How Superintendent Carmen Balgobin keeps the vision alive
Superintendent Carmen J. Balgobin, Ed.D., spent the first eight years of her professional career as a claims adjuster for an insurance company. Seeking more fulfilling work, she returned to college, got an education degree and began teaching at a high school.
“It was imparted upon me by my father that a good education is a ticket to possibilities and success,” says Balgobin, leader of Florida’s Volusia County Schools and the District Administration Leadership Institute’s Woman of the Year. “A good education opens up so many doors.”
She rose through the ranks as a coach, principal and deputy superintendent, taking the helm in Volusia County in 2022. The district, which includes Daytona Beach, has 87 schools and serves 72,000 students.
One of the biggest shifts she has seen during three decades in education is the focus on the whole child. The term covers everything from digital literacy to social-emotional learning to career readiness, Balgobin explains. “We have to adapt to their needs,” she adds. “There’s been a lot of change in education because of what 21st-century learners demand of us.”
Educators are also now ensuring students have the skills to match their passions, particularly those planning to join the workforce after graduation. Over the last four years, Balgobin and her team have expanded Volusia County’s career and technical education programs from 164 to 279.
Students can also now earn professional certifications in all of those programs, and many students are graduating with more than one credential. More than 200 students graduated from Volusia County schools with associate’s degrees.
Carmen Balgobin’s key achievements
Under Balgobin’s leadership, Volusia County Schools earned an “A” rating from the state for the first time in 16 years, and now ranks in the top 10 districts in the state. Three-quarters of the district’s schools earned an “A” or a “B” grade and, for the first time since 2008, none of the schools were rated at “D” or “F.”
“Our vision is very much alive here,” Balgobin says. “We energize the team with the belief system that every child should have access to obtain the best education possible.”
In recent years, the district has put two STEM buses on the road, to travel into communities. Six dual-language, Spanish-English programs and three French academies have launched. A growing number of students are participating in internships with the district’s partners.
On the behavioral front, the district has significantly reduced weapons incidents and disciplinary referrals.
“When you’re a leader, it’s important for folks to understand the why behind the work you do,” Balgobin says. “I always ensure the basis for our existence is to make a better world for our students.”
Balgobin has three priorities for next year: embedding innovation, strengthening literacy instruction and further expanding career and technical education. “If we can help our students become critical readers and learners, and integrate that across subjects, that translates into everything they do in life,” she says.
