Krista Goodrich

This page was last updated during the official's most recent election or appointment. Please contact us with any updates.

Krista Goodrich

Nonpartisan

Volusia County Schools school board District 2

Tenure

2024 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

0

Predecessor

Anita Burnette

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Brookwood High School

Bachelor's

East Tennessee State University, 1999

Personal

Birthplace

Winter Park, Fla.

Profession

Entrepreneur

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Krista Goodrich is a member of the Volusia County Schools school board in Florida, representing District 2. She assumed office on November 19, 2024. Her current term ends on November 21, 2028.

Goodrich ran for election to the Volusia County Schools school board to represent District 2 in Florida. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Goodrich completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Krista Goodrich was born in Winter Park, Florida. She graduated from Brookwood High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from East Tennessee State University in 1999. Her career experience includes working as an entrepreneur starting businesses in various industries including property management, beverage manufacturing, real estate development, and women's financial education.

Goodrich has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• Special Olympics
• Elevate Daytona Beach
• Daytona Beachside Redevelopment
• Daytona Beach Leisure Services
• The American Red Cross Central Florida
• The Chase Academy School for Autism
• VRMA
• Boss Lady Community Volusia County
• Volusia Women Who Care
• Daytona Chamber of Commerce
• Port Orange South Daytona Chamber of Commerce
• Main Street Merchants Association
• Team Volusia
• Junior Achievement
• Hotel & Lodging Association

Elections

2024

See also: Volusia County Schools, Florida, elections (2024)

General election

General election for Volusia County Schools school board District 2

Krista Goodrich defeated Cassandra Gonyer in the general election for Volusia County Schools school board District 2 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Krista Goodrich (Nonpartisan)	58.6	25,522
		Cassandra Gonyer (Nonpartisan)	41.4	18,055

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 43,577
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Volusia County Schools school board District 2

Krista Goodrich and Cassandra Gonyer defeated Angela Kopnicky in the primary for Volusia County Schools school board District 2 on August 20, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Krista Goodrich (Nonpartisan)	45.9	6,591
✔		Cassandra Gonyer (Nonpartisan)	30.0	4,315
	Submit photo	Angela Kopnicky (Nonpartisan)	24.1	3,460

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,366
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Goodrich in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Krista Goodrich completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Goodrich's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm a proud mom, wife, friend and businesswoman with a life mission of helping people reach their highest potential. As the first person in my family to graduate college, I know firsthand how important education is in shaping a child's future.

I have started numerous successful companies and have found that many graduates entering the workforce are not prepared for the "real" world after school. We need a champion for our children, a leader with a proven track record, that will fight to get all available resources to ensure their success. Every child, regardless of ability or socio-economic status, should have a fighter in their corner ready to help propel them to their potential. I am the leader that will be in every child's corner, taking action to make that happen.

With one of the largest budgets in the county, it is imperative that VCPS has board members that clearly and thoroughly understand how to read a budget, financial documents and takes fiduciary responsibility seriously. My early career was in finance where I worked on financial accounts for the National Basketball Association, Spanx and on a distribution team for one of the country's first 529 college savings plans. As an owner of numerous business, an expert speaker on investing with an Economics degree, I fill a void that our current school board has with my understanding of finance.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We must have absolute financial transparency and accountability with our taxpayer dollars on our school board. The current board already has two lifelong educators, however, we have no board member with a significant financial background to oversee the more than $1 billion budget. I fill that gap. We just saw over $40 million of funds misappropriated in our school system leading to the loss of arts and music programs. With me on the board, this type of mismanagement will not be allowed to happen. Financial decisions will be made that put the future of our children first.
• Literacy-in our county, literacy rates (and math) grades K-3 are abysmal. If our kids cannot read or do basic math, they will have very limited chance for success later in their education. I have plans on how we can bring in additional resources to overcome our overwhelming literacy problem so that we can get our kids on track to have a wonderful education.
• Life skills preparation: Too many kids are being "moved up" and "moved out" of the school system, often graduating without skills to have successful careers. Whether a child is looking to go to college or wants to immediately enter the workforce, we must prepare them with the tools and skills needed for success. I have already starting working with local businesses and colleges to provide enhanced training and cooperation so that we can offer more opportunities for our kids to learn and grow. Partnering with local colleges and businesses will help prepare our youth for a rapidly changing work world. I have the ability to connect these businesses and colleges with our schools.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about getting Volusia County Schools financial house in order. The complete financial disaster that we have now has led to the loss of crucial programs like arts and music, the displacement of over 300 teachers during a time where we are already experience a significant teacher shortage and to a distrust of how our taxpayer funds are managed. We have so many ideas and opportunities, but if we don't get a board member on there with an understanding of finance it will be nearly impossible to implement them. When you build a board, you want to have strong people in all areas-our current board has two 30+year educators, a mom with kids in the school system but not a business person with strong financial knowledge.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Abe Lincoln, my mom, my sister and Richard Branson. I believe life is short and we are here to do good, spread kindness, lead by example and work hard to keep our world amazing...and to have a fun time while doing it.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Lincoln

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Transparency, honesty, hard work ethic, commitment, integrity, compassion, a willingness to listen and an ability to work with others.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Strong leadership, public speaking skills, integrity, ability to work with people from all walks of life, ability to be quiet and listen when need and to speak up when needed, kindness to all, compassion and resilience.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To make sure every child, regardless of their circumstances, receives a quality education.

What legacy would you like to leave?

To have positively impacted the lives of as many people as possible and to inspire others to lead with kindness.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The Challenger Space Shuttle. Christa McAuliffe was my hero as I wanted to be an astronaut and we shared the same name, though different spelling. I remember every moment of watching it on TV. Later, I won the state Reflections contest for poetry for a poem that I wrote about the entire crew. I was 8 years old.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Smokehouse Hams when I was fourteen years old. I'm a pescatarian but back then they were the only place that would hire a fourteen year old and I was in desperate need of a job to save for my study abroad trip. I stayed there about a year.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Katrina from Midnight Cloud

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

The System

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

To make sure every child, regardless of their circumstances, receives a quality education.

Who are your constituents?

Volusia county residents and their kiddos!

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

I will listen and work with everyone in my county-parents, kids, teachers, community leaders, organizations and businesses. I will do it the same way I have built over 20 successful businesses-by working like crazy. I currently work with people from all socio-economic backgrounds, religions, political affiliations and cultural backgrounds and continue to find success again and again. I want to bring this same type of leadership to our school board.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

I am an extremely active member of the community and will be recruiting others to become more involved in the schools. I will be targeting businesses and parents to step up and help move the needle on our kids education.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Daytona Beach Association of Realtors, The Boss Lady C'ommunity, Volusia Builders Industry Association, Jake Johansson County Councilman at Large.

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

One where all students feel valued, loved and inspired to learn.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district?

I would love to hold quarterly town halls to hear feedback and to share ideas.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

It's the core of my platform. We MUST have complete financial transparency and government accountability. There is no reason taxpayer dollars should ever not know how their tax dollars are being spent.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2024 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Volusia County Schools school board District 2

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Personal

LinkedIn