Candidate Q&A
Greene County 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
Wayne "Buddy" Davis
NO RESPONSE
Joshua Jordan
NO RESPONSE
Shannon Walters
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 retired from Greene County School District after 31 years of service. Five of those years, I served as instructional specialist. All three of my children, myself, and my husband are products of the Greene County School District. I volunteer in my community and church where my husband is pastor.
2. Why do you want to serve on your school board? I want to use my knowledge from teaching and help make decisions to better our school district.
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? I will continue to support the nutrition program in our county. This program provides free lunch and breakfast for our students. All students should be able to eat so they can learn. I also will continue to support the summer feeding program that we have in place and the Back Pack Buddies program that feeds students on the weekend. Another program that I plan to support will be the online tutorial program called ” PAPER” that our district just came out with. This allows all students to get the help they need on their assignments at home.
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 will continue to support programs like “Wildpat” at our high school campus. This program helps students say no to drugs and suicide. I will also support on-site counselors working with our students. Campus security and patrol would be a priority also for me.
5. What do you see as the most pressing infrastructure needs facing your district? The economic infrastructure in our district is most pressing because of lack of funds coming into the district. This deeply affects everyone in our school system.
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? I plan to have open communication with my legislators regarding all areas of funding for my district.
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? All tax dollars should go to public schools and support our children’s learning with the exception of situations where students with special needs may require alternative educational environments.
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 am confident in administrators and teachers in my district to do their jobs because they are constantly working to improve the educational environment within each school. Our schools have continued to improve over the years, and I know they will continue because of their love for our students.
9. Mississippi is experiencing a severe teacher shortage. What strategies will you support to recruit and retain high quality educators? I will continue to encourage the assistants in our school system to become certified teachers through the teacher-assistant program at our universities. Many have already taken advantage of this program. This will allow principals to hire more experienced individuals for their schools.
District 2
Curtis J. Hill
Advanced to runoff
NO RESPONSE
Shena Knight
Advanced to runoff
NO RESPONSE
Brenda Debose Mosley
NO RESPONSE
