Stephanie Vanos

Stephanie Vanos is a member of the Orange County Public Schools school board in Florida, representing District 6. She assumed office on November 19, 2024. Her current term ends on November 21, 2028.

Vanos won election to the Orange County Public Schools school board to represent District 6 in Florida outright in the primary on August 20, 2024, after the general election was canceled.

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

Biography

Stephanie Vanos was born in La Grange, Illinois. She earned a high school diploma from Hinsdale South High School, a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 2000, and a law degree from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2003. Her career experience includes working as a lawyer. Vanos has served on the following organizations:^[1]

Orange County League of Women Voters (including as Education Committee co-chair from 2021 to 2023)
Democratic Public Education Caucus of Florida (including as vice president from 2022 to 2023)
Help Out Public Education (HOPE) Political Committee, Co-Founder
Orange County Public Schools Reapportionment Committee, Member, 2021
OCPS Leadership Orange, Class VII, 2016-2017
Florida Bar Association, Member
Orange County Bar Association, Member
PACE Center for Girls, Board Member, 2007-2009
Girls on the Run Central Florida, Board Member, 2017-2020
Track Shack Youth Foundation, Trustee
Tiger Bay

Elections

2024

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Orange County Public Schools school board District 6

Stephanie Vanos won election outright against Jeni Grieger in the primary for Orange County Public Schools school board District 6 on August 20, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephanie Vanos (Nonpartisan)	68.3	20,628
	Submit photo	Jeni Grieger (Nonpartisan)	31.7	9,553

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 30,181
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Vanos received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Vanos's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.

Ruth's List Florida

Campaign themes

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released July 24, 2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

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

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am the mom of three daughters in Orange County Public Schools, a lawyer, and have been a volunteer public education advocate for the past 10 years. As an advocate, I started as a “recess mom” and learned from School Board Members and grassroots organizers how to advocate for policies in Orange County. I joined the League of Women Voters and eventually became Co-Chair of their Education Committee, where I started to learn more about specific education legislation and its impact on our local schools. I learned how to effectively advocate in Tallahassee as the Vice President of the Democratic Public Education Caucus, making multiple trips to the state capitol, mainly to advocate for more funding for public education. I also worked with a State Representative to write legislation that would give school districts the option for their employees to join the state health care plan. During my time as an advocate, I have given multiple town halls across the state and been invited to speak on numerous panels. I presented a panel at the Network for Public Education Conference in Washington, D.C., and lobbied for community schools on Capitol Hill while I was there. Earlier this year, the National Academy of Education asked me to review and discuss a series of papers by postdoctoral researchers concerning closing achievement gaps post-COVID.

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?

Restore trust and respect for our educators and treat educators as professionals.
Ensure that every neighborhood has access to a safe, high-quality public school.
Focus on issues that parents and students care about such as improved reading instruction, robust academic counseling, access to mental health resources, and increased real world experiences in school.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am especially passionate about funding for public education. Florida ranks 50th in teacher pay because the state legislature underfunds our school districts and recently passed a universal voucher bill that is diverting $4 billion that could otherwise be used to help our public schools. As that bill went through the legislature, I testified against it at five of its six committee stops and provided talking points to pro-public education legislators to use during questions and debate.

What is your favorite book? Why?

One of my favorite books to read to my girls when they were little was Rosie Revere, Engineer. The girls loved the story but especially loved that it made me tear up. I love the story which revolves around Rosie who has doubts about her ability to build anything and was laughed at for her past mistakes. Rosie's mind never stopped imagining and creating, and with the encouragement of someone who believed in her, she found the joy and success in building and creating perfectly imperfect inventions. It's a story about coming up short, believing in yourself, believing those who believe in you, and trying again.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

https://www.votevanos.org/endorsements

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I believe that we must have financial transparency for public funds in education, including transparency in public monies given to charter schools and private schools that accept vouchers. In Orange County, we have an independent committee that reviews the spending of revenue from our half-penny sales tax for capital projects, and I believe we should set up another independent committee of public finance experts to review our entire $6 billion budget and make recommendations for efficiencies to the Superintendent and School Board.

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.

External links

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Candidate

Orange County Public Schools school board District 6

Personal

Footnotes

↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 24, 2024

[1] Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 24, 2024

[1]

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Stephanie Vanos

Contents

Biography

Elections

2024

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Orange County Public Schools school board District 6

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2024

Video for Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

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2026 Elections

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