By Mark Millican
markmillican@daltoncitizen
After being on the Murray County Board of Education from 2003-2006, Greg Shoemaker believes he has some unfinished business to take care of — helping to build North Murray High School.
“Discussion had started about the new high school when I was on the board before,” Shoemaker said. “In fact, we had formed a land committee. I’d like to see that project get accomplished.”
Shoemaker said having two younger children almost ready to enter the school system also figured into his decision to run again for the school board.
“I want to do the best I can for them,” he said. “I want to give back to the community again.”
Shoemaker, a Republican, is running against Democrat Raymond Keener for the District 4 seat in the Nov. 4 general election. Shoemaker defeated incumbent Billy Webb in the Republican primary in July. Current board member Josh Young ousted Shoemaker from the at-large District 7 post in the Republican primary in 2006.
Shoemaker, 39, said he would “look at every area” of the budget if elected again.
“We can look at more cuts,” he said, “but from there what else can you do? The school board is limited in the funds it can get. I believe we should look closely at grants, specifically Title I grants — and I know those are for certain areas — but we need to be asking ourselves if there is any way we can keep from cutting programs.”
U.S. Department of Education Title I funds are directed toward school districts with a high percentage of students from low-income families.
“The thing regarding cuts is, some will say they’re good and others will say they’re bad,” Shoemaker said. “There’s no getting around that.”
Shoemaker said the new high school may be responsible for what some see as a high number of board meetings
“I don’t know all the issues,” he said. “With the new high school, of course you are going to have more meetings. That’s just a given. Now, does it require as many as they’ve had, I don’t know. If there’s a way to combine issues, not have three or four separate meetings, you need to do that. I’m not saying they haven’t done that.”
Shoemaker said security at the schools is also a concern.
“We may be a small town, but we are not immune to drugs and violence,” he said. “When I was on the board before, the school resource officer (SRO) at Murray County High said it was hard for him to watch everything inside and outside the building, and he had the Ninth Grade Academy across the street to watch, too.
“We either have to have another SRO — and I don’t know how the budget would handle that — or have more surveillance equipment and make sure it’s working properly. That goes for the new high school as well.”
Shoemaker said he’d like to review the security systems and school resource officers at each school to ensure they are still adequate.
