Four candidates vie for NAFCS District 1 seat

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·4 min read

Oct. 24—FLOYD COUNTY — Four school board candidates are running for District 1 of New Albany-Floyd County Schools.

The candidates include J.R. Drummond, Trent Rufing, Stephen Wayne Keenan and Melanie Stumler Northup. Rufing did not provide responses to the News and Tribune as of publication time.

The non-partisan board seat is currently held by Donna Corbett, who is not seeking re-election. District 1 covers Lafayette and Greenville townships in Floyd County.

J.R. DRUMMOND

Drummond, 43, is a teacher in Jefferson County Public Schools, and he is president of the Kentucky Association for Career and Technical Education.

He has a child at Floyd Central High School and two at Highland Hills Middle School. Drummond said he has the needed experience and understanding of "the foundation of public education" to serve on the school board.

"I've worn many hats in education, and they all add to being able to understand what great schools look like, what great instruction looks like, and I feel that sets me apart from others candidates, especially in District 1," he said.

Drummond's priorities include increasing engagement in extracurricular activities and enhancing instructional practices in the district, he said.

"I'm really passionate about kids wanting to be at school," he said.

Regarding curriculum in NAFCS, Drummond said he does not support educators "pushing their personal beliefs in the classroom," but he hasn't seen that as an issue in NAFCS, and he emphasizes the role of state standards in determining local curriculum.

"As far as the curriculum that the state of Indiana has pushed forward, it's a lot of core content," he said. "My personal view is if we look at that, how can we make the standards that the state has pushed forward more engaging."

STEPHEN WAYNE KEENAN

Keenan, 39, grew up in Floyd County and graduated from Floyd Central, and he has one child in kindergarten at Floyds Knobs Elementary and a young child who will soon begin school. He works as a project manager at Fabtration, LLC in Georgetown.

He said six months ago, he did not intend to run for school board, but when he found out the District 1 seat was available, he thought he could bring some "solid input" to the seat.

Keenan said school school safety will be one of his top priorities, including improving security at entrances and adding more cameras.

"Security for staff and children are definitely at the top of the list, because if the staff doesn't feel safe, how can I expect my children to be safe in these schools," he said.

Keenan said he does not believe "our school system needs to be turned upside down as far as curriculum," but he would like to see more focus on life skills to prepare kids for life after K-12.

"I think our school system has a good education available for our kids," he said. "I think there are things that could be added to it as far as basic life skills that need to be taught."

MELANIE STUMLER NORTHUP

Northup, 44, is a Floyd Central graduate with four kids in NAFCS, including one at Floyd Central, two at Highland Hills Middle School and two at Floyds Knobs Elementary.

She has experience in public accounting, and she works in mortgage lending for Signature Mortgage in New Albany. She is proud of the opportunities offered at NAFCS, but she worries that over the past couple of years, "there's been some pride lost in our district in how great it is."

She said she disagrees with the school board's recent decision to replace the International Baccalaureate program with AP Capstone in the 2024-25 school year. She wants "to retain high level programs and to continue to grow and develop our existing programming to give the kids the best they can possibly have."

One of her priorities is tackling the mental health crisis facing children, and she also wants to minimize screen time in the classroom, she said.

Northup notes that the school board does not manage curriculum, but she said the "community's curriculum concerns" "should be taken into consideration in the hiring of our new superintendent."

"I know that there have been questions about more politically-charged types of curriculum," she said. "I ask my kids a lot of questions, and I haven't seen evidence of the type of curriculum people seem concerned with."