Eight candidates vie for NAFCS at-large seats

Oct. 2—FLOYD COUNTY — Eight candidates are running for two at-large seats in the New Albany-Floyd County school board race.

The at-large candidates include one incumbent, Elaine Gunterman Murphy, who is running for her second term on the NAFCS board. Candidates also include Randall "Randy" Stumler, Connie Baugh, Tim Harbison, Thad Neafus, Misty Ronau, Brian "BJ" Foster and Kevin Skinner.

The school board seats are non-partisan positions.

RANDY STUMLER

Stumler, 55, serves as a teacher at Fort Knox High School in Kentucky. He is the father of six children, including a recent graduate of Floyd Central High School.

He emphasizes the importance of supporting public education.

"I think we need people who care about our community on the school board," he said. "We need people who care about public education in particular — who are pro-public education — on the school board."

Stumler's main priority is school safety, he said. He would support measures such as putting school resource officers at every school.

He also feels that planning for future growth in the district is important, particularly in areas such as Georgetown where new housing is being built. He said the district should be "proactive rather than reactive once we're bursting at the seams."

He also wants to consider long-term solutions for funding "to keep our schools strong." He said he will be an advocate for better funding from the state.

In terms of curriculum, Stumler said he is "very satisfied as a parent" with the education offered to NAFCS students, and he is impressed with the options his children had at Floyd Central.

CONNIE BAUGH

Baugh, 52, is a Floyd Central graduate with six children and seven grandchildren, many of whom have attended or are attending NAFCS schools.

As she runs for school board, Baugh said she wants parents to "have their voices back again," she said.

"They felt like they haven't been heard for a long time, and then COVID came around and further proved that parents' voices were completely shut down or shut off, and they felt they didn't have a say-so in their child's education," she said.

Baugh also feels there has been a "lack of transparency" on the school board. She said she would like the board to "open to up to fully answering the questions that the public and the parents are asking."

She said she does not agree with curriculum choices in the district, and she wants to see a greater emphasis on topics like civics and agriculture in NAFCS schools.

"I feel like they need to know more about what it means to be living in our country, what it is to be a citizen — the government, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, everything along that line," Baugh said. "Our kids need to start at a younger age knowing this, because the kids don't know it."

ELAINE MURPHY

Murphy, 64, has served 45 years in NAFCS — she has worked as a teacher, counselor and administrator, and she now serves as school board president. Her two sons attended NAFCS.

"I've always been involved in the schools, and I care about kids and families and want to do my very best for them," Murphy said. "I also care about educators, and I want to support teachers and people that work in our schools."

She wants to be part of the process as the school board hires a new superintendent, she said. As the community grows, Murphy also wants to be involved in future growth in the district. For example, NAFCS has acquired land in Georgetown that could be used for a future school.

She wants to make sure teachers and families have the resources they need to "close that achievement gap" that occurred during the pandemic.

"COVID just caused a lot of anxiety for kids, and I just want to make sure they get the services they need to help deal with those issues and make sure we're making those academic gains and getting back to where we used to be," Murphy said.

In terms of curriculum, Murphy notes that the school district follows state standards, and educators "monitor kids on a regular basis to make sure they are understanding that."

TIM HARBISON

Harbison, 63, grew up attending NAFCS schools, and he graduated from New Albany High School. He has taught school for 41 years — he has taught at a variety of schools in NAFCS, including Floyd Central, and he is currently teaching in Jefferson County Public Schools.

Both his kids went through the school district, and his wife also taught at Floyd Central. Harbison said he wants to give back to the community by running for the school board.

"The thing I know the most about having taught for 41 years is schools, so I thought that would be a good place where I could serve," he said. "I've seen so many kids literally be saved by our public schools, and I think it's important to maintain that."

Attracting and retaining teacher aides at NAFCS is one of the main issues Harbison is prioritizing as he runs for office. He wants to see benefit packages for aides reinstated in the district. He also wants to see a greater emphasis on science and social studies on the elementary level.

He said there are many misconceptions about the public school curriculum and the role of the school board, noting that state standards largely determine curriculum. He feels that many people are trying to make school board races a "political issue when it's not a political position."

"The people who are trying to make a political confrontation are people who really don't have much experience with schools," Harbison said.

THAD NEAFUS

Neafus, 49, graduated from New Albany High School, and he has worked for nearly 28 years with the Floyd County Sheriff's Department. He has children who have gone through or are attending schools in the district.

He said he decided to run for NAFCS school board because he is interested in "making sure some of the national problems that everyone is hearing in the news aren't affecting our local schools," and he wants more parental engagement with the school board.

"At the meetings, it appeared to me that the board was disconnected from the citizenry, and it was almost impossible to engage them if you weren't part of the school corporation," Neafus said.

Some of his priorities include school safety, including adding school resource officers to all schools.

Neafus said he wants more transparency in the district so "any parent at any time will be able to go online and see the curriculum for their child word for word." He is concerned about curricular matters such as social-emotional learning (SEL) and "explicit" sexual education.

"I want to make sure we stick to traditional curriculum with, as the saying goes, the three Rs — reading writing and arithmetic — and try to steer away from any idealogical teaching, whether it's race or sex or gender or if anything else pops up on any subject and keep all of that out of the schools," Neafus said.

MISTY RONAU

Ronau, 43, is the mother of an eighth grader at Scribner Middle School. She has worked with nonprofits throughout her career, including many focused on youth service.

She served as chairperson for the political action committee advocating for the $3.1 million NAFCS safety referendum in 2020. It motivated her to run for school board. The referendum was rejected by voters, but the lessons she learned from that experience motivated her to run for school board, she said.

School safety remains a top concern for Ronau.

"The school board is responsible for making sure the appropriate people are lending their expertise to make sure schools are safe, and we're depending on them to do their job in order to make decisions," she said.

She also emphasizes the need to hire a "capable and responsible superintendent," focus on the ongoing remediation from the pandemic and address shortages of teachers and bus drivers.

Ronau said the school board "has nothing to do with the selection of the curriculum," and the board is "responsible for making sure our school corporation is able to deliver that education."

"Overall, I'm thrilled and incredibly happy with the quality of education our children receive," she said.

BJ FOSTER

Foster, 38, was born and raised in Floyd County, and he is the father of a first grader at Georgetown Elementary. He is running for school board because he wants to "get back to the basics," he said.

"I feel like with educators and with parents and with everyone involved in the growth of our children, personal opinions should be out the window, political affiliations should be out the window — it's all about the kids," Foster said.

He also feels that educators "aren't getting a fair shake" in terms of compensation, assistance and resources "they need to be successful in educating our children."

Foster said he will consider the taxpayers' perspectives if elected to the school board, including a focus on "better allocation of funds."

In terms of curriculum, he feels NAFCS is "doing pretty good in what exists," but "in anything, there's always room for improvement," and he feels there is room for more parental involvement.

"I feel like the more effort that's put in and the more we allow people with good intentions to be a part of our kids' education, the better off we're going to be," Foster said.

KEVIN SKINNER

In response to a request for an interview, Skinner referred the News and Tribune to a post he made on his personal Facebook page introducing himself as a candidate.

Skinner, 56, is a New Albany High School graduate, tenured teacher and licensed attorney. His attorney practice represents students with special needs and their families.

He said his decision to run for school board was based on a "genuine concern for our children's future, and a sincere desire to play a meaningful role in the planning, mission, and vision of our school system."

Skinner said he is concerned with fiscal responsibility, and he would take a close look at the district's finances. He said he would "never rubber stamp any project."

School curriculum is among the topics Skinner addresses in his introduction, saying "we've reached a pivotal moment in time and history where certain individuals are more concerned about pronouns, unisex restrooms, blatant activism and indoctrination within K-12 classrooms rather than concentrating on the primary mission of teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic, and other subjects of substantive value."

Skinner said his goal is to make sure "all children, including special needs children and their parents, will be provided a fair shake," he said.

Editor's note: Candidates were asked to provide a photo of themselves for this story. The newspaper published the photos of those who submitted one.