Bibb BOE candidates discuss issues at forum

Candidates for the three contested seats on the Bibb County school board gathered at the Douglass Theater on Wednesday to state their cases at a candidates forum.

The forum was presented by the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce and the 100 Black Men of Middle Georgia, which have also hosted similar forums for other races.

Because candidates from the District 2 and 5 races were absent, the District 6 race took up the bulk of the time for the event. George Greer, chairman for the Chamber of Commerce, said he couldn’t speculate on why three of eight candidates for the three contested races did not attend.

“The candidates were all invited and confirmed attendance,” Greer said.

Incumbent Jason Downey and challengers Bob Easter and Valerie Wynn all showed up and took the stage first at the event in hopes of representing District 6. Downey cited his experience on a “winning team” as his main qualification for re-election. He pointed to rising graduation rates — which rose from 51.3 percent in 2011 to 71.2 percent in 2015 — as evidence of the good work the current board has done, and he also said he was glad to have helped bring in Superintendent Curtis Jones.

Downey ran unopposed in 2012.

“No one else was willing to make that sacrifice,” he said. “Our system was in a great deal of turmoil, our teacher morale was low, our graduation rates were horrendous.”

His opponents said improvements are still needed and that system deficiencies have not completely been addressed. Easter, a former business owner and schoolteacher, pointed to the College and Career Ready Performance Index scores, which were released Tuesday for the 2014-15 school year.

Bibb County scored a 60.8, down from 62.2 in 2014, but those numbers reflect the first year of the Georgia Milestones testing and also held changes to the basic formula for calculating the score. Still, Easter said not enough has been done to improve the district’s schools.

“We need to continue to encourage to bring new ideas into the classroom,” he said.

Wynn, a product of the Bibb County school system, said she wants to help the district get back to days when the county had a “great, quality school system.” She said the path to that success starts with discipline and parental involvement.

“Without discipline, the students that want to learn are not going to be able to because the classroom is going to be disruptive,” Wynn said.

In the District 5 race, only Sundra Woodford attended the forum of the three candidates seeking to replace Tom Hudson, who will complete his third and final term this year. Jerome Collins and James Timley are the other two candidates.

Woodford, who serves as manager of neighborhood revitalization for Habitat for Humanity, said the key to reaching students across the district lies in understanding how each child learns.

“I think there are many students in the public school system that have diverse learning styles,” she said. “I think that if we devise strategies that address all types of learners and make learning exciting again for youth, I think the students will have better outcomes.”

Incumbent Thelma Dillard also was the only candidate in attendance for the District 2 race. Her challenger is Tina Dennard.

Dillard has served on the school board since winning the seat in 2012. She also was a Macon city councilwoman for 20 years and is a retired educator with a 40-year school career. Wednesday, Dillard said reading, a focus of the Jones administration, was a facet of education that had to remain at the forefront in the coming years.

“If we improve reading throughout the system, then we can improve in every school and make every child in every school able to learn, graduate, go into the workforce and be successful,” she said.

The seats held by Ella Carter, Lester Miller and Sue Sipe also are up for election, but all three of them will be running unopposed. Early voting has already begun for the May 24 election.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Bibb BOE candidates discuss issues at forum."