After a stormy two years of political infighting, there will be at least two new faces on the Peach County Board of Education come January.
Incumbents Wright Peavy of Post 1 and Chairwoman Norma Givens of Post 3 declined to file for re-election by Friday's noon deadline.
Both were elected in 2000 and are finishing up their second terms.
"Eight years is enough for me," Peavy of Byron said in response to a reporter's question.
"I've never considered being a career board member. It was never in my mind," Givens said Friday. "I've known for a while my term would end about the time I retired from Fort Valley State. It was a major decision to consider whether or not to have another four years on the board."
Givens, a Fort Valley resident who is originally from Greer, S.C., has had a rocky tenure since she was voted board chairwoman in January 2007. Board meetings devolved into contentious affairs.
The current board consists of three members from Fort Valley, who have consistently voted as a 3-2 majority, and two members from Byron, who have been repeatedly outvoted on contentious issues.
Long-simmering bad feelings have frequently erupted at public and closed meetings of the board.
Issues that have led to fractious dealings among the board members over the past 16 months include:
• A reversal by the board sites for two new elementary schools - and the delays that caused - nearly cost the school system $4.9 million in forward funding from the state.
• The U.S. 341 site for one of the schools north of Fort Valley was dropped and another on Moseley Road east of Fort Valley was approved instead.
• Two demographic studies that pointed to the need for a new elementary school in Byron, where the population is growing, were presented to the board, but the recommendations were ignored.
• Byron dissenters organized the Citizens for Better Education, which sued the school board about its handling of the proposed school sites and explored setting up a charter school.
• A Peach County grand jury issued a report critical of the school board, though some of the details of the jurors' criticisms were redacted from the grand jury report and kept secret from the public.
• A certification team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, after investigating the school system, chided the board for interference in the school administration's operations and placed the school system on probation, putting it in danger of losing vital accreditation.
• The board majority voted to buy out Superintendent Tommy Daniel's contract for $184,400 and, after a search for a new schools chief, hired Susan Clark at the beginning of February.
Givens has said she felt a small group of people were encouraging the dissension on the board, but she wanted to move forward.
Friday, she said the Peach school system is poised to make progress but feels it is time for her to retire. She noted she will serve out the remainder of her term, which ends Dec. 31.
"Things are in the making for Peach County schools," she said. "I just want to say I'm not mad at anybody."
Efforts Friday to reach other board members for comment were not successful.
Ben McDaniel, 44, of Byron, filed for Peavy's post and faces no opposition in the general election.
Candidates seeking the post being vacated by Givens are Susan Henson, 48, a special education teacher at Peach County High and the system's Teacher of the Year; Virginia Dixon, 67, a retired educator; and Alfred "Big Al" Ellis, 63, a Fort Valley businessman and former school board candidate in 2002.
Givens, who relocated about 30 years ago to teach at Fort Valley State University, stressed in an earlier interview that she feels good times are ahead for the school system.
"I can see us with a school system so good it'll create a demand for those wanting to attend," she said. "I know it'll be when we're gone, but it's attainable. We have wonderful young people in our schools."
To contact writer Jake Jacobs, call 923-6199, extension 305.
