Maury Co. School Board Dist. 5 profiles: 2 candidates share their objectives
Maury Co. school board candidates for Dist. 5 share their objectives and experience ahead of the race.
David R. Moore
What specific experience and qualifications do you have that make you the candidate for this position?
There is a learning curve with any elected position – and as the current District 5 board member that is well behind me. I know the requirements of the position and am ready to do the hard work needed. All three of my children have attended Maury County schools, with two having graduated and moved on. I get to view many issues both as a parent and a board member. I also am a business owner here in Maury County and understand operating parts of the government like a business is a good thing.
What do you see as the top 3 priorities for Maury County and how do you plan to contribute to accomplishing those priorities?
The three priorities as I see them are:
Continue to aggressively address the rapid growth we are seeing in the entire northern half of our county. Failure to do this not only does a disservice to those residents, but it will also impact the rest of the county as rezoning and overcrowding spills over across the district.
We must continue the work to collect and transparently present good data related to our long and short term planning. This is critical to building trust with our funding body – the county commission – and the public taxpayer.
Academically we must begin a targeted plan to address core reading skills in the elementary grades. This is where the biggest impact can be made to improve the skills and overall education of the children in our county.
Maury County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and country. This tremendous growth will require new and improved infrastructure (i.e., schools, roads, water, etc.). How do you plan to provide these infrastructure improvements, including any required funding?
Building on the foundation we already have created, we must work harder to stay on top of growth data. This includes collecting data from the county and cities, but also giving them feedback on how their decisions impact the schools. If we are to keep growing, we must make sure we properly fund that growth, and make sure that we are operating as efficiently as possible.
Laura Nutt
What specific experience and qualifications do you have that make you the candidate for this position?
I chose to run for School Board because of my experience in education. I have Homeschooled my two children for the last 16 years. My daughter has graduated and is currently attending Freed Hardeman University, and my son is going into the 11th Grade. My son is a High Functioning Autistic teen that also struggles with dyslexia and dysgraphia. My experience with Maury County School District is brief, as my attempt at enrolling him lasted only a few weeks in the 1st Grade. I mistakenly thought they would be equipped to help him with his reading and writing. Fortunately, I was able to bring him back home and teach him to read and write. He quickly caught up and is excelling in school. I believe all children deserve a good education, and not all parents can, or desire to educate their kids at home. That is why I decided to run for School Board.
What do you see as the top 3 priorities for Maury County and how do you plan to contribute to accomplishing those priorities?
The MCPS seems to be struggling to keep up with the County’s growth. They are having a hard time staffing the current schools, while planning to build more. This is when it is essential to have proper priorities. You can’t build more schools if the current ones are understaffed. To increase staff, namely teachers, would seem to be the most important step. I would advocate for raising the teacher’s wages to match Williamson County. If you want good teachers, you need to offer them a competing wage. I would also suggest working with the County Commissioners on some sort of building moratorium to allow the schools and infrastructure to catch up. You can’t continue building high density housing and flood the current schools with new students. You don’t invite people over for dinner, if you don’t have enough food for your own children. Current students and families must take precedence over future potential students. This also goes for supplies and curriculum. It makes no sense to build a new school when the ones that already exist don’t have enough necessary supplies and textbooks. I believe that the School Board and County Commissioner need to develop a working plan to resolve these issues.
Maury County is one of the fastest-growing counties in the state and country. This tremendous growth will require new and improved infrastructure (i.e., schools, roads, water, etc.). How do you plan to provide these infrastructure improvements, including any required funding?
There is a lot of work to be done in the MCPS and I recognize the challenges that this County is currently facing. Over the years I’ve seen Maury County, especially Columbia, try to grow economically. I even ventured into a small business myself, The Book Nook Café, that I had to give up to continue my kid’s education. Unfortunately, the poor schools have weighed Maury County down. We will never have successful towns if we have failing schools. People will choose to pay more to live in Williamson County. That’s just a fact. I love Maury County, and I want to see her flourish, and believe I can play a part in helping her grow by being a member of the Maury County School Board.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Maury Co. School Board Dist. 5 candidates share their objectives
