Newspaper Page Text
May 2, 2018
Page 7A
DEBATE
Continued from Front
Georgia Tech graduate, said he
has six children, including four
who currently attend Monroe
County Schools. He said he
wants Monroe County Schools
to be a positive example for the
state of Georgia and someday the
whole U.S.
Howard, who moved to
Monroe County when he was
just six months old, said hes been
involved in Monroe County
Schools for his entire life as a stu
dent, a parent, a teacher (as was
wife Penny), a football statistician
for 40 years and a school board
member for 25 years. Howard
said the school boards primary
jobs are to hire the school super
intendent, create a budget and
make system-wide policies.
Williams, a 1994 Mary Persons
graduate, said she currently has
two children in Monroe County
Schools, one at MP and the other
at Hubbard Elementary. She said
her children give her a vested in
terest in Monroe County Schools
and an incentive for the system to
thrive. Williams, who graduated
from Auburn University with a
degree in secondary education,
said she taught science in Texas
and Marietta before moving back
home to Monroe County.
Walker, who has served on the
school board for 20 years, joked
that he never thought the day
would come that he would have
to introduce himself to a room
full of Monroe Countians. He
said Monroe County has a good
school system but board mem
bers should always look for ways
to improve it even more.
Head, 41, said he has lived in
Monroe County for his entire life,
and he and wife Michelle have
raised their five children in the
local community. Head said he
started his business debt-free and
said fiscal responsibility would be
a major principle if hes elected.
Head said he is also a member
of the Monroe County Develop
ment Authority, volunteers at the
newly-opened Monroe County
Boys & Girls Club and is well-
known for attending childrens
events dressed as Dr. Seuss “The
Cat in the Hat.”
Moderator Will Davis asked
candidates their thoughts on the
BOE’s effectiveness as financial
stewards and about whether the
system has too many administra
tors.
Howard said there were only
five persons in the BOE central
office when he started teaching
but said the system has neces
sarily expanded its staff over
the years to meet the needs of
increasing government regula
tions. Morris said governments,
like businesses, can often get “too
bloated at the top,” and said hed
prefer the system to use excess
finances to benefit teachers rather
than hiring more central office
staff. Morris noted that while
working for the railroad, he has
managed $100 million over five
years, including a $21 million
project in Manchester, and said
he would look at ways to maxi
mize available funds. Williams
said she doesn’t think any money
spent on education is a wasted
dollar. She said pay is not the only
factor in keeping teachers happy
and said it’s critical for the system
to prevent teacher burnout.
Head said had identify items
in the school budget that aren’t
profitable or are excessive and
eliminate them. Walker said he’s
a taxpayer in addition to being a
school board member and said
the systems strong student test
scores are reflective that school
board finances are being spent
wisely.
Davis then asked candidates
whether they would support
drug testing for Monroe County
Schools athletes.
Walker said he supports an
equitable system for all students
and wouldn’t limit testing only
to athletes. Howard said he too
wouldn’t draw the line at athletes
but said the system could be
liable if the testing wasn’t done
correctly, such as by random
selection. Williams also agreed
that the system shouldn’t apply
only to athletes and said it could
be a good idea because it would
raise the accountability level of
the affected youth and might
incentivize students to make
better choices. She added that
she’s not sure every student could
legally be tested and said it might
be limited to extracurricular
participants. Head said he too
supports the measure but added
he would test system teachers,
staff and even BOE members
as well. Morris, who said he too
supports testing, said account
ability starts as a youth and said
drug problems are reportedly
prevalent in the local commu
tEqporter
nity. He added that teens should
be educated on the potentially
negative future consequences of
drug use.
Davis next asked candidates
whether they support arming
school teachers with guns in case
of a violent on-campus attack
Head said he supports having
on-campus law enforcement
officers present on each campus
during the entire school day
rather than arming teachers. He
said the school system could
even hire its own law enforce
ment officers but proposed
they have the same training as
Monroe County Sheriff s Office
deputies. Walker said uniformed
school resource officers are
already present daily on nearly
every school campus. He said
the BOE recently hired a school
safety specialist to evaluate each
building and create a safety plan.
He added he does not support
arming teachers. Williams agreed
with Walker, saying her children
know their school resource offi
cers well. She noted that Monroe
County Schools recently held a
public forum to discuss school
safety and said she’s not sure that
many teachers would want the
extra stress of worrying about
having a gun in the classroom
that a student could potentially
find a way to access. However,
she added she wouldn’t be op
posed to arming a teacher with a
weapons or military background.
Howard, who said he opposes
arming teachers, said Monroe
County Schools began preparing
for a potential school attack back
in 2012 after the Sandy Hook
Elementary shooting, long before
the Parkland school shooting
earlier this year. He said the
school system has learned things
that don’t work for safety, such as
exterior doors to each classroom,
and said the board continues to
look at new ways to keep stu
dents safe. Howard agreed with
Walker that the school safety
specialist is helping with the issue
and said some safety measures
are better left undiscussed to
prevent a shooter from knowing
exactly what the systems security
plans are. Morris said he’s in favor
of arming teachers but said it
needs to be the right person for
the job. Morris, who noted that
a North Carolina school recently
armed security officers posing as
custodians in case of an attack,
said had feel better about his kids’
safety if he knew school staffers
were armed.
Davis then asked Head why he
is seeking a BOE position when
he and his wife home school
their own children.
Head replied that he and
his wife are very active in their
children’s education and said it’s a
“problem” that other parents are
not as involved in their kids’ edu
cation as they should be. Head
said his kids formerly attended
K.B. Sutton Elementary when
current Monroe County Schools
assistant superintendent Alicia
Elder was the principal there,
and he liked many things about
the school. However, Head said
home schooling allows his chil
dren to experience things they
might not experience in public
school, such as a three-week-long
family trip to historic sites along
the Eastern seaboard.
Head said, “Home school is not
cheap if you do it correctly’
Head then added that just
because he doesn’t have a child in
Monroe County School doesn’t
mean he’s not interested in the
success of local schools, noting it
heavily impacts the local business
community.
Davis then asked Walker about
his commitment to the board be
cause he reportedly missed seven
out of 25 school board meetings
over the past year.
Walker replied that various
health problems, including colon
cancer and a heart attack, have
been responsible for his absences
from board meetings.
Davis then asked Howard
about the board’s hiring last year
of a substitute teacher with a past
child molestation conviction
that was brought to light by the
Reporter in March and asked if
the BOE hired the applicant out
of fear of being sued. Davis sub
sequently asked if BOE members
ever apologized to concerned
citizens about their decision to
hire the substitute teacher.
Howard said the BOE was
indeed fearful of a possible
lawsuit and had received a court
order in error that prevented
it from denying employment
to the substitute applicant.
Howard then displayed a letter
from Monroe County District
Attorney Jonathan Adams that
he said “exonerates the school
system from any wrongdoing” in
the matter. Howard said board
members were “stuck between a
rock and a hard place.” He added
that he didn’t know what board
members should apologize for
and said they made a mistake
and publicly admitted it.
Davis then asked if any policy
changes had been made as a
result of the situation and if any
system employees suffered any
consquences for recommending
the substitute teacher’s hiring.
“How do you punish someone
who the DA says did nothing
wrong?” Howard said.
When Davis further probed
Howard on whether the school
system was actually “exonerated”
from any responsibility in the
matter, Howard said Davis was
“trying to bring up an argument
that I thought had been settled.”
Howard continued, “It was an
unfortunate situation as I stated
earlier!’
Davis questioned again,
“But you do not see a need to
apologize to the parents whose
children were exposed to this?”
When Howard stammered in
his response, Davis then detailed
further the former complaint
against the substitute teacher,
saying “he offered oral sex to a
13-year-old boy in Bibb County
Schools,” information which
was publicly available. Howard
replied, ‘According to the court
documents, we could not count
that against him.”
Davis then asked, “So you were
afraid of liability?”
When Howard said, “Yes,”
Davis asked in response, “Does
the county school system have li
ability insurance?” Howard again
said, “Yes.”
Howard then noted that Davis
brought the matter to the board’s
attention and said the substitute
was immediately removed from
the sub list upon the Reporter’s
revelation. He added that Mon
roe County Schools have not
received any complaints about
the substitute’s actions while
employed in Monroe County. As
Howard continued to defend the
board’s actions, former Monroe
County Schools director of facili
ties and management Tommie
Walker objected from the audi
ence to Davis’ questions: “I don’t
think y’all are supposed to debate
with each other!’ to which Davis
responded to Walker’s barb: “It’s
a debate.”
Davis then allowed the other
candidates to weigh in on the
substitute teacher matter. Head
said the BOE never issued a state
ment of apology nor has taken
any known corrective actions.
Head said there’s no reason
something similar wouldn’t
happen again and said policies
need to be addressed to prevent
such an occurrance. Howard re
sponded to Head’s comments by
saying Monroe County Schools
superintendent Dr. Mike Hick
man did issue a letter of apol
ogy and said a more thorough
screening process for system ap
plicants is on the way. Morris said
the school board should have
issued its own apology for the
matter and said good leaders take
responsibility for what happens
on their watch. Morris said just
because there were no reported
incidents of wrongdoing by the
substitute in Monroe County
doesn’t mean board members
are exempt from apologizing to
community members. Williams
said it’s too late to change the
substitute teacher situation and
said it’s most important to iden
tify the system flaws that enabled
the problem to arise. She added
she believes that every Monroe
County educator has the best
interests of the students at heart
Davis next asked incumbents
Howard and Walker why citizens
have to fill out a lengthy form
several days in advance in order
to address the BOE at a public
meeting.
Audience member Leila
Bass replied that the policy was
designed to keep order in the
meetings, but Davis responded
the question was asked for the
candidates to answer. Howard
said Bass was exactly right How
ard said by knowing what the
citizen wants to talk about in ad
vance, it better prepares the BOE
members and school administra
tors to address the issue at hand.
Head said he thinks elected
officials should be accessible and
should not hinder members of
the public from expressing an
opinion. Head, who described
the BOE’s policy as “infuriating”
said board members could set
time constraints on comments
without preventing members of
the public from speaking without
prior notice. Morris agreed with
Head and said he frequently at
tends railroad meetings in which
public comment doesn’t cause
the meetings to “descend into
anarchy!’ Walker said members
of the public have never been
restricted from addressing board
members as long as they abide
by the board’s rules of advanced
notice.
Davis next asked by far the
most controversial question of
the night when he queried the
non-partisan candidates about
whom they voted for in the 2016
U.S. Presidential Election. Many
audience members immediately
shouted their displeasure with
the question with some asking
why Davis was bringing politics
into a non-partisan election.
Davis fired back that the can
didates had a right to refuse to
answer his question, but that he
intended to ask it anyway.
After a minute of audience
hysteria, including several
audience members demanding
that BOE candidates refuse to
answer Davis’ question, Head
stood up and said he thought it
was a fair question and replied
he voted all Republican in the
2016 election. Walker was next
up, and he declined to answer,
followed by Williams, who said
she too voted all Republican.
Howard said he was not going to
answer either at which point all
eyes turned to Morris, who said
he also voted all Republican.
After the dust-up with audi
ence members, Davis stopped
asking his own questions and
turned the debate over to citizen
questions. However, the tension
in the room would build even
more when the initial citizen
rose to speak.
South Monroe County
resident Byron Pitts, who criti
cally addressed the BOE to no
avail in March over the ill-fated
substitute teacher hiring, got his
second turn in front of Howard
on Monday. Pitts asked Howard
why superintendent Hickman
has not been fired and asked
why BOE members aren’t doing
their jobs. Pitts then publicly re
vealed he had learned that when
current BOE member Stuart
Pippin notified Hickman that he
intended to make a public state
ment to the Reporter criticizing
the systems administrators for
supporting hiring the substitute
teacher, Hickmans father, Mike
Hickman Sr., allegedly verbally
threatened Pippin at his place
of employment the following
day, causing Pippin to retract his
statement
Pitts said to Howard: “There
was absolutely no apology from
either one of them (Hickman Sr.
or Dr. Hickman) to one of your
board members.”
Howard responded to Pitts’
attacks by saying under the cur
rent structure, the superinten
dent, rather than the BOE chair,
is the true CEO of the school
system. However, Howard said
board members do receive back
ground information on system
hires but depend upon school
administrators to obtain detailed
background checks. Howard
said DA Adams stated in his
letter that Hickman did nothing
wrong, giving the board no rea
son to fire him. He then said the
board had no role in Hickman
Srls alleged threats against the
BOE board member, telling Pitts
he would have to address that
issue with Hickman Sr.
Head then jumped into
the discussion, saying he feels
Hickman has done a great job
as superintendent. He said the
substitute teacher issue stemmed
from poor system policies and
procedures rather than board
members’ individual mistakes.
Morris said BOE members
should never take firing anyone
lightly but said employees need
to be held accountable. He said
protocols need to be put in place
going forward to prevent such a
situation from re-occuring.
Another citizen, Greg Haire,
then asked candidates their
opinions on federal government
intervention in the local school
system.
Morris said he would keep the
federal government away from
the local school system. Wil
liams then asked Morris if that
meant rejecting federal funding,
and Morris said potentially
he would turn down federal
funds. Williams said as a parent
and former teacher she knows
more about what’s best for
Monroe County Schools than
the federal government does
but said she would still accept
federal funding. She noted that
no federal official ever asked to
see her lesson plans when she
taught chemistry. Walker said
the federal contribution is only
a small percentage of school
funding anyway. Head agreed
with Morris that there are often
“strings attached” to federal dol
lars and said local citizens should
have more control over their
own school system.
Another citizen, John San
dusky, asked Williams what she
meant when she mentioned sev
eral times that no dollar used for
education could be considered
wasted and took her to task for a
“cavalier attitude toward spend
ing.” Williams said she’s in favor
of efficiency in school budgeting
but said she wants excess funds
to go to helping teachers, noting
that many teachers spend their
own money, rather than system
funds, on materials for their
classrooms.
District 3 Monroe County
commissioner John Ambrose
then chastised the incumbents
for their policy of prevent
ing citizens from speaking at
meetings without prior request,
pointing out that Monroe
County commissioners don’t
operate that way.
Ambrose also said that DA
Adams’ letter did not state that
BOE members had to hire the
substitute teacher, a comment
that provoked a head shake
from Howard. Ambrose, who is
running unopposed on the May
Republican primary, said he
believes elected officials should
have term limits.
Ambrose said sharply: “Y’all
have been there too long. Things
need to change.”
The final citizen question of
the night came from Forsyth
real estate agent Kerri Swearin
gen. Swearingen, who noted that
the success of Monroe County
Schools is one of the biggest
draws for homeowners to move
to Monroe County, asked what
each candidate could bring to
the board to ensure that Monroe
County Schools continues to
outpace surrounding public
school systems.
Williams said her education
experience as a student, teacher
and parent makes her the right
candidate to join the board.
“I have lived in the trenches,”
Williams said. Morris said
his experience handling large
budgets at the railroad and
his passion and commitment
for student safety makes him
the right choice, noting he has
created evacuation and active
shooter plans for major rail
yards. Head said he is focused
on providing more effective
trade education for the “70 to 75
percent” of students who don’t
go on to get a college degree.
Head said he supports the BOE
partnering with Central Georgia
Technical College (CGTC) on
expanding the systems technical
school options. He added that as
a successful heating and air busi
ness owner who bypassed a tra
ditional college, he uses himself
as an example for students that
learning a trade can be a viable
career option. Howard said he
agreed with Head on expanding
technical school opportunities
through CGTC and joked that
former state labor commissioner
Michael Thurmond gave a
speech in Monroe County last
year in which he said he encour
aged his grandson to become a
plumber, rather than a doctor or
lawyer, because of that occupa
tions potential for financial suc
cess. Walker said he heard some
misinformation quoted by some
of the challengers during the de
bate and said the accusation that
board members don’t review
system policies is unfounded.
The candidates then gave
their closing statements. Head
said Monroe County has a great
school system but said there’s
always room for improvement
He cited his current stint on
the Monroe County Develop
ment Authority as proof that
relations between the city and
county governments as well as
the Authority have improved
dramatically and said he could
help foster a similar relationship
between the BOE and other
local governments. Walker said
he’s always been there for Mon
roe County’s children and urged
the voters for one more four-
year term. Williams said she
has a perspective that the other
candidates don’t have because of
her teaching experience and said
she understands the plight of
the systems educators. Howard
said the BOE’s chief focus in all
of its decisions is the systems
students. Howard, who said he
was appointed by a grand jury
to his BOE seat in 1992, said he’s
proud of his long tenure on the
board and noted it was his idea
to make the Monroe County
Board of Education non-parti
san, which was why he declined
to answer Davis’ question about
his voting record. Howard said
he hears a lot of people say they
moved to Monroe County for
the school system.
He added. “I’ve never heard
anybody say I’m leaving the
county on account of the school
system.”
Morris was the last candi
date to get his final say, and he
cautioned the incumbents that
Monroe County’s current 28th-
place position among Georgia
school systems shouldn’t be the
ultimate goal.
Morris said, “We need to push,
we need to strive, and we need
to be aiming for No. 1. We have
the ability, we have the resources,
we have the students to make
that happen!’
Early voting began Monday
for the Monroe County Board
of Education races with Election
Day fast approaching on Tues
day, May 22.
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