Q&A: Grady schools Position 5 candidates weigh in

Editor’s note: Phillip Borden and Emory Jones are running for Position 5 on the Grady school board. The election is scheduled for Tuesday.

Quentin Wood and Colten Grau are running for the board’s Position 4. Attempts to contact both were unsuccessful.

Both Position 5 candidates were asked the same questions via phone.

Name: Phillip Borden

Age: 55

Occupation: Self-employed

Running for: Grady school board, position 5

Why are you running for the position?

I’ve been on there for 12 years, and I want to see things continue as they’re going. I think things are going well, and I don’t anticipate big changes. I think education’s paramount, and that’s the type of education we provide for our kids.

What experience do you have that you feel qualifies you for this board position?

The 12 years I’ve spent on the board.

What is one issue with state education, and how would you as a board member try to solve it?

Budget is always a huge concern, especially for small school districts. I don’t know how it can be fixed, but the one thing we can do is to be heard and be a voice in Santa Fe.

What is something you think schools, whether it’s your specific district or schools on a state or national scale, could do more efficiently?

Speaking from the perspective of a small school district, we are extremely efficient. We have a four-day school week to make our resources go farther. We are already streamlined. I feel like we’re as efficient as we can be, given the age and day we live in.

What do you, as a board member, think is the best thing you can do for students at your school in the upcoming term?

One of our roles is, of course, to oversee the budget. I need to make sure, and we need to make sure, the resources are there to best educate the young people who pass through our door.

What do you think is the best way you can help your school’s teachers in the upcoming term?

Provide support for them and be involved in — I’m hesitant to say curriculum, but be involved in what goes on our schools. We want to be there to support our teachers as well as our students.

Name: Emory Wesley Jones

Age: 57

Occupation: State highway department supervisor in Ragland

Running for: Grady school board, position 5

Why are you running for the position?

I think there needs to be a little change in what’s happening. I’m not unhappy with anything happening, but I do think it’s time for some changes.

What experience do you have that you feel qualifies you for this board position?

I was on the city council three different terms. I was chief of the fire department for 15, 20 years ... been on the fire department since I was 16 years old. My job as a supervisor over budgets and manpower at the highway department.

What is one issue with state education, and how would you as a board member try to solve it?

One problem I have with state education is they way they keep cutting the budgets. There are different ways to handle these budgets than to keep taking money from the schools.

What is something you think schools, whether it’s your specific district or schools on a state or national scale, could do more efficiently?

Just our education in general. Our kids need the education, the math, the history, etc. There are some kids who are not going to go to college, and we need to give them industrial arts. We need to get kids ready for real life. Maybe they could start at a training industry, and we could do that at Grady. We used to do that, but we don’t anymore, and that’s largely due to budget constraints.

What do you, as a board member, think is the best thing you can do for students at your school in the upcoming term?

The best thing I can do for the schools, make sure they get an education, make sure their parents are involved with their education.

What do you think is the best way you can help your school’s teachers in the upcoming term?

The best way to help teachers is to keep them from getting a 3.5 percent (salary) decrease like the state wants to do. Keep their wages up. If you’ve got people making the right amount of money, they’re going to be happier and they’re going to do their jobs better.

— Compiled by by Clovis Managing Editor Kevin Wilson