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Press Room
School Board Questions from
Washington County News
1.
What are the challenges
facing the School Board for
next 4 years?
1)
Budget: With the
current state of our
economy, we must continue to
prepare for revenue
reductions both from the
state and locally. The
School Board has worked very
hard with all school system
personnel to develop and
implement strategic spending
cuts that have allowed us to
reduce expenditures by
approximately 10 % in the
last 2 years. I am very
proud of the fact that our
school system remains very
sound financially despite
all the funding cuts from
the state, and it has truly
been a team effort from all
levels within our school
system.
Going forward, we must
continue to hold the line
with no additional taxes and
effective management of our
spending, while we continue
to push for excellence in
education.
2)
Facilities: With
the renovation and classroom
additions at Vernon
Elementary, our facilities
are in very good shape for
future years with the
exception of Kate Smith
Elementary. We have
developed a master plan for
Kate Smith and have
positioned ourselves for
potential Special Facilities
Funding from the state in
the 2012 Budget year to
build a new facility. Along
with that plan, we must
continue to plan for growth
in the south end of the
county and work toward the
addition of a school when
that growth becomes a
reality.
3)
State and Federal
Mandates for accountability
and merit pay: There
has been a tremendous push
toward legislation requiring
increased accountability and
a merit pay system for
teachers. While I support
accountability and rewarding
our best teachers, there
must be a cooperative effort
to develop a system that
will be fair and equitable.
As our teachers and other
support staff can tell you,
each classroom consist of
18-24 unique students, which
creates different challenges
and opportunities for each
classroom. To create a
system of criteria that
assumes each classroom is
identical statewide is
foolish and will not lead to
better education. I look
forward to the opportunity
to continue to improve our
schools by raising the bar
of performance for our
teachers, support staff,
administration and our
students, but I will strive
for a reasonable, fair, and
equitable system that
encourages the pursuit of
excellence.
2.
What steps do you feel
the school needs to take for
the safety of our children?
Any good safety program
depends on prevention as the
key component.
These steps should include:
a.)
Frequent safety inspections
of all facilities and
vehicles with prioritized
corrective action for any
deficiencies.
b.)
Prompt investigation of any
accidents or near misses.
c.)
Frequent evaluation of
safety procedures and
policies.
d.)
Foster strong relationship
with local law enforcement.
e.)
Emergency preparedness
drills should be conducted
on a regular basis.
I feel the safety
performance of our district
has been outstanding, but
safety must always be a
daily awareness and can
never be improved too
much!
3.
What steps do you feel are
needed to make sure
qualified teachers are
hired?
a.)
Follow the established
hiring procedure every time.
b.)
Conduct extensive follow-up
on work and personal
references.
c.)
Give Principals the freedom
to make their choice of the
best candidate from all
applicants.
TERRY ELLIS TO RUN
FOR DISTRICT 4
WASHINGTON COUNTY
SCHOOL BOARD SEAT
This notice is to
inform the citizens
of Washington
County of my
intention to run in
the election for
Washington County
School Board
District 4 seat.
I am a long time
resident of
Washington County
and graduate
of Chipley High School.
Throughout the
years, I have served
in may volunteer
capacities in an
effort to help
better our
community. In
particular, many of
these volunteer
capacities have been
geared toward
working with our
youth. I have
volunteered as a
coach at RMS and CHS
for over 15 years
and served on Tiger
100 Booster Club as
president and board
member. I have
volunteered with
Project Graduation
and have taught
Junior Achievement
in the middle
school. My family
and I are currently
members of First
Baptist Church,
where my wife and
I teach a couples
Sunday school class.
I would like to use
this desire to help
our youth, along
with the knowledge I
have gained working
for WestPoint Home
for 25 years, to
help our school
system to continue
to move forward. In
my work experience,
I have been able to
gain experience in
may different roles
that have helped me
learn every aspect
of managing a
business that has
ranged from 350 to
1000 associates
through the years.
In the coming years,
our county and
school system will
face many challenges
related to growth,
changes in our
society, and career
opportunities that
require more
specific skills and
training. Through
my experience of
serving 10 years on
the Board of
Directors of the
Washington County
Chamber of Commerce
and as President, I
have seen the rapid
change in skills
required by the
potential industry
prospects to this
point, and the pace
of change will only
increase in the
future. In
addressing the
future, it
is important that we
tackle some
important issues
such as:
1.)
Tremendous potential
growth in the south
end of the county.
2.) Diversification
of revenue sources
to try and reduce
the burden of ad valorem taxes on
homeowners.
3.)
Provide a clean,
safe, and structured
school environment
that encourages
learning and the
pursuit of
excellence, while
modeling the
behavior and dress
that is required in
the business world.
4.) Encourage the
introduction of
curriculum and
utilization of
existing resources
that address the
need for more
specific skills
training related to
technical,
mechanical and
medical related
career
opportunities.
It has been an honor
and privilege to
serve as your
District 4 School
Board Member. If
the voters of
Washington county
again place their
trust in me, I will
strive to work
together with our
teachers,
administration,
support staff, and
parents of every
school in our county
to make sure our
children do not just
graduate, but that
we have done
everything possible
to help them be
successful in their
higher education,
careers, and in the
game of life.
Groundbreaking at Vernon
Political
advertisement paid for and approved by Terry Ellis for Washington County
School Board District 4
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