Interviews Start for BOE Vacancy

The Stephens County Board of Education begins interviewing candidates to fill the seat left open by the resignation of Jeff Webb from the board earlier this year.

Webb resigned from the board back in April.

Board of Education members heard from three of the seven candidates vying for the seat at a called meeting Thursday.

First up was Patricia Chism.

She has worked in education as a teacher and administrator and currently works part-time for Pioneer RESA.

Chism said her more than 30 years in education is a strength she brings to the board.

“I have worked with students from kindergarten through college level,” said Chism. “I have experience and understanding with finance and budgets. I have been in various organizations in my professional life and in my community. I have served on committees in the field of education, in the community, and at church. Most importantly, I am a parent and a grandparent and I feel like I know what parents expect the school system to do for their child.”

Meanwhile, Clint Simmons works as a fabrication manager at a local industry.

He said his knowledge of industry from working in it for years is an asset he brings.

“Industry is the largest portion of jobs in the community and we need students who upon graduation will fill those positions,” said Simmons. “It may be engineering, vocational studies, welders, drafting, engineering studies. My experience in industry has allowed me to see from one end of the spectrum to the other what this community needs and what students need to be productive members of society.”

After Simmons interviewed with the school board, Bill Wheeler was the final candidate to appear on Thursday.

Wheeler is the director at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa.

He said he feels he has a couple of particular qualities that would serve him well on the board.

“I am a good listener in a setting like this,” said Wheeler. “I think listening is very important. I feel like one of my strong personality traits is to be a mediator. I think you can look at all sides and there are always different stories and I think it is up to the Board to examine, research, and find what is the best for the majority of the kids. I think you have to be very open-minded to be a part of this board.”

All three said finances is something that the board will have to continue to deal with in the years ahead.

A fourth candidate, Craig Beatty, contacted the Board Thursday and asked to be moved to next week due to a last-minute schedule conflict, according to Stephens County School Superintendent Bryan Dorsey.

That means the other four candidates for the seat, Beatty, Choyce Watson, Dave Stancil, and Isaac White, will interview with the Board next Thursday.

Stephens County Board of Education Chair Tony Crunkleton said the board expects to make a decision on filling Webb’s vacant District 2 board seat at the regular school board meeting on July 19.

Whoever is chosen will serve through the remainder of Webb’s term, which runs to the end of 2018.