During Early voting and on Election Day, Marlboro County voters will have a chance to vote for a Marlboro County Board of Education Chairman and a board representative for District 2.
The candidates for Marlboro County Board of Education Chairman are Jackie Branch and Michael Coachman. Michael Toms is running for the District 2 seat.
The Herald-Advocate emailed questionnaires to candidates to allow the voters to better know them and what they hope to achieve if elected or reelected to the board of education.
CHAIRMAN
Name: Jackie Branch
Education: I was proudly educated in the public schools of Marlboro County.
Residence: Bennettsville
Occupation: I am the project coordinator for WESCO Distribution Inc.
What current or past offices or areas of service have you held or participated in:
I have been the Marlboro County School Board Chairman for one year. I was a Marlboro County School Board Trustee for District 3 for 11 years. I am a former Boy Scout Leader, former Board Member of the Marlboro County Recreation Commission, former youth Baseball, Basketball, and Soccer coach, and a former church youth leader.
Why do you feel that you are qualified to be elected chair?
I feel I am most qualified to be elected chairman of the Marlboro County School Board because of my desire to help lead and unify our board and our community which will help to move our school district forward. My wife, Kelly, and I along with our three children are all a product of Marlboro County schools. My wife also worked for the district for 14 years as a teacher assistant and attendance clerk at Bennettsville Primary School. I have been actively involved in sporting events, extra-curricular activities, field trips, graduations, and other events throughout the years. For the past twelve years, I have served on the Marlboro County School Board. Eleven of those years, I proudly represented the constituents of District 3. During this time, I have served as Board Secretary, Vice-Chairman, and currently serve as the Board Chairman.
As an individual board member, it is our responsibility to act ethically, demonstrate courage, communicate effectively, and work as a team player. As board chairman, I will make it my responsibility to ensure that board members will put the best interest of students first when making any decision. I have always been an advocate for the children, employees and parents of this county. I have always had an open-door policy and will continue to fight and advocate for things to be done in the correct manner. Because of my passion for all of these things, I feel that I am qualified to be elected Chairman. I can always be reached at 843-862-2091 and would prayerfully ask for your consideration on November 8th.
What difference have you made to the MCSD during your time as board member?
When I originally ran for school board, I promised to be fiscally responsible for our taxpayers’ dollars being spent. I can proudly say that I fought hard over the past twelve years for no tax increases, and there have been none. I was part of the new building project in Wallace and the new updates at Bennettsville Intermediate. Having been a spouse to an employee in the district and having children in the school system, I feel like I have always been supportive of teachers and their concerns. I have enjoyed speaking to teachers in the district throughout the past twelve years, and always welcome phone calls from parents or community member that have concerns with our district.
The MCSD is beginning to search for a new superintendent. What qualifications should the ideal candidate possess?
• Experienced candidate with a vision of Education Excellence
• Visible and approachable leader
• A leader with the ability to analyze our current situations
• An articulate communicator with strong interpersonal skills
• A leader that will work effectively and visibly with the board, staff, students, parents, and the community
• A leader that treats everyone with mutual respect
What are the top 2 priorities that the district needs to address?
The top priority that the district needs to address is student academics. While extracurricular activities are important and enjoyed by the community, we need to focus our attention on what should be the number one priority in schools – academic excellence. For our district to achieve academic excellence we need the assistance of all stakeholders in our county to become more involved. Remember, it takes a village! Another top priority is working on teacher turnover. We need to determine the reasons teachers are choosing to leave our district for other job opportunities and make it a priority to address these issues with them.
Name: Michael Coachman
Education: I graduated from Wallace High School in 1979. I also earned an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Chesterfield-Marlboro Technical College, as well as studying Business Law at South University.
Residence: Wallace
Occupation: I am site manager ABM at Carolina Canners.
What current or past offices or areas of service have you held/participated in?
I have been the School Board Representative for District 1 in the Wallace Area for 14 years. I have been a two-term vice chairman for the Marlboro County School District Board of Education. I am president of Kollock Hawks Alumni Association, which is a non-profit charity organization. I have been a deacon at New Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Wallace for 28 years. I have also been a volunteer coach for the Marlboro County Recreation Department for 34 years. I am a volunteer athletic director and commissioner of basketball and football operations at Wallace Recreation Department for 24 years. I was a certified mentor for Cream of the Crop Mentoring Group of Wallace for 10 years.
Why do you feel that you are qualified to be elected as chairman?
I feel that I am qualified to be elected chairman because of my 14 years of experience along with my knowledge of School District policies, procedures, and laws to lead the board in a positive way. Also because of my leadership in the past on the board, throughout my community and my professional career as a supervisor/manager, and 20 years of team building training.
What difference have you made to the Marlboro County School District during your time as a board member?
As a board member, I have made a difference in a way of helping bring better schools to our county by spearheading the referendum for a new Wallace Elementary Middle School by using a penny sales tax. I supported the referendum for a new Blenheim School. I supported renovations to the Clio School after a fire damaged most of the school. I supported the renovations for Bennettsville Intermediate School and the new auditorium referendum. I made the motion for security to get security cameras on all of our buses. The new caution light on Hwy. 9 in Wallace to slow traffic down during school hours for the safety of parents dropping kids off at school. I stood up for pay raises each year for teachers and the lower-paid employees of the district in order to keep employees here and help raise their wages to be competitive with neighboring districts. I worked with the board and administration to balance the budget over the last 14 years. I saved taxpayers money by not raising taxes over the past 8 years by working to find ways to bring in funding through alternative ways.
The Marlboro County School District is beginning the search for a new superintendent. What qualities should the ideal candidate possess in order to lead the district?
The ideal candidate possesses the experience and proven documented leadership in moving school districts forward on test scores and student achievement, leadership skills in the area of building good communication with the board and being transparent.
What are the two top priorities you have for the district?
I want to improve test scores and our graduation rate and to have highly qualified teachers in every classroom that will move our students forward.
DISTRICT 2
Name: Michael Toms
Education: Attended Big Bend Community College and City College of Chicago distance learning program in Heidelberg, Germany. Also, I graduated from a number of military leadership schools, and supervisory and command leadership courses with the SC Department of Corrections.
Residence: Bennettsville
Occupation: I am the owner of Ole Sarge Enterprise LLC, Retired Military and Retired Correctional Supervisor, and currently serving as the Marion District Lay Leader of the SC Annual Conference of the UMC.
What current or past offices or areas of service have you held/participated in?
I have served previously as District 2 school board representative and as chairman of the board.
Why do you feel that you are qualified to be elected as a member of the Marlboro County Board of Education?
Because Marlboro County needs someone who is a strong dedicated leader with a proven track record during these times, and I am the candidate to help lead this school board in the right direction.
The Marlboro County School District is beginning the search for a new superintendent. What qualities should the ideal candidate possess in order to lead the district?
The next Superintendent needs to be a visionary leader that is data-driven. One who has the ability to motivate the entire district and community to pursue the desired outcome of our collective goals.
What are the two top priorities that the district needs to address?
Based on the data, my top priority as a board member is student achievement at all levels. We have to prepare our children for the future and the data shows that we’re not doing a good job. Only 20% of our students graduating are college and career ready. My second priority will be the maintenance of our facilities. Our schools will be clean and safe, and they will be inviting and conducive to learning.