ELECTION PREVIEW: Corbin Independent Board of Education

Oct. 21—CORBIN — Three candidates are running for two seats on the Corbin Independent Schools Board of Education. The nonpartisan race will be decided in the upcoming General Election.

Croley's love for school system, community sparks another bid in school board race

Kimberly Sasser Croley loves her community and after serving on the Corbin Independent Schools Board of Education for 16 years now, she still wants to show her love for Corbin by continuing to serve on the board.

Croley, who was born and raised in Corbin, said she has loved every minute of her time on the board.

"I love our school system and I love our community," she said. "I think we have the best of all possible worlds because we have a small town feel where people care for one another. That's why I always wanted to live here and I didn't want to move away to a big city because I like home and Corbin is home."

As far as what Croley wants to address as a member of the board if re-elected on November 8, academics is always job one.

"Secondary, we always look at the whole child," she added. "We know that socially and emotionally our students and staff and faculty, everyone suffered during COVID. We have really tried to focus on that area in ways that maybe we didn't before."

Croley said the health of the students is also always a concern.

"We have been very distressed at the amount of vaping that we have seen in our teenagers, so that's something we have really targeted this year," she said. "We had a special speaker who came and spoke to everyone in the 7th through 12th grades. I went and listened to him at the parent meeting that night. He was excellent. He didn't hold any punches."

She said that there are sensors in the restrooms at the schools that sense heat sources.

"We do not have cameras in bathrooms that would be an invasion of privacy, but we do have heat sensors," Croley explained. "So if someone lights up a vape, that's a heat source and we will know something is happening."

Croley said she wants students to know their health at this early age is paramount to being a healthy adult and senior adult.

Croley is facing Paul Taylor and Carcille Burchette for two open positions on the school board.

"It's a testament to our community that we have several people interested in serving on the board and it shows a real love for our community," Croley said. "I think it's important that we recognize that."

Burchette believes education is key

Carcille Burchette sees education as key to prepare students for the future and that is one reason why she wants to continue to serve on the Corbin Independent Schools Board of Education.

Burchette is an incumbent on the Corbin Independent Schools Board of Education having served since 2015. She is a 38+ year educator with most of those years of teaching served in the Corbin school district.

"Education to me is key," she said. "You can't take education away from people. I'm not necessarily talking about strictly reading, writing and arithmetic. I'm talking about there's so many aspects and that's why we need to get our students prepared."

"When [our students] leave us, they need to be as prepared as they can be socially, emotionally, academically," she said.

Whether the student decides to pursue a future in the military, vocational studies or go on to a college or university, Burchette wants to make sure the school district serves all students.

"It doesn't matter what they decide to go into, we need to have them prepared," Burchette said.

"I'll be honest with you, I was considered to be a hard teacher because of my expectations," she added. "The reason I had those expectations was because I had an obligation to the students and to the parents to make sure that the students could get to their potential."

Burchette said she offers an educator's perspective that the other board members might not have.

"Honestly when you spend 38+ years...when you spend that many years in teaching and working with the students, working with parents, working with your faculty and staff and support staff and everybody, I've spent most of my life doing that. and most of it in the Corbin Independent School District," she said. "I just feel that education is so very, very important and getting students prepared. I feel like being an educator on the school board is vital. I feel I can see things from a different perspective than maybe the other board members and I can lend my insight."

Burchette said she has not had a lot of questions asked of her while campaigning, but she knows property taxes have been a subject of conversation as those bills were recently sent out. This year Corbin Independent Schools Board of Education chose to send and collect their portion of the property taxes separately.

"We felt like it would save us money because the rate of collecting was possibly going up," she explained, further clarifying that the board does not determine the valuation of any property.

"This board has been very conscious of spending money wisely," Burchette said. She explained that the monies go into separate funds and have to be spent on what that fund is designated for. So while there are a lot of different projects going on, those monies are being spent on what it is allotted for.

Burchette moved to Corbin in 1975 with her husband and she began teaching in the district at the middle school and high school before becoming the gifted and talented coordinator. She retired from that position in 2012.

She was also the cheerleading sponsor for a few years.

"I've been involved in all aspects of education," she said.

Corbin Independent Schools strive to be the very best that they can be, Burchette said. "Are we perfect? No, no place is. Do we strive to improve? Yes."

Burchette has two children that are both graduates of Corbin High School. She also has two grandsons

She is currently the president of Garden Club of Kentucky, Inc.

Taylor seeking to bring fresh perspective to school board

Paul Taylor is the newcomer in the race to serve on Corbin's school board.

A 1989 graduate of Corbin High School, Taylor living in Richmond while running a successful business before moving back to the Corbin area in 2016 "solely for the purpose of allowing my son the privilege of being a Corbin Redhound."

In addition to being a business owner, Taylor has served on the site base decision-making councils for both Corbin Elementary and Corbin Middle schools. He is a member of the Redhound Varsity Club and has previously served as its president.

"I also currently sit on the Corbin Little League Board and the Grace Health Board," Taylor said. "I feel that all of these experiences have prepared me to effectively serve on the Corbin Board of Education."

Ultimately Taylor wants to bring a fresh perspective to the ongoing issues that public schools face.

"I hope to provide more transparency to the stakeholders of the Corbin school system, whether it be knowing exactly what your hard-earned tax dollars are being spent on, what curriculum our kids are being taught or what measures we are providing to make sure that our students are at the safest place possible when they are in our school buildings," he said.

Transparency has been a big concern for the voters Taylor has encountered during this campaign.

"Many stakeholders feel like they are left in the dark when it comes to important decisions being made about how and where money is being spent, projects that are started but often delayed, and school safety issues," Taylor said. "I hope to remedy this by providing budget and agenda transparency and also having an open like of communication for everyone."

Not only does he want to be a voice for all parents of Corbin students, Taylor would like to help provide staff with step raises.

"We need to make sure that we are keeping experienced teachers and staff in our classrooms for as long as possible," he said.

Taylor and his wife Mandy have a 13-year-old son who currently attends Corbin Middle School.