ORLANDO, Fla. – After eight years as the mayor of Orange County, Teresa Jacobs is now just a few months into her new role as chair of Orange County Public Schools.
Jacobs sat down with News 6 anchor Justin Warmoth for Sunday's "The Weekly on ClickOrlando.com" to talk about her time as mayor, what she's hoping to accomplish for Orange County schools and what went into her decision to run for school board chair.
"As strange as this is going to sound, I thought governor. I could definitely have a huge impact being governor," Jacobs said. "And then I thought school board. People talked all the time thinking I would run for higher office, but it depends on how you define higher office. If higher is where you can make the highest degree of positive change in this world, schools are it."
Jacobs also discussed school security, mental health funding, Gov. Ron DeSantis' plan to ditch Common Core and the possibility of moving back school start times for high schools in Orange County.
"We're just trying to figure out what would be the best option to start a conversation about start times to see if the community supports those changes," Jacobs said. "We have to have strong community buy-in to do this."
Use these links to follow along with The Weekly:
Mayor Teresa Jacobs wins Orange County School Board chair race
DeSantis issues executive order eliminating Common Core in Florida
Orange County Public Schools review school start times
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Central Florida schools receive millions to increase mental health assistance to students