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October/November 2013
Lakeland School Board Candidates
Instructions given to Candidates:
The same four questions will be asked of every candidate. Candidates should answer each question separately, but the total number of words for the four answers combined should not exceed
275 words. Answers will not be edited, except in cases of inappropriate language, libel, or excessive length.
Question 1: What are
your qualifications for
this position, and what
specific skills and experiences do you bring
to the board that will
assist with starting a
municipal school system?
Kevin Floyd
I have two daughters
ages 8 and 4. My oldest
is currently a student at
Lakeland Elementary. I
had the privilege of being
elected to Lakeland’s
School Board last year
and serving on the School
Transition Planning Committee for the last two
years. I also served as
Treasurer for the Vote
Yes for Lakeland Municipal Schools committee in
2013. I’m a practicing
attorney, which I believe
will bring a unique perspective to the Board.
Andy Griffith
My name is James
Andrew “ANDY” Griffith. My wife, Teresa M.
Griffith, and I are parents of three children (6 &
7 yr old girls & a 2 yr old
boy).
My daughters,
currently in first and third
grades, have been in the
Shelby Co School System
and at the same school
since they began school.
I'm serving this year
as Parliamentarian for the
Donelson
Elementary
PTA.
I
earned
a Bachelor's of Science
degree in Political Science and History and
minored in Criminal Justice. Since April 2010 I
have served as a school
resource officer for a
public middle school
and am a member of the
National Association of
School Resource Officers. Working with several
different principals, one
who is the current principal of Arlington High
School, I have learned
what works and what
could be improved upon. I believe my more
than sixteen years of law
enforcement experience,
being a father of three
children (two attending
public schools), and currently working inside of a
public school gives me
the necessary knowledge
and experience to be a
board member of a newly
formed public school
system.
Kelley Hale
I have a master’s
degree in education and
am a former teacher in the
Shelby County Schools. I
taught in grades 1-6 and
thoroughly enjoyed being
in the classroom. I now
have 4 children that attend
Lakeland and Arlington
schools. I serve as a PTA
board member at both
LES and AMS. I have
been room mom and volunteer often in both
schools. I also have
worked the past 2 years
on the Vote Yes For
Lakeland Schools committee. I feel that all of
my experiences give me
an important and unique
perspective that will be an
asset for the Lakeland
School Board.
Laura Harrison
I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering, an
MBA, and have worked
for 12 years as a project
engineer for a Fortune
500 company. While
working on project teams,
my responsibilities have
included project lead,
financial analysis, data
gathering, and process
improvement. I am actively involved as a Lakeland
Elementary PTA Board
Member and room parent.
I also served on the Vote
Yes for Lakeland Schools
committee. Most importantly I have four children that will be a part of
the Lakeland Municipal
school system so any
decision I make will not
only impact all Lakeland
children, it will impact my
own.
Teresa Henry
My
professional
background is Human
Resources and Medical
Office Management. This
gives me the experience
to review salaries and
benefits that our school
district can offer to retain
and recruit the top personnel for our children. Currently as a stay at home
mom, I will have the time
to dedicate to the creation
of the Lakeland School
District.
Over the past 10
years, through my involvement with the PTA,
I have been in the schools
and have seen the challenges the administration
and staff encounter on a
daily basis. I was award-
Kevin Floyd
Laura Harrison
ed the PTA Life Achievement award.
I worked with other
leaders of t he grass roots
movement to ensure the
Municipal School legislation was passed in Nashville. I was on the Vote
Yes for Lakeland Schools
Committee. I was elected
for the Lakeland School
Board last year.
Greg Pater
My name is Greg
Pater and I am a candidate
for the Lakeland Municipal School Board. I have
been a math teacher for
nine years and at a charter
school in Memphis since
2011. Originally from
Los Angeles, then Knoxville, I have experience in
multiple school districts.
This gives me comparative insight into the workings of school districts
and the ability to incorporate the best features from
all of them. As a math
teacher I am organized
and able to view problems
from different perspectives to find a solution.
Matt Wright
I was the President of
the Vote Yes Lakeland
Single Measure Committee working alongside a
talented team of people to
make that happen. I’m
also the founder of marketvex.com and having
that entrepreneurial experience will be needed for
creative and unique solutions. I’m on my church’s
finance
committee
(overseeing a 5 million
dollar budget). Also, our
children attend Lakeland
Elementary.
Question 2: Approximately 60% of Lakeland’s students attend
Andy Griffith
Kelley Hale
Teresa Henry
Greg Pater
schools outside of
Lakeland, including
students at all grade
levels from K-12. Do
you believe that Lakeland should provide its
own educational services? If so, what timeline would you propose
for building additional
schools and/or rezoning students to Lakeland
Elementary
School, which is currently below capacity?
other municipalities. Sharing our resources will
benefit us all and will
provide the great education we are accustomed to
having.
As Lakeland
continues to grow, we’ll
most likely need to make
decisions
concerning
additional buildings in the
future.
Kevin Floyd
I believe Lakeland
needs to do what’s best
for the children of Lakeland. The need for future
buildings will be determined by many factors
including
population
growth, school capacity
limitations, fiscal readiness,
and
assessing
whether or not we are
meeting the needs of our
children. It seems unrealistic to set a time table at
this point, however this is
issue will need to be monitored closely.
Andy Griffith
Unfortunately, due to
so many businesses closing in Lakeland, there are
a number of empty buildings that could quickly
and easily be converted
for use as schools for its
children if Lakeland does
not continue to share
school buildings in other
cities
as
they
do now. Without increasing taxes, which I
do NOT support, Lakeland would not be able to
fiscally afford to build or
recondition an existing
building for its own
schools.
Kelley Hale
I feel that it is in our
best interest to work with
Laura Harrison
For the immediate
future, Lakeland would be
best served by working
with other local school
boards to provide a quality education to K-12 students in a fiscally efficient
manner. Ultimately population growth and building capacities will determine when the need will
arise to build any additional schools.
Teresa Henry
The school board will
have to create a 5 and 10
year plan. Reserve funds
will need to be budgeted
for future buildings and
capital expenditures. The
population growth for
Lakeland and Arlington
will determine the timeline for future buildings. I
will vote for Lakeland and
Arlington to share as
many schools and services as possible.
Greg Pater
While working at my
current charter school I
recognize the benefits,
and pitfalls, that a small
school, or in our case, a
small district may have. I
believe that we can sustain a small system of our
own consisting of our
elementary school and a
middle school within the
next 2-6 years. In order to
encourage parents to enroll their children in the
Lakeland schools we
should encourage and
Matt Wright
promote extra-curricular
activities at all levels such
as music and sports.
Matt Wright
It’s simple, I want to
do what’s best for Lakeland students. Does that
mean we need to provide
our own educational services? Perhaps. However, there are great advantages of co-op agreements that help tremendously from a budgeting
perspective. But so much
is still developing it would
be foolish to say we know
exactly what we will do
because we just don’t
have all the information.
Ultimately that’s our job,
to work with the budget
and pieces provided to us
as a school board and turn
that into the best situation
for our kids.
Question 3: Lakeland
Elementary School was
recently identified as
being in the top 5% of
schools in the state for
the 2013 TCAP scores.
What model do you
support for maintaining
a high level of academic success in Lakeland’s
municipal
school system? Will
you advocate a return
to the staffing policies
and student-teacher
ratios of pre-merger
SCS?
Kevin Floyd
Lakeland elementary
has been performing at an
exceptional level for several years, and the teachers and staff of Lakeland
deserve an enormous
amount of credit. Our
teachers have proven that
given the right environContinued on next page