Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Oct. 30, 2013, edition 1 / Page 5
Part of The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Wednesday, October 30, 2013 From page 2A BLANTON, cont. the art board meeting room. The current school board has not properly supervised the use, or in many incidents, mis- use of the schools’ credit card system. The credit card system has been misused on numerous occasions. Teachers are not able to teach because they are required to attend so many meetings and having to take extra work home to complete. 4. Do you now or have you had children in the school system? I have four grandchildren currently in the Cleveland County School System. One of my children graduated Cleve- land County Schools and my other three graduated from the Gaston County Schools, Kathy Falls - | am Kathy Falls, age 47. | have been married to my hus- band Jeff for 28 years. We both graduated from Kings Mountain High School in 1984. We have three sons; Jordan; 19, a 2012 graduate of Kings Mountain High School and currently a sophomore at Campbell Uni- versity. Brandon, 16, is a junior at Kings Mountain High School and Zachary, 12, is a 7th grader at the Kings Mountain Interme- diate School. Some things | enjoy are spending time with my family, walking, watching college foot- ball, traveling and shopping, | have enjoyed representing Cleveland County on the school board. | have devoted the past four years to serving our students, teachers, and staff. | hope you will vote for Kathy Falls on November 5th so that | can continue to make a difference on the Board of Edu- cation in Cleveland County. gm [. Why are 8 you running 8 for the school board? I am run- ning for school board because | want to She a voice for the 15,191 children and their parents that attend Cleveland County Schools. | also want to be a voice for the 2,354 em- ployees that work for our school system. | have been en- couraged to run for school board by parents and teachers that feel they need someone that they can discuss problems with confidentially. As a parent of two current students, | feel that | am extremely aware of the problems that our students, parents, teachers, and staff face every day. | feel strongly that our school board reeds a ‘Mama’ on the Board of Educa- tion. It is my goal to address ~ and work with all school board members to find solutions to improve our school environ- ment for the betterment of all students and staff in Cleveland County Schools. 2. What are the big issues the school board will face in the next few years? Keeping quality teachers. in our classrooms is by far one of the biggest problems in our schools today. North Carolina rankings 46th in teacher pay. Legislative budget cuts have: created many issues for-our stu- dents, teachers, and our assis- tants. Since 2008, our teachers . have received only one pay in- “crease from the state level. That increase occurred in 2012- 2013 when the state approved an average increase for all state employees of 1.2%. The current school board rewarded teach- ers with a 10% salary. increase in local supplement in the 2012-2013. While not near \ ! J ~ The Kings Mountain Herald | www.kmherald.net RET enunth, we wanted our teach- ers to know they are important in Cleveland County. Our legis: lator’s also cut teacher assis- tants in Cleveland County ‘Schools over one million dql- lars. Other issues that we must address are new classroom wings in some of our oldest schools and additional class- room wings to replace mobile units in overcrowded schools. 3. What are we doing right in the Cleveland County Schools? What are we doing wrong? What we are doing right: Cleveland County Schools are offering a variety of Advance Placement classes to challenge out students and better prepare them for college. We have raised the graduation rate to 83.3%, which is the highest it has ever been in Cleveland County Schools. As a school system we have closed the achievement gap. While in the Nation there is still work to be done, our teachers, principals, staff, and parents have part- nered together with the com- .munity to achieve these accomplishments. What are we doing wrong? * Cleveland County Schools must continue to work to prepare our students to be globally,compet- itive. Our students and teachers need to have one-on-one lap- top initiative to help-them be- come better prepared. We must provide our teachers with all the necessary tools to help our students be successful. We must also improve our facilities to help equip all of students and teachers with the best learning and working environ- ment possible. State legislators eliminated career status of teachers in 2013. Teachers can only be of- fered 1, 2 or 4-year contracts based on experience, effective- ness and proficiency. Only 25% of our teachers can be of- fered four-year contacts. We need to make sure our school board is balanced with some members that do not have family employed by our school system to ensure that every teacher will have a fair chance at the four-year contract and the $5,000 bonus that the state is offering to a very select group of teachers. If elected, | promise to make sure this process is fair to all teachers. 4. Do you now or have you had children in the school system? Yes, | currently have two children in our school system. Brandon is in the 11th grade at Mountain High School. Zachary is a 7th grader at the Kings Mountain Intermediate School and my oldest Jordan, 19, graduated from Kings Mountain High School in 2012. He current attends Campbell University as a sophomore. 5. Do you have a spouse who is employed by the school sys- tem? Neither my husband nor any other relative have ever been employed by Cleveland County : School. | Phillip Glover 1. Why are | you running# | for the school || ‘board? l-am moti- | vated to re- main a member of the Board of Edun My two . children, who are currently in Cleveland County Schools, are my biggest motivation. | want to make sure that they, and every other student in our schools, have a quality educa- tion in a safe, orderly, and car- ing environment. Also, being married to a teacher encourages me to en- sure faculty and staff have a voice and the support they need to educate our young people. During our present challenging legislative changes, it is more important than. ever to support and lift up our pub- lic school system. It motivates me now, more than ever, to continue a strong, positive atti- tude and to work hard as a team for Cleveland County Schools. Ge 2. What are the big issues the school board will face in the next few years? The biggest issues our © schools are facing are budget concerns and keeping teacher and teacher-assistant positions. The legislators have made it dif- ficult to retain our faculty’ and staff, therefore we need to con- tinue to closely monitor our budget so we will be able to provide quality. education for every: student in the Cleveland County School System. 3. What are we doing right in the Cleveland County Schools? What are we, doing wrong? We are currently doing many things that are right in Cleveland County Schools. We have increased our graduation rate for the fourth consecutive year to 83.3%, which is Shove the state average. ; We have been able to start our fifth high school, which is the Early College High School. Not only does this give students a high school diploma, but it also gives them a two-year de- gree. Through parent and commu- nity involvement outreach ef- forts, we are strengthening our partnership. These are just a few of the positive things hap- pening in Cleveland County Schools. We are always striving to im- prove, and we have just been presented our Strategic Plan Recommendations to strengthen Cleveland County Schools. 4. Do you now or have you had children in the school system? {1 have two children, a son and a daughter, who are stu- dents in our school system. 5. Do you have a spouse who is “employed by the school sys- tem? My wife teaches 3rd grade for Cleveland County Schools. Jeff Gregory 1 1. Why are | you running | for the school board? | believe | | can make a | big and posi- tive difference in the education - and lives of our children. 1 “have the administrative back- ground to ensure the people's money is spent appropriately, and where it is needed most. It is imperative that the board be good stewards of the people’s money. I will be that good steward. ; - We are at a crossroads in ed- ucation in Cleveland County and I will make sure we take the most beneficial and effec- tive path for all. It is of the ut- most importance that our children have a safe and receptive place to be educated. This will be a high priority, as well as making sure parental rights are adhered . to. Many issues such as common core and misuse of funds are being ignored. | will not allow such issues to con- tinue to be ignored. It is important that we have a member who will listen to the * people and not look down on them. | am committed to be that member. 2. What are the big issues the school board will face in the next few-years? Common core and the edu- cation of the students are big is- , sues for the next few -years. Budget restraints will also be a huge fiscal responsibility concern. We will need board members who are willing to put the best interest of all first, not just family and friends. Bullying, drugs od harass- ment in the school system among students must be ad- dressed. Teachers who are frus- trated and feel they are not being heard is a great concern that must not be ignored. The closing of community schools and spending millions of dol- lars for large schools have a negative effect on schools as well as its local community. Many local school commu- nities feel that they are being abandoned, and have lost com- munication, and the support of its administration. The abuse of funds must be addressed before the people of Cleveland County lose all faith and respect in our school administrators and the Cleveland County School Board of Education. 3. What are we doing right in the Cleveland County Schools? What are we doing wrong? What are we doing right: We are giving all Cleveland County students’ an opportunity to re- ceive a free education, paid for, by Cleveland County taxpayers. We are the largest employer in Cleveland County. We provide hundreds of Cleveland County residents - employment to help support their family’s needs. Another wonderful thing that we are doing right is giving stu- dents after school activities and opportunities through sports. Sports are an excellent, safe and enjoyable activity for students, parents, teachers and all taxpayers. What are we doing wrong: We are not addressing underly- ing issues such as common core and teacher's concerns. As | speak to parents and teachers in Cleveland County, many say that they see no need to speak out. They have learned that if they speak out they will get little or no re- sponse. Even worse, they will be retali- ated against and/or denied pro- motion. We are not being fiscally re- sponsible to the people. Issues such as abuse of funds and spending millions of dollars to renovate schools closed, be- cause they are no longer usable must stop. Taking schools out of the local communities is not a good way to unite parents and teachers. It is a way of dis- mantling local communities. It only serves to break down communication between the students, parents, teachers and" administration. Going along with programs sent down by bureaucrats must be addressed. Unacceptable programs, such as common core must be reevaluated by legislators. The people of Cleveland County must be as- ‘sured that the superintendent answers to the Cleveland County School Board, and that the Cleveland County School | ‘Board answers to the peo- ple. We must take our heads out of the sand and address each and every issue brought before the board. : 4. Do you now: or have you had children in the school sys- tem? Yes, both of our children at- tended Cleveland County schools. My wife, and myself are former PTO presidents of Cleveland County. Page 5A 5. Do you have a spouse who is employed by the school sys- tem? I do not have a spouse that is employed by the school sys- tem. However, it seems that some people may want to serve on the Cleveland County School Board because they do have family and friends employed by “the school system. Ido not be- lieve that is a good reason to serve on the board. It only ap- pears to be self serving. | want to serve on the board solely to support and. help my Cleveland County neighbors as God has commissioned us to do. | have no reason to serve on the Cleveland County Board of Ed- ucation other than to help the parents, teachers, students and the good people of Cleveland County. Darius Griffin 1. Why are you running for the school board? I care about the Cleveland County School System and community. | also owe a great. debt of gratitude to the public education system and Cleve- land County commupity: Therefore, | stand’ committed to serving the peo- ple of Cleveland County to en- sure our school system is equipped to prepare all stu- dents for graduation, careers, college and citizenship. As you may know, our school system is in the middle of a transition. Students, par- ents, school, teachers, adminis- trators, support staff, and elected officials have to posi- tively communicate, collabo- . rate and stay committed to establish workable solutions. For that reason, | feel that | must continue to look for- ward and offer the voters of Cleveland County a sensible strategic leadership choice. . My plan: 1. Build and sup- port relationships between * schools and Community pro- “grams. 2. Collaboratively work with board members to align school board goals with the Cleveland County Schools and commu- “nity goals. 3. Contribute to strategic ev- idence-based policies that will . establish a safe environment where all students graduate and are career, college and citizen- ship ready. | am enthusiastic about run- ning for the board. 2. What are the big issues the school board will face in the next few years? a. Implementing new strate- gic plan “b. Manlging and motivating teachers and support, = staff c. Alternative schools such as charter and private schools ; *d. Implementing common core standards e. Budget — funding for pay raises and facilities improvement 3. What are we doing right in the Cleveland County Schools? What are we doing wrong? . What we are doing right: a..Creating a strategic plan b. Lowering the dropout rate ¢. Increasing the graduation rate What are we doing wrong? a. Implementing and track- ing progress on strategic plan ° b. Building parental ‘and community partnerships c. Ensuring accountability at all levels "+ See FORUM, 9A
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 30, 2013, edition 1
5
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75