Make a Difference
Jasper Countians this year have an opportunity to make a difference in the education of our children. Another SPLOST for the school? you ask.
No, more important. Three of the five positions on the Jasper County School Board are up for election this year. Those three posts—1, 3, and 5, are currently filled by persons who have no vested interest in our educational system.
I say that because only one of the five people on the Jasper County School Board has children in Jasper County Schools. None of the three facing election this year have children in our schools.
Now, I’m not saying they don’t care about education or they don’t care about our children. But, I am saying their incentive to stay in touch with what is really going on is less, because it does not directly affect them.
We can all flaunt wonderful ideas about education and discipline and successes and challenges in our school system. But, those who really want everything to work are those who have children enrolled in our public school system, or possibly those who will soon have children enrolled.
I’ve been involved in the local school system for more than 20 years. I’ve been a school supporter in many ways, and some would say a school detractor. I don’t believe I’m a detractor. But when something is broken, the first step to fixing it is admitting it is broken. There are parts of our schools that are broken.
We need school board members who are willing to open their eyes and see this and take whatever action is necessary to fix it.
Being a school board member is a tough job. It pays a whopping $300 a month, presumably for two meetings a month. But, the school board is the governing authority. It makes policy. It has the ultimate say on personnel and many other issues.
Our current superintendent has been quick to instruct board members they are not to get involved in the day to day operations of the schools, or try to micro-manage. It is their job to set policy.
That is true. But it is on their shoulders the responsibility falls when those policies or those personnel don’t work out. It is time we had people willing to take responsibility, willing to do their homework and learn facts rather than just accepting the super-intendent’s explanation, willing to go out on a limb if necessary, to fix what is broken.
We have some real problems in our schools….as do schools everywhere; we need people who want to find solutions.
Last week a parent spoke to the board with her concerns about something that had happened to a student in our school system. Board members agreed with this parent that obviously a lot of mistakes were made. And, the superintendent said he took full responsibility. It will be interesting to see when or if policies are put in place that prevent what happened to her child from happening again.
It was a fluke, many would say, but if your child was wrongly taken to jail, and spent the night there, and then the school said, oh, I’m sorry, how would you feel?
It is time to have school board members who have a vested interest in Jasper County schools.
I’ve been looking and asking and trying to find good people to fill these positions. I have not been very successful. Qualifying is still a few months away…let’s work together to find someone to represent us in each of the districts up for election.