Two seek District 3 GOP school board nod

Editor’s Note: The Mount Airy News posed the same three questions to local school board candidates running in the May 17 primary. Today, we publish the responses from the candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the District 3 Surry County Board of Education seat, both in print and online. The District 4 candidates will be online Sunday and in print on Tuesday.

Jessica George

Jessica George grew up in Westfield but now calls Siloam home, which is where much of her husband Cory’s family resides.

She is celebrating her ten-year wedding anniversary this month and has three children, two boys and a girl, who are ages 7, 4, and 1. She graduated from East Surry High School and went on to get my bachelor’s from Appalachian State University, majoring in risk management and insurance with a double major in finance and banking.

After college she worked in Excess & Surplus Lines insurance outside Orlando, Florida. Florida did not stand a chance, “because my longtime friend and fellow East Surry graduate asked me to marry him. We lived in Wilkes County, Raleigh, and Charlotte, before finally being able to move back to Surry County. My husband and I started a business in Pilot Mountain in the fall of 2020 and are loving every minute of being home.”

Question: What role should parents have in choosing curriculum for their child? What role should the Department of Public Instruction have?

George: Currently parents have two ways of participating in curriculum selection. The first is market choice. Demand always plays a role in any market. When parents choose alternatives to the public education system, they are making a statement on their preferences. The rise in classical education amongst charter schools is a current example.

The second way is within the public school system. According to our current administration parents are chosen to sit on a curriculum committee, along with a board member and staff. These committees ultimately select what providers will be used for our curriculums.

I agree with both of these methods. I believe that parents should have school choice, whether that be the public school, charter school, private school, or homeschooling. I also think parents should be allowed to play an active role within the school system when selecting curriculum. I do wish, however, that it was more widely known that parents can participate in the committee and the process.

The DPI should not be dictating curriculum. Our schools are run by local people who are elected by the citizens of Surry County. Schools are run locally, to ensure they can meet the expectations and needs of the local community. Our current superintendent attends EDC meetings to ensure the schools are preparing students for local job needs.

This of course is not limited in scope to employment but also applies to the values and expectations of parents. DPI has its place and purpose, in the oversight and transparency of our school system, but it should be limited in curriculum selection. For example, it may require that we teach NC History, but we should select the textbooks and material used to teach that subject.

Question: Should school board members be partisan elected officials?

George: I see no reason why they should hide party affiliation. They are an elected official, and their party affiliation is publicly available information. If a voter wanted to, they could do a quick search and determine each candidate’s affiliation, and what primaries they participated in.

I am always for more information available to a voter. The people of Surry County are smart. Providing the affiliation on the ballot gives the option to the voter, they can use that information or not. That is their decision.

While many have made the argument that it brings politics into our schools, I disagree. Politics have always affected our schools. I think people saw it more in the last two years with Covid response. The state House and Senate make laws that affect our schools, court systems interpret those laws, and the governor sometimes vetoes those laws. Our board is elected, the state superintendent (who is over DPI) is elected. That’s all politics.

I think most people want to keep political ideology out of the classroom, and candidates inflate that to apply to our election. I don’t think we have a candidate running who wants politics in our classrooms, myself included.

Question: The K-12 plus four years of college plan does not seem to be the path some students want to take anymore. As a potential school board member how does that strike you?

I don’t think this is surprising at all. The rising cost of college, paired with the rising supply of college graduates has created an undesirable situation for those that have invested in the college plan. Many of the top employers in our nation are no longer requiring college degrees. Many parents are cautioning their children against taking on large amounts of debt at such a young age, particularly if they are not sure of their career.

We are seeing a much-needed resurgence in the trades. Those careers are valuable to society because they are so necessary. We told an entire generation that college was the path to happiness, and/or wealth. In today’s economy that’s just not true for many people. I think students and parents are finding that we have a lot of good options that don’t require a $100,000 degree. We also have many employers willing to pay for some education. I think you have students taking advantage of those opportunities as well.

I also believe the rise in technology has fueled this shift and will continue to do so…It’s not hard to find someone online who has made a great living with no college degree. Information is readily available for students on what careers are really like day to day. In addition, skills are easier to gain with the use of online videos, subscriptions, or groups. College will still have its place for some career paths, but it’s not for everybody.

Kent Whitaker

Kent Whitaker is a life-long resident of Surry County and resides in the Copeland Community, with a Dobson address. He has been married to Lynn Harbour Whitaker for 47 years, they have four children, nine grandchildren, and one foster grandchild. Three of his family members are employed by the Surry County School system and five of his grandchildren currently are students in the Surry County School System.

He attended Copeland Elementary School and graduated in the class of 1970 from Surry Central High School. From there he attended Wingate Junior College and Appalachian State University graduating with honors and a BS degree in business administration/banking and finance.

He was employed with Farm Credit Service for more than 41 years and assumed the roles of commercial loan officer, branch manager, VP over marketing and related services, and retired as senior vice president and department head over special assets in 2015.

“My other affiliations consist of serving with the Gideon’s International for 39 years and member of Pine Hill Friends Meeting and Fairview Baptist Church. It has truly been a blessing to serve my Lord through these churches and through the Gideon Ministry.

“My activities within the school system consist of serving on the first advisory committee for Central Middle School, serving as a mentor and a volunteer at the elementary level. Another related school activity I am still involved with is basketball officiating at the high school and middle school levels.

“In relating to school age children, I served as director for the Copeland Youth Basketball for 17 years and also Coached Little League Baseball and Softball over that same period,” he wrote.

Question: What role should parents have in choosing curriculum for their child? What role should the Department of Public Instruction have?

Whitaker: I feel the role of the parent having a part in the curriculum process for the local school system is a vital one and should be incorporated when practical in the public school setting. Naturally, that oversight in a private and home school setting is even more pronounced.

The DPI should have the role of setting curriculum as it pertains to meeting achievement standards for students reaching required learning levels. The DPI’s role should be providing curriculums that are solely based on educational facts and learning and not on opinions, theories, and ideologies. Beyond these educational standards requirements where there may be flexibility by local school administrators and school boards, parents should have access to what is being taught.

Our school system should be transparent with the curriculums provided. That being said, I feel currently we have to give a level of trust and respect to the educators that are in place in the Surry County School System to teach our students in a way that will be to their benefit. One could say the vote up and down the ballot of parents can influence eventually what is incorporated within a curriculum. As parents have concerns or questions as to aspects of their child’s curriculum, I feel it is the responsibility of the DPI along with school system administrators to provide well versed explanations of content, etc.

Question: Should school board members be partisan elected officials?

Whitaker: I know there are some that would say that it is partisan officials at the state level that affect our local school systems through policies, mandates, and curriculums, therefore, it is reasonable for the school board to be a partisan vote. I understand that others feel the school board being a partisan position may provide them another level of assessment of a particular candidate because of their affiliation.

However, I do not feel it necessary that this county-level position be partisan. The focus of the school system should be about educating our students while upholding the values of the community.

This election is about selecting the candidate that will serve in the best interest of the students, educators, parents, and the community within the school system. Knowing a candidate’s specific views concerning educational issues is the more important thing. Even though I have filed under a party affiliation I am led more by my conservative and Christian values than party affiliation.

Question: The K-12 plus four years of college plan does not seem to be the path some students want to take anymore. As a potential school board member how does that strike you?

Whitaker: Apart from researching as to the reason for this trend, this does not strike me as a strong concern that I would immediately have. I do not feel that the school system’s position should be to push as many students as possible down the path of obtaining a college degree.

In today’s economy there appears to be a shortage of people to fill certain trade and tech jobs that would provide a quality living. School systems should continue to move toward equipping students to enter into a career and technical education path that provides skills-based career opportunities with flexibility to connect to college.

In short, there are solid employment opportunities with good paying jobs. The role of our school system is to help students be gainfully employed and productive members of society and prepare for what they want to do after high school, whether it be a college or career.