how you feel the budget is right now,
because some of the candidates in this race and the
other one as well, you know, do kind of call
(17:05):
into question the budget and how they feel. Some of
them are business owners and have business history, and they
feel like they could they could help balance the budget
better than it's being now. How do you feel it's going?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, you know, I'm kind of in the middle, okay.
I you know, there's there's monies that we have to
spend to build new schools here in Palm Beach County,
where Broward County is now closing schools, we're still buildings,
you know, and can you take the money away? And
(17:41):
is there another way to do that? Is there? You know,
although that has something to do with education. I mean,
we have one hundred and eighty three thousand kids or
and then one number I said, with one hundred and
ninety two thousand, So you know, we have to be
very careful with our resources. And I would suggest working
(18:01):
with the legislature to see if we can get some
funding for mental health issues. That is just that and
that alone. It can't be used for anything else. So
you know, I think I think that might be a
way to go as well. So lobbying our legislators might
be a way to go because they have kids too.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Yeah, there are five candidates in this race, and my
final question is there's lots of choice here, right, five
names on the ballot. Obviously, this is this is a
non partisanother said, this is everybody that lives within the
South County area. If you're in school Board District five,
it'll be on your voter registration Carter. You could find
out online at the supervisor's website. But five choices here, Why, ultimately,
(18:51):
in a nutshell, should vote folks vote for Mindy Cooke?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Well, here's what I believe. I believe America is the
great nation that it is because of the access we
provide all children and pre kindergarten through their nineteenth birthday.
This is what makes our country so fantastic. And we
(19:20):
give them a free and appropriate public education throughout their
youth and they can do with that whatever they want,
not a limit on just reading, writing, and arithmetic, but
the deep history we have, the scientific knowledge we have,
the math, the science, sorry, the art, music, all of
(19:45):
those things that lead up to a well rounded, what
we hope to be adult who believes in America and
makes it even greater than it is today. And that's
why I think I'm the person they should choose.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
All right, Well, I appreciate you taking the time to
speak with us and of course the voters in District
five Palm Beach County school Board District five candidate Mindy
Cooke here on WJNO dot com. Thanks again, thanks so much,
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