Candidate Q&A
Alcorn Public School District
School Board Election 2022
Our public education questionnaire was offered to school board candidates in the November 8 school board elections. Search below for responses from board districts that have opposing candidates. Unopposed candidates are not included.
District 1
Katriena Burgess
WINNER
NO RESPONSE
Cecil Rhoads
NO RESPONSE
District 2
Charlette Foster
WINNER
1. What has been your involvement with the community and school district? Describe your leadership and volunteerism in the community. Did you or your children attend school in the district? Have you volunteered in or been employed by the school district? I am a Retired Teacher of 31 years and a Coach of 33 years. Both of our daughters graduated from our District. I regularly attend meetings and continue to volunteer to help in District.
2. Why do you want to serve on your school board? We have an A District and I want to make sure it stays that way.
3. Students from low-income households often need additional resources to achieve academic success. What should your school district do to ensure that all students are successful? Make sure that technology is available and working in the homes. Making sure they have all necessary supplies available such as iPads, calculators, paper, pens, and etc…
4. What strategies would you support to create a safer school environment? What can your school district do to address cyberbullying, mental health, and physical safety? SEEK more funding for more resource officers on each campus. Continue focus on administrative, teacher, and staff training and protocols. Cyberbullying is a problem that all Districts face. Implementing more character building programs could help with this and the mental health as well. Making sure all schools are fully equipped with locked doors in and out, and the extra training of safety protocols will definitely help with physical safety.
5. What do you see as the most pressing infrastructure needs facing your district? We have several older buildings that definitely need updating. We need more school Bus Drivers.
6. Mississippi school districts are funded by a mix of federal, state, and local funds. The state contributes to local school districts through the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP). MAEP is intended to fund teacher salaries, retirement and benefits, transportation costs, facility maintenance and utilities, special education and other programs, but it is underfunded statewide this year by $279-million. What role will you play in advocating for full funding of MAEP for your district? To have a good solid program and maintain an A District, we will need full funding to make sure that we have all components and nothing important is left out.
7. Vouchers for private school tuition and online schools divert public funds away from public schools. Do you agree that tax dollars should be used for only public schools and not for non-public schools? Why or why not? Yes I do. Every child has a right to an education. Public schools are the only way most children can go to to school.
8. In Mississippi, academic standards are set by the Mississippi Department of Education and local districts choose curricula from an MDE approved list. Do you trust educators in your district to teach using their professional judgement and training or should teaching be further regulated by school board policy or law? If you believe teaching should be further regulated, how so? I believe by putting in Effective and Qualified Administrators, they will in turn put in Effective and Qualified Teachers who will follow the curricula from the MDE. I also believe this is part of the Administrators job by checking weekly Lesson Plans and Observing on a regular basis.
9. Mississippi is experiencing a severe teacher shortage. What strategies will you support to recruit and retain high quality educators? A sign on bonus would help tremendously. Career Days for College Students to come in and visit our campuses. Possible pay raises for Math and Science Teachers.
Brandon Jones
NO RESPONSE
District 3
Derrick Johnson
WINNER
NO RESPONSE
Abby Serio
1. What has been your involvement with the community and school district? Describe your leadership and volunteerism in the community. Did you or your children attend school in the district? Have you volunteered in or been employed by the school district? My husband and I are both Biggersville graduates and our oldest daughter attends first grade at Biggersville. I have served my community as a nurse for 8 years, the last 3 have been in public health. My husband is a fire paramedic for the City of Olive Branch, so we have served more than just our local community.
2. Why do you want to serve on your school board? I want to make sure parents have a voice in their children’s education. I want to truly represent the parents in my county and stand firm for our community values. I am appalled at how woke political ideology has crept into public schools, no longer just in our colleges. I would prefer an apolitical environment where our children can learn the 3 Rs as they used to and leave the political teachings to their parents. This movement for “equity” is an attempt to racially divide us further, charging that our country is racist. I believe we are the most blessed people in the world to have been born here and despite past wrongs, we have always strived to overcome our downfalls, and should not teach our children that they are inherently racist or inherently oppressed because of their skin color.
3. Students from low-income households often need additional resources to achieve academic success. What should your school district do to ensure that all students are successful? As far as providing extra resources, there are federal grants that assist with this from what I understand. We have reduced lunches, minimal activity fees, and teachers often ask parents to donate extra supplies to the school. We should strive to treat each student as an individual and tailor the learning experience to fit their specific needs. I come from a healthcare background. We believe each person is different and a plan of care should be unique to each patient. This same concept could be applied to every single child in our schools as well. I think tests should be used as a way to measure how well a child understands the content, but also as a way for the teacher to better adjust the education for each student as each one learns at a different pace. Some will need more challenging content, while others may need more time spent on a specific area.
4. What strategies would you support to create a safer school environment? What can your school district do to address cyberbullying, mental health, and physical safety? I believe teaching old fashion values like the golden rule is important, but I am also in favor of corporal punishment if needed if the parent allows for it. I don’t think a student should simply be punished for being involved in an altercation, I think the instigator should be punished. There are limits as to how much the school can combat bullying, particularly cyberbullying, but I think a collaborative approach with parents and teachers is the best method. For physical safety, increased law enforcement presence will help with this. I also think that teachers who are open to it, should be trained to protect students and be allowed to carry to protect our students. If they are willing to do this, they should receive a small bonus for doing so.
5. What do you see as the most pressing infrastructure needs facing your district? I can say I am ashamed of how Biggersville’s gym was “updated” back several years ago by spending a tremendous amount of money on a front entrance and a couple of bathrooms. I have seen holes in the bleacher floors just this week. There is a new paint job that does look much better than it did in years past, but it seems to me that putting a new coat of paint on the old barn is becoming tiresome. These kids have worked hard to be superior athletes and should have an updated place to play ball and I believe funds should be set aside for a future gym. A new gym was built for the elementary but it does not even have room for bleachers. As far as inside the schools, I cannot say specifically what may need to be done, but I believe a good walk through of all of our campuses is in order.
6. Mississippi school districts are funded by a mix of federal, state, and local funds. The state contributes to local school districts through the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP). MAEP is intended to fund teacher salaries, retirement and benefits, transportation costs, facility maintenance and utilities, special education and other programs, but it is underfunded statewide this year by $279-million. What role will you play in advocating for full funding of MAEP for your district? Full funding has rarely happened since its introduction. From what I understand, this is handled mostly by legislators. Encouraging people to vote wisely would be most important . Encouraging the community to reach out to those legislators to make their voices heard would have the biggest impact on how they vote.
7. Vouchers for private school tuition and online schools divert public funds away from public schools. Do you agree that tax dollars should be used for only public schools and not for non-public schools? Why or why not? I personally believe the money should follow the child. When federal grants are given to college students, the students get to choose what college they attend. If a parent feels their child would be better educated in a private school environment or even homeschooled, I believe the money should be used as it was intended, to help the student, not the school. I know that private schools are looked at with disdain by many public school advocates as they say it will cause the collapse of the public school system. That statement in and of itself shows just how poorly a public school thinks it would compete with a private school. Competition is good for everyone. Competition is what drives labor prices and better working conditions up as workers will go to the best employer. Maybe if we began to see teachers leave for the private sector, the school districts would see an increase in funding in order to retain staff, thereby accomplishing the goal of MAEP increased funding.
8. In Mississippi, academic standards are set by the Mississippi Department of Education and local districts choose curricula from an MDE approved list. Do you trust educators in your district to teach using their professional judgement and training or should teaching be further regulated by school board policy or law? If you believe teaching should be further regulated, how so? At this time, I do not know if more regulations need to be extended over our teachers. I do believe a teacher should be given the content and allow them some room to teach that information how they feel they can best reach their students in a professional manner. I am concerned that the curriculum offered in the future by the MDE may have more political bias. If no options are given to the school board that are acceptable, it is the duty of the board to be accountable for what is being taught in our schools and work to make changes that are best suited to our community.
9. Mississippi is experiencing a severe teacher shortage. What strategies will you support to recruit and retain high quality educators? There is a severe shortage of workers across the country in almost every sector. Many have found it easier to stay home or to find a less stressful job. This is a complex issue, but the main factors I see as to what will encourage staff retention would be, increasing pay for longevity and teacher performance, and also having manageable class sizes.
James Stanford
NO RESPONSE
Sergio Warren
NO RESPONSE
Christopher Woodruff
NO RESPONSE
