Four candidates shared their concerns and goals for Limestone County Schools during a political forum last week at Athens-Limestone Public Library.

The forum was hosted by the Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce, but the focus was primarily on schools in the northern and western portions of the county. Bradley Young, incumbent District 5 representative for the Limestone County Board of Education, faced Kevin Dunn in the first round.

They were followed by Dr. Belinda Maples and Heath Moss. Maples and Moss are Republicans seeking the LCBOE District 4 seat. Incumbent Ed Winter decided not to seek re-election in District 4.

Young and Dunn

Young and Dunn each have children who attend Ardmore High School, which is part of why they are seeking to represent Ardmore’s district on the board. Young said he’s hoping to continue the service he’s already provided for five years, but Dunn wants a chance at fresh ideas and a change in leadership at his kids’ school.

Dunn told voters at Thursday’s forum teacher morale was at an all-time low and named leadership and the system’s budget among its biggest issues. However, when asked for solutions, Dunn said only that a change in Ardmore High leadership is needed.

He later told The News Courier he wanted to make sure only candidates who lived in or intended to live in the county were considered for an administrative job with LCS. As for the budget, he said at the forum he would have to look at it further but believes the district overspends and the budget needs a fine-toothed comb.

Meanwhile, Young identified keeping up with growth as LCS’ biggest issue. He said a lack of funding and proper strategic plan complicated the matter, but he praised administrators and faculty for holding each other accountable.

“We have two elementary schools in my district alone that last year had a ‘C’ (on the state report card) and brought it all the way up to a ‘B,'” Young said. “That’s morale in your classrooms, that’s morale in your teachers and that’s morale in your leadership.”

Maples and Moss

For Maples and Moss, there seemed to be more agreement than disagreement. Each was in favor of faculty leading the way in how children are taught in county schools, instead of a federal agency dictating how classrooms should be managed.

“We need to be able to take control at the local level,” Moss said.

“Everyone is overburdened by bureaucracy,” Maples said. “I think there should be less restrictions, and allow the teachers to be more creative and individualize their teaching to the student. Not everybody learns the same.”

They also agreed on improving Limestone County Career Technical Center. During his debate, Young praised the center for offering more than 20 courses and being among the top in the state. Maples called for more certifications to be offered, so students would be that much better to hire straight out of high school.

“In Washington, they’re saying they want community college to be free,” Maples said. “They’ve got public education free, and why aren’t we using our time while (students are) 16, 17 and 18 trying to teach something they can do for the rest of their lives?”

Moss suggested not only taking measures to generate more interest in tech center programs but also spending more money on personnel to teach those and other courses in the county. Again, the candidates were on the same side, with each calling for smaller classroom sizes.

“We have some of the best educators in the world, in my opinion,” Moss said. “… We need smaller classroom sizes, and you can include that in the tech school as well.”

Maples called it “the silliest thing I’d ever heard” for the district to waste money on computers to help teach each student when not every student has internet access or even cellphone service at home.

“We need smaller class sizes and more people talking to kids than computers,” she said.

March 3 primary

The statewide primary election and presidential preference primary election is Tuesday, March 3, with a primary runoff election set for March 31, if needed. Voters can visit https://sos.alabama.gov to find their polling place.

Due to Alabama’s crossover law, those who cast a ballot for one political party cannot cross over to cast a ballot in a different party’s primary runoff election.