By NEIL SULLIVAN
During the primaries, a reader asked what I look for in a school board member. As I reflected on the question, I realized that the optimal board member is a blend of attributes we have seen over time.
First, I look for someone who will interact with the public and seek opinions, even if those opinions differ from their own. Current candidate for the overall county position, Brian Anderson has demonstrated this best. He has held open conversations on his Facebook account. These forums were advertised before time and were no holds barred.
These forums reflected the diversity of opinion across Fayette County and helped inform the board member of the different positions to inform his own. Brian responds to email, and I have found him to be honest with the facts.
A runner up in this category is Mrs. Marion Key. She served for several terms and ran again against me and Scott Hollowell. She also responded to email, especially back in the early ESPLOST days. I have found when someone is willing to put it in writing, their message holds more weight.
I look for someone who sees the whole system from the “50,000 foot” level or from K to 12, Brooks to Tyrone, PTC to Fayetteville, from those who are going to college to those who struggle. Mrs. Janet Smola really did this well. While she pushed for educational excellence, she understood that some children will struggle, and we need to provide a place for all. Her son Andrew is a teacher in our system.
Representing all views is very important in a large school system such as ours. Mr. Leonard Presberg did this well. I am not sure we agree on much outside each of us wanting great public education. Mr. Presberg went into our schools and even rode on the buses to understand them from the ground up. While our disagreements are too numerous to count, I respect his efforts and that he represents a viewpoint in our county. AT one point his daughter taught at Sandy Creek with my wife.
While understanding our schools is important, understanding the state laws and regulations that apply to them is key. Mrs. Terri Snith was a board member who could teach classes on Georgia’s QBE (school funding) formula as well as other Georgia Department of Education guidelines. Having someone on the board who could ensure staff was providing the right information is key to protect the taxpayers.
All the communication pieces we put together for the ESPLOSTs were checked for accuracy by Mrs. Smith but also, she helped our writing team make all the policy plain and simple English for non policy people. One piece she helped us write was an overview of QBE funding (“QBE for Dummies”) that was published by this publication, the AJC, as well as used by other public education advocacy groups across Georgia.
While I truly appreciate those who are willing to learn about schools, the presence of experienced educators on our board has been a true blessing. Current school board member Roy Rabold was a principal at two of our high schools and demonstrated a skill and a passion for his teachers and students.
During his tenure as principal at Sandy Creek, he realized the need to create two reading teacher positions at his school. While this sounds counter intuitive especially for our excellent Fayette County schools, the rise in graduation rates and state test scores showed he helped more students be successful.
In a tie for runner up in this category are former teacher Diane Basham whose success at Mcintosh High School speaks for itself. My wife worked with her and has spoken of her rigorous approach to teaching which she brought to her time at the board.
Dr. Bob Todd helped lead us through tough economic times and preserve our class size advantage as long as we did.
Finances is close to my heart and a big issue for the excellent and wonderful Fayette County Schools. We were blessed to have finance professor Barry Marchman on the board for two terms. Dr. Marchman helped our system recognize the fact that we needed to right size to address the funding issues of the early 2010s and make tough decisions.
What I really appreciated about Dr. Marchman was that he sought out and listened to the other side of the argument to help make the best decision, A good example is the decision to turf our football fields. While the payback was not quick, the long-term analysis made sense. He checked his facts before making that decision.
In addition, none of Dr. Marchman’s children went to Fayette County schools but were home-schooled. My point is that he brought a different perspective in a time when the Fayette schools needed it.
Lastly it is important that the FCBOE is connected to our business community. Mr. Scott Hollowell is a small businessman and well connected to the Fayette Chamber of Commerce. He served as the chamber’s education liaison before his election to the FCBOE and is currently running for his third term.
While I would argue that the “perfect board member” is a combination of all the above in the correct proportion, I am grateful to all that have served and contributed to the wonderful Fayette County Public Schools. While these pages were often filled with disagreement about what to do at times, the results speak for themselves.
I have suggested in the past that we take the “Ted Lasso” approach to political candidates and not judge the party label but be curious about the person and what they can contribute. Therefore, I have reached out to all six candidates for an interview so we can highlight the candidates on these pages. Please stay tuned and get to know the candidates.
[Neil Sullivan is a finance/accounting executive and CPA. He has lived in Peachtree City over 20 years with his wife Jennifer, a Fayette County History teacher and son Jackson, a student at Erskine College. He has been active in public school related issues in Fayette County, leading three E-SPLOST initiatives as chairman of Fayette Citizens for Children. He has appeared previously on these pages in letters to the editor.]
