Candidate: David A. Godwin

David Godwin For Superintendent of Santa Rosa County School District.

David Godwin pre-filed March 19, 2024, to become the next Superintendent of Schools in Santa Rosa County. He is a dedicated, veteran professional with over thirty-three years of focused educational experience. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Auburn University.

David began his teaching career in 1989 in Escambia County and then transferred to Santa Rosa County in 1999.  He has taught a full range of mathematics classes from general math to Calculus. He has also coached football, basketball, baseball, and track.

Currently, David teaches Geometry at Pace High School and is the elected president of Santa Rosa Professional Educators. He has served on SRPE’s Executive Board and has been the chief negotiator for instructional staff for the last 10 years.

David has also served on many Santa Rosa County School Board stakeholder committees that include the insurance committee, curriculum committee, evaluation committee, performance pay committee, calendar committee, coaching supplement committee, textbook selection committee, and school scheduling (start/end time) committee.

His gifted mathematical ability led him to become a skilled researcher, who has spent many hours compiling financial data on local, regional, and statewide school funding. He has an extensive working knowledge of the Florida Education Finance Program and Santa Rosa County School District’s budget.

These are the changes that David proposes to implement for Santa Rosa County to become a top ten school district in Florida once again:

1.      Recruit and retain quality teachers by realigning the district’s budgeting process to provide competitive salary improvements.

2.      Eliminate wasteful bureaucracy by focusing on implementation of an educational environment that prioritizes essential school-based personnel.

3.      Return to the seven-period day in high schools, which will provide a daily planning period and a duty period for teachers. The addition of the duty period will significantly improve school safety and security. Also, the seven daily classes will increase student educational opportunities and student instructional time.

Godwin, who pre-filed as a Republican candidate, spoke recently at a Republican Executive Committee meeting.  He has received overwhelming encouragement from educators and community members, persuading him to run for Santa Rosa County Superintendent of Schools.

David has been married to Suzanne Barberi Godwin (teacher at Holley-Navarre Middle) for 23 years. They have four children that attended Santa Rosa County Schools. David’s late parents, Arthur A. Godwin and Pauline S. Godwin, taught him strength and endurance. Arthur was a WW2 veteran and earned a Silver Star for gallantry in action on Omaha Beach in the invasion of Normandy. Pauline was a public-school teacher in Gadsden, Alabama, for 42 years.