School board candidates have big plans and goals to fix Richmond County Schools

The Richmond County Board of Education could be replacing nearly half of its leaders by the end of the holiday season. It will already be seeing a new representative for District 6 as A.K. Hasan has chosen not to run for re-election, clearing the way for young newcomer Tyrique Robinson, who is running unopposed. Incumbent Walter Eubanks of District 3 is also running unopposed, so he will serve another term. Districts 2, 7 and 9 are up for election too, but the current representatives have some competition. Here are more details on the upcoming school board elections, who is running and why they want to serve as board members:

District 2

District 2 is in the central Augusta area, consisting of schools like Bayvale Elementary, Jenkins-White Elementary and Collins Elementary.

Charlie Hannah has represented the district since 2014 and is currently serving as the board's president.

"I think it's critically important I help continue the mission I started and my mission still remains the expansion of trade education and advocate for students that may not be capable or wanting to go to college but want to be contributors to Augusta-Richmond County," he said.

'Still in shock':: Leonard 'Pete' Fletcher, longtime Augusta school board attorney, dies at 77

That mission is why Hannah is particularly proud of his involvement in the development of the Marion Barnes Career Center at Josey High School and hopes to foster continued growth in this kind of programming.

He also hopes to help the societal issues that children may be facing outside of the classroom.

"In reference to crime, in reference to property, in reference to homelessness, I think District 1 and District 2 carry the bulk of those [issues,]" Hannah said, explaining that the children from these homes, "come with a different set of societal problems that require additional services that we work real hard to make sure that we can provide to them."

Hannah has two competitors, one of whom is Yiet Knight, owner of Universal Child Care and Learning Center, which has four active locations in the area. She is also the Peer Support Network Ambassador for Richmond County.

Knight has never run for a political office before, but said she felt God called her to run for school board.

Read more: Columbia County high schools upgrades coming; here's how much they'll cost

"I have been in District 2 maybe 20 years," she said. "I see a lot of children out either not going to school or have been expelled... the grades are just going down tremendously. I don't see a lot of family engagement in the school system... and I am a person who believes in order to make a difference, you must be the difference."

Knight believes family engagement is where many issues start, and devising modern strategies to address that will answer a lot of the other problems the school system is facing.

"You cannot put the way I grew up into today's world," explaining that they need to actively get into the community and ask each and every family "What are the barriers that keep you from being involved? What resources do you need? There are resources out there that parents really don't understand that they have access to because there are so many of them."

Also running for the seat is Rev. Larry Fryer from Woodlawn CME Church in Harlem. Though he is also a political newcomer, he is not new to working in education, with teaching experience in schools like Murphey Middle, Glenn Hills High and Butler High. Now retired, it was that time spent as an instructor that inspired him to run for school board.

"I still have very very much concern about the Richmond County School System," Fryer said, explaining how he saw "the numerous needs of our youth and support for our faculty, staff and administration."

Some of the issues Fryer highlighted included attendance, academics and behavior issues. To address these problems, Fryer would like to see the school board take a holistic approach, looking to help the students in all aspects of their lives.

"I have taken food to these children and their families, at times I had to pick up some of the kids and bring them to school, I would have to take children home, I've provided clothing for children," he recalled. "My theme is 'I got you' 'cause I want them to know I'm here. I'm here to truly serve."

Also: Augusta pastor to distribute masks Friday to slow spread of COVID-19

District 7

District 7 covers a large chunk of northern Augusta, including schools like Westside High, Warren Road Elementary, and Tutt Middle.

Charlie Walker has represented the district since 2018.

"In the school system and the Richmond County Board of Education, there are multiple layers of things that are necessary in order to keep moving in the right direction, and it's taken a little bit of time to kind of digest," he said. "I feel like I've gotten to a point in my relationship with my fellow board members and with superintendent and his staff, I see what the vision is, I see what the goals are... I felt like another term would give me an opportunity to see some of those things come to life."

Augusta school board: approves "rightsizing" neighborhoods, C.T. Walker school change

Also: Richmond, Columbia counties' schools team up to build Junior Achievement Discovery Center

Some of Walker's proudest achievements as a board member include his involvement with facilitating connections at Fort Gordon Cyber's Center and the partnership between Richmond County schools, Junior Achievement and Columbia County schools.

Going forward, Walker believes more community and family involvement is necessary because it has a direct relationship to the success of the individual students and the school as a whole. He also intends to be a "good steward of the budget" as they look for responsible, cost-effective strategies in how they grow and implement programming.

Walker is defending his seat from Brittiany Broadwater, owner of Brittiany Broadwater Consulting. Her resumé features several education jobs and efforts, like substitute teaching at various Richmond County schools, lobbying at the state and federal levels for education reform, and her current position as president of Warren Road Elementary School's Council.

She said her engagement was born out of an ongoing dedication to improving outcomes for children and youth, which is what has led her to running for school board.

"I know for a fact that our students are excellent because I taught them. I know for a fact that our teachers, educators and staff deserve more because I worked with them, and even though we have a lot of the right ingredients in Richmond County, we are still not living up to our potential," Broadwater said.

She intends to hit the ground running promoting transparency, accountability and moving with urgency. To do so, Broadwater is considering several plans, like connecting with community organizations to promote family and engagement as well as promoting technical and vocational skills. She also wants to continue actively gauge with the community to understand their problems and, if elected, with her fellow board members in order to find the solutions to these problems.

District 9

District 9 is a super district, covering Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4. It contains schools like the Glenn Hills schools, the Fort Gordon schools, and all of Richmond County's magnet schools.

Venus Cain has represented the district since 2007 and is currently serving as chair of the board's human resources committee and vice chair of the board's instruction committee.

Cain is proud of how much she's been able to accomplish, from getting T.W. Josey High their own softball/baseball field to implementing a leadership program for non-certified employees. But she is running for re-election because "I have a few more things I want to accomplish."

Some of those things include getting a new school building for T.W. Josey High and helping students get summer jobs so they can have hands-on training before graduating. She also believes parents' engagement needs to change not just in Richmond County but in all school districts.

"When I get that 1-to-1 contact, it's because someone picked up the phone and called me, and then I tell them the things that they need to do to get from Point A to Point B," Cain said. "But I also let them know where they're lagging, what I need them to do to help me help them."

Cain is defending her seat from Christopher Mulliens, board member of the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library and founder of the Freddie Mae Foundation, an organization that provides youth mentoring and community outreach in the Augusta area.

Mulliens ran for a seat on the board of education in 2020 when he sought to represent District 10, but fell to incumbent Helen Minchew. However, Mulliens said he does not feel like he lost because he learned a lot and it gave him a lot of courage to run again. In the meantime, he has also worked as a bus driver for the school system.

He said his reason for running this year is the same as last time, "We need a change in the school system."

Richmond County School System: to review safety plans after 2 shootings within 24 hours

Among Mulliens' goals are improving open communication and transparency between all members of the school system, from the families, teachers all the way down to the school cafeterias. Mulliens also believes safety is a big, citing incidents like a gun being found on his bus once and a recent student fight where, in the aftermath, teachers were getting backlash for not stepping in.

"That's not the teachers' job," Mulliens said. "That's why we need more resource officers or truancy officers."

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Richmond County school board seats up for grabs. Here's who is running