Chuck Hughes, Member Board of Education, Salisbury, N.C.
I can understand Mr. Gene Miller’s concern about the vagueness of my recent comment that during his years of employment as Rowan/Salisbury School System’s Assistant Superintendent of Operations, he was instrumental in “digging a hole that we are just beginning to crawl out of.” So let me be more specific (without even going into the issue of him bringing boxes of serviceable children’s books to the county recycling department for destruction rather than giving them to the community individually or through the public library system.)
1. Other than Carson HS, a building unneeded at the time, but admittedly is now popular due to its music and arts magnet attraction, and his roof replacement “hobby”, my opponent has nothing much to boast about.
2. When I joined the board in 2012, security cameras ran from being paltry to nonexistent while Key-less entry into schools and safety vestibules were not even a thought.
3. The security of Knox Middle School, threatened due to numerous entry sites and a design that did not lend itself to optimal surveillance with security cameras, went unnoticed.
4. The water and sewage issues at Woodleaf Elementary were just items of discussion, and they remained so for years, just items of discussion.
5. The Central Office Building was also frequently discussed, but it too remained that for years, just an item of discussion.
Even when Mrs. Cox, Mr. Wagner and I joined the board after the 2012 election, nothing much changed other than taking school safety off the back burner and putting it into heated discussions and fighting a losing battle to re-purpose money from the Central Office Building to school safety needs. We were still in the minority while the status quo controlled the board until the election in 2014 brought some conservatives to the board. Only then did conversation turn into action:
1. The Central Office Building went from discussion, to plans, to now residing on N. Main St. (You can’t win all of the fights, but at least it is not on the troubled 329 S. Main St. site.)
2. Building a new elementary school in the West became a reality. Although controversial, the need was clear and the 2014-2016 board stood strong.
3. Although mediation money for a new Knox Middle School (KMS) had to be re-purposed to the Woodleaf and Cleveland consolidation, plans for a new KMS continued and is again a priority.
4. Our schools now have, or in the immediate future will have, all of the security cameras they need, along with keyless door entry on every feasible location, and vestibules as protective buffers.
I often admit that when I first ran the board of education, I did not know what I was getting into. I believe that is how most candidates who win an election feel. Mr. Miller, however, is apparently the exception. He is quick to assure voters that after his years in R/SSS administration he “knows what (he) is getting into.” However, having to answer only to the superintendent is not the same as being a voting member of a board that answers to the county. I also suggest that after 4 years on the board, each of the incumbents running for reelection knows what he or she is “getting into” and welcomes the challenge.
I appreciate your vote!
