News

CAMPAIGN FORUM: School Board

School Board candidates Michael Absher, Colby Coren, Lisa Edwards and Sonia Rollins Gironda responded to questions at a School Board forum.

By Miranda McFalls, Published: October 25, 2014

The Hendersonville Lightning submitted questions to candidates for Henderson County School Board. Here are the candidates' responses.

Why are you running for the School Board?

Michael Absher: I am running to have the chance to serve the teacher, staff, and students of Henderson County and be the voice to take to our state and federal levels to fight for a quality education. I also want to able to also continue working with our county and city government to make sure they support our schools as much as they should. And lastly work with the local nonprofits to have them working more with our schools to be able to use our resources in a useful way.
Colby Coren: I believe that everyone can make a difference. I am running for the board of education to be a voice for the hardworking taxpayers of Henderson County. They are the ones who fund the education system and deserve to have a voice at the table. I also want to be a voice for teachers and students. I believe it is time for the BoE to take a look at where money is being spent and adjust to get that money where it belongs, in the classrooms and in the pockets of our hard working teachers!

Lisa Edwards: I want to continue the progress we have made. Our school system is consistently in the top 15 school systems in the state for SAT and ACT scores and graduation rates. We made great strides in maintaining our school buildings and that should continue. I would like to see veteran teachers fairly compensated for their years of service and more 21st century technology.

Sonia Rollins Gironda: Education is the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. The experiences we provide children now have a direct effect on family health, employee productivity, educational outcomes, community engagement and public safety. Having two children in public education I see first hand the importance of involvement and engaging at a higher level, such as being on the school board, which is the best way for me to get more involved. I am experienced with managing tax payers dollars in a fiscally responsible manner while providing effective evidence based programs that see results. I can offer you a strong advocate dedicated to ensuring that all children receive equal access to a quality education.

Amy Lynn Holt: I have thoroughly enjoyed my last 4 years on the board. I am wanting to continue the work that I have started and be a voice for parents, teachers and students. I would like to see more SROs in our schools, I feel like we are vastly understaffed in this area. I would like to implement one hand-held device for every student in the next four years, we have made great strides adding digital devices but we are not where we need to be. I would like to take the power away from the federal government in our local district and successfully see us move away from Common Core and revamp our lunch program so that we don't have so many restrictions in which to serve lunch in.

In North Carolina local school boards are limited in their power. What is the most effective way that you as a county School Board member can bring about change to improve schools?

Absher: To be the voice for our system to be able to support and challenge our local legislators to continue to support us, not to fight us. I also like to work with local legislators to fight for more funds to go to our classrooms.
Coren: The School Board has final approval in the budget. The biggest impact can be made by being fiscally responsible and transparent when it comes to the budget. Tax dollars from the county need to be accounted for in more than just a generalized budget. There needs to be a line item budget, and if necessary, cuts or moving of funds needs to occur. We don't need more money for education. We need more education for the money.

Edwards: We must keep a close working relationship with our legislators and make them aware of the needs of our school system.

Gironda: Advocacy and community engagement is one of the most effective ways to bring change. There are abundant opportunities to make changes at the local, state and federal level if citizens speak up and participate. The loss of power is one of the issues that the NC public schools face but with early awareness and engagement concerns can be addressed. My role in this engagement process would be to provide the conduit for those discussions and organization around the issues and ways others can get involved. I have opened numerous ways for individuals to communicate with me to share ideas and address the challenges to hopefully find ways to return some of the local control. If you have ideas you want to share or want to be involved please look for me on Facebook and Twitter, Gironda for Education, or go to my website atwww.cradle2career.com.

Holt: I think it's important for School Board members to keep in touch and maintain a good relationship with our County and State elected officials and work well with them; that way as issues arise we can solve the problems together. We need to also be in touch and know what is happening in the school system and be accessible to parents and staff. One of the biggest things we can do is be a voice and also encourage the tax payers to be a voice to our state representatives so we can make changes together. A lot of the decisions are made in Raleigh and we need to work with Senate and House members to ensure what is best for our district is heard.

What is the biggest problem in the Henderson County School System and how would you work to fix it?

Absher: The biggest problem I see is some of the outdated school buildings, and I work to fight to make our school buildings safer for each child and staff. In addition, I would like to see us work more with the county to stress the need for more help to make these updates.
Coren: As stated in previous answers, I feel the biggest concern is lack of transparency. $27 million is a large amount of money to only be accounted for to the public on a single sheet of paper. Until we see where money is being spent, we can't work to change the problem.

Edwards: I believe one issue is schools that present maintenance and safety problems such as HHS and Edneyville. I would like us to implement a plan for correcting these problems. The second problem is trying to get 21st century technology into the hands of our students. The transition to digital textbooks is slower than I would like but we must continue to express our need to legislators.

Gironda: Recruitment and retention of qualified staff is an issue that I believe needs to be addressed. Beyond the issue of salary there is a need to lift up the morale of the staff and highlight the things going right within our schools. Additionally, they struggle with having the tools necessary to do their jobs. Textbooks and/or technology needs tie directly to teachers and parents being able to educate children. As we shift from textbooks to 21st Century technology we need to make sure we have available the materials needed for all children to learn. Another piece to the struggle of retention is the amount of testing that occurs. Teachers need to be able to teach and not spend the majority of their time testing. A complete review of all of these areas needs to be done so we can look at efficient and cost effective ways to set our teachers and students up for success.

Holt: Right now the biggest issues we are facing is not enough teachers and overcrowded classrooms, our teachers are also still vastly underpaid; even though we have made great strides we are still not competitive with other states. We also need to get the federal government out of our lunchroom and curriculum, we don't need the Feds mandating what we can and can't do when we know what's best for our school district. I also believe we need to add more SROs; we are highly understaffed in this area, we have added two in the last couple years but we need more to endure our students safety.