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Carole Gauronskas is vice president of the Florida Education Association (FEA), the state’s largest association of professional employees.

Carole is the first education staff professional to be elected as an officer of the FEA, and previously worked as an exceptional student education (ESE) paraprofessional at Ketterlinus Elementary School in St. Augustine, Fla.

In her work and within the larger community, Carole has always been driven to serve.

Carole came to Ketterlinus Elementary School in 2000 as a parent, serving initially as a volunteer. She wore many hats at the school: volunteer coordinator, newsletter editor, Title I liaison, computer lab instructor and, for nine years, ESE paraprofessional. In 2008, Carole was the School Related Employee of the Year at Ketterlinus.

She served as an advocate for the members of the St. Johns Educational Support Professional Association (SJESPA) for several years, first as a school representative and beginning in May 2015 as local union president. Carole has held leadership positions on numerous councils and teams within her school district and union, and has given many hours as a church and community volunteer. In 2018, she received FEA’s Educational Support Professional of the Year award. In October 2018, she was elected secretary-treasurer of the organization. Carole was named vice president in September 2020, when then-Vice President Andrew Spar rose to the presidency following the departure of the previous president, Fedrick Ingram, to become secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

Carole and her husband, David, have one son. Adam is a graduate of St. Johns County public schools and attends St. Johns River State College.