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School Board candidates speak out

Four candidates for McCreary County Board of Education responded to a questionnare regarding their positions in the upcoming election.

The 5th Educational District sees the most candidates in the field, with incumbent Debbie Gibson facing three challengers: James Kiser, Belinda Wilson and Kevin Taylor. Here are their responses:

img_3294Debbie Gibson

Please give us a brief description of your background [i.e. family, education, work experience etc.] 

I am seeking re-election as School Board Member in the 5th District .  I am the daughter of the late James Lyons and Thelma Bolin Lyons.  I am blessed with five brothers, Jim, Danny, Cotton, Wayne and Kenny Lyons.

I have worked 23 years in our schools and have been your board member for 6 years.  I have one daughter Rendy (Corinda) Vanover Toy.  I have three wonderful grandchildren Maggie, Emma and Abram Toy.

I have a degree in Criminal Justice along with 200 credit college hours.  My heart is here for your children doing my best with every vote to do what’s right.  I can’t do this on my own so I’m asking for your vote.

What do you feel is the most important issue facing the McCreary County School District?

The economic factor… we have declining enrollment because McCreary County does not have jobs. People are leaving to find employment.   The school system is the largest employer we have.  I wish I knew the magic word to get investors interested in our county.

Funding is always an issue for school districts: what will you do to insure what funding our district receives is properly spent?

I review monthly financial statements and approve of the overall budget. I believe people can see where the money has been allocated and spent- updating facilities.

What can be done to make our schools a better learning environment for the students?

Learning environment is broad category. With our school district being recognized as a Proficient School District by KDE, I think the results in test scores show we have an improving learning environment

Additional Comment:

Look at all facilities upgrades:  PKIS roof, MCMS roof, new softball facility, Guaranteed Energy savings project where replaced HVAC AND LIGHTING In each school will save $600,000 a year.   Also, our school district has been certified as a proficient school district for the past two years in a row.

 

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

James Kiser 

Please give us a brief description of your background [i.e. family, education, work experience etc.] 

My name is James D. Kiser and I am a 46 year old native of Letcher County, Kentucky. My wife of 19 years, Martha Danyel (Carter) Kiser, and I moved back to her native county of McCreary in 2003. Danyel is the daughter of Bruce Carter and the late Penny Carter of Strunk, KY. Danyel and I are the proud parents of Cyndol LynAnn Kiser, class of 2016 at McCreary Central (MCHS), and Celya Belle Kiser, an 8th grader at McCreary Middle. Cyndol, now a student at Morehead State University, played 5 years of varsity high school basketball and softball, and 2 years of soccer at MCHS and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Celya has played basketball and softball throughout her elementary and middle school years.

I graduated from Fleming-Neon High School in 1988. Afterwards I received Bachelor of Science degree from Morehead State University in 1992, and completed graduate level course work and field research towards a Master of Science degree at Eastern Kentucky University in 1996. During the past 20 years I’ve completed numerous training courses, including Leadership McCreary County (2007), Scientific & Technical Writing (2004 & 2010), Hazard Communications (2013), and Ethics and Code of Conduct (annually).

For the past 10 years I’ve worked as a senior biologist for Stantec Consulting Services, engineering, environmental, and architecture services company, located in Louisville, Kentucky. My duties at work include the preparation of cost estimates/proposals for various environmental projects, and implementation and completion of these projects on-time and on budget. Prior to working for Stantec, I spent nearly 3 years working as the biologist on the Stearns Ranger District of the Daniel Boone National Forest. During the past 25 years, I have volunteered thousands of hours teaching adults and children throughout Kentucky about our environment by giving presentations and leading field trips.

 What do you feel is the most important issue facing the McCreary County School District? 

The biggest issue affecting our school district along with most other school districts is bullying of students. Bullying creates an unfriendly environment and anyone caught bullying should be disciplined quickly. During my campaign efforts, I’ve heard dozens of parents and grandparents talk about their children getting bullied on the school bus, so policies need to be reviewed to remove this from our schools. Another issue affecting our school district is our need to provide students with better learning opportunities in science and math. Most of graduating students from our high school are struggling once they get into colleges and technical schools due to lack of prior experience in these subjects. I would look at increasing the number of teachers in the middle and high schools to reduce the number of students per science and math class and/or provide some weekly after school tutoring sessions.

Funding is always an issue for school districts: what will you do to insure what funding our district receives is properly spent? 

I would treat it like my own money and fund what is needed and required first and not what is wanted. The first thing I would do is examine all of the expenditures needed for a typical school year and then prioritize the needs. I would ask myself the question: What is the best way to spend the money and get the best results for the students. If additional funding is needed then I would look at reducing spending.

My philosophy is that all cuts, if needed, should be made at places that have the least effect on student instruction. I would start reducing at the district administrative level. The one thing I would not do is make major spending adjustments to the approved budget after the school’s fiscal year starts that would create budget shortfalls. For example, I wouldn’t allow a Federal funding source like the one associated with the Job Corps at the Pine Knot Career Institute leave the school district due to poor school board management.

What can be done to make our schools a better learning environment for the students? 

I think we need to setup a confidential survey poll/questionnaire for teachers, instructors, staff, and students to complete at the end of each school year to see what needs to be considered to improve our schools learning environment. The district could contract with a company to setup the survey poll, or could use some type of free online poll to obtain information back on the schools. However, the identity of everyone who completes the poll needs to remain 100 percent confidential. I would envision the survey poll to be provided to all teachers, staff, 8th grade students and graduating seniors near the end of each school year. Once the results from these polls are reviewed, rank each of the suggested changes if they fit within the school district, state, and federal allowed changes. Most large companies use polling to better understand where they need to improve productivity each year while maintaining a good, safe work environment.

 

screenshot_2016-10-11-18-53-31Belinda Wilson

Please give us a brief description of your background [i.e. family, education, work experience etc.] 

I am Belinda Wilson, married to Terry Wilson for 23 years. I am a mother of three: Kesha, Kaitlyn and Tyler. I am the daughter of the late Lucian Whitehead and Wilma Matthews.

Our oldest daughter, Kesha, just graduated from the University of the Cumberlands with a double Bachelors Degree. Our middle daughter, Kaitlyn, is a freshman at the University of the Cumberlands. Tyler, our youngest, is a sophomore at MCHS.

I am a 1989 graduate of McCreary Central High School and a life time resident of McCreary County.

I have been a nurse for 17 years; the last 15 I have worked at Winchester, Patton & Burgess, which became Whitley Family Medical Center last year, serving as the Nursing Manager.

What do you feel is the most important issue facing the McCreary County School District?

1. Funding.

2. Attendance

3. Preparing students for the “real world”

Funding is always an issue for school districts: what will you do to insure what funding our District receives is properly spent?

I will make sure all decisions of where money is to be spent are made with the best interest of all students in mind.

What can be done to make our schools a better learning environment for the students?

Invest more resources, extra curricular activities and time/effort so our students can benefit from what we have available.

(Mr. Taylor did not respond to the survey)

3rd Educational Division candidate Dustin Stephens did not respond to the questionnaire and Casey Daugherty informed the Voice that she has opted not to run in this election, but her name will still appear on the ballot.

1st Educational Division candidate Nelda Gilreath is running unopposed, but did respond.

 

neldaNelda Gilreath

Please give us a brief description of your background [i.e. family, education, work experience etc.] 

My husband Vernon and I are lifelong residents of McCreary County.  We were educated in the McCreary County School System, as were our daughters Jeanna and Lisa.  We graduated from Cumberland College and chose to spend our careers in the McCreary County School System.  Vernon taught 31 years and I taught 32 years.  We both have been very strong supporters of education.  What better qualifications could I have for this office than having spent these years in a classroom teaching students to grow and expand their knowledge?  I have received boundless rewards as I taught many students to reach their full potential.

I have received school board training from the Kentucky School Board Association.  Serving as the school board member for district 1 the last 8 years has been very rewarding.

What do you feel is the most important issue facing the McCreary County School District?

Student achievement is probably the most important issue we face.  Although test scores are important, we need to insure that our young people are provided the programs and guidance to make good decisions about their future.  We want our programs to help all students reach their full potential.

Funding is always an issue for school districts:  What will you do to insure what funding our District receives is properly spent?

Funding is and will always be an issue with our schools and others of our size.  We can’t seem to ever have enough to fund all the programs we want.  We did begin this year with a very good contingency fund, and I feel we need to keep working to insure it will be there if/when absolutely needed.  Making and implementing a good budget will insure we have the funds needed and stay financially sound.  We are a taxing district with the sole purpose of providing our young people with the best education possible.  We need to focus on providing teachers and students with tools and supplies needed to fulfill that purpose.  We talked about student achievement earlier, and I believe we need to focus on early childhood education, pre-school for every child, and lower class size for kindergarten and first grade.  I really think this type of program funding will pay big achievement dividends in the future.

What can be done to make our schools a better learning environment for the students?

The safety of our students is the number one issue.  No young person should ever be afraid to attend school.  We have ongoing programs, SROs, and staff training to make the learning environment as safe as possible.  This summer, our school buildings were updated.  I feel we have the best looking and best maintained buildings in the area.  We have a great food program.  All of this make for a great learning environment.  We want to keep it that way.

Additional comment:

I feel honored that the voters in my district showed enough confidence in me to allow me to serve eight years as the board member of district one.   I look forward to serving the next four years.  I will focus on programs which I feel will promote the education of our students.  I have witnessed countless students being rewarded for superior work.  I have seen test scores improved, buildings updated, new buses purchased and other programs implemented to make our schools safer and more pleasant for learning.  I will continue to support this kind of improvement.

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