Early voting has begun and we are now called to make our voices heard as we elect leaders for our community — a community that I’ve called home for over 30 years, amazing in many ways but divided in many others. Perhaps the most important election to me is for the At-Large seat for Thomasville City Schools’ Board. You see, I have children in this system and I have witnessed its struggle over recent years. I saw recently that our school system has lost 143 individuals to resignations and retirements in 2 years. 143 — It’s incomprehensible. When I reach out to employees to ask “Why?” I am met with responses like “instability” or “the former superintendent.” I don’t know that blame can be placed on one individual but I do know this – we need stable, consistent, and trusted leadership and we need it fast.

Mr. Stephan Thompson and Mr. Ryan Bradburn are both campaigning for the critical At-Large seat. This person is to be a voice of the whole city, a reflection of many. From all appearances, it seems they are both genuinely nice men, well liked and jovial; but I keep asking myself, who is best?

I heard much about the spring happenings and Board meetings that ultimately resulted in the termination of former superintendent, Dr. Raymond Bryant. I spoke to my children’s teachers who conveyed their despair under leadership that did not hear their voices and operated with fear tactics. Fast forward to present day when I was surprised to hear that Mr. Thompson was running for the At-Large seat. You see, when parents, teachers and city residents were desperately writing letters, making calls and constructing emails to our Board to find new leadership before it was too late, there were others that ignored those cries. Despite the mass exodus of teachers and employees, they turned a blind eye. Mr. Thompson was one of those people. He publicly advocated for the former superintendent to stay in power, which I truly believe would have been our demise. At a campaign event just this week, he glossed over his support of Dr. Bryant by saying “there may have been issues with teachers and different things of that nature. That wasn’t something that I knew about relatively.” I find that statement to be a reflection of an individual who is either out of touch or in denial considering our school system lost more than a third of its staff during the former superintendent’s tenure. If Mr. Thompson ignored the public’s voices in the spring, what makes me think he will listen to our input in the future? He privately apologized for his position but prior to launching his campaign, he removed some of those apologies from social media. Only 8 months ago, he also authored and circulated a petition that made inciteful, false claims in an effort to keep the former superintendent in power. He has since removed that petition from the internet. Misleading, divisive and inconsistent: these are not qualities that reflect the trust we need in a leader of our children’s schools.

Judging from months of campaigning, Mr. Bradburn displays a motivation to know the inner workings of our system by meeting with teachers and former employees, as well as attending Board meetings. I find it extremely concerning that Mr. Thompson has reportedly not attended a single Board meeting since February 28 when he spoke in support of Dr. Bryant. Perhaps that is why he does not know the scope of our Board and feels the liberty to make statements like the “only job [of a Board] is to hire a superintendent.” Respectfully, I find this statement to be obtuse – Board members do appoint a superintendent, but they also set policy and evaluate complex budgetary issues, state mandates, capital building projects and much more.

Mr. Bradburn recognizes that in order to provide a proper education for all children from a variety of backgrounds, we must have a stable teacher workforce. We cannot fix problems in literacy and other issues if we don’t have supported educators. So after careful consideration, I find Mr. Bradburn to be the best choice for Thomasville City Schools – and the best is what I believe every child in this system deserves. My prayer is that fellow parents, teachers and city tax payers will exercise their right to vote in an effort to save our school system. Lyndon B. Johnson once said “The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of a private citizen.” Our children’s futures hang in the balance and depend on us to appoint the right individuals to the helm of this system. Private citizens, I urge you to join me in restoring excellence to Thomasville City Schools with your vote.

-An advocate for change