THOMASVILLE – Qualifying for the November Municipal General election wrapped up on Wednesday with nine individuals qualifying for various positions. On Tuesday, the Times- Enterprise reported the first three qualifiers including Incumbent Jay Flowers and newcomers Royal Baker and Stephan Thompson. Since then, District 1, Post 1 Incumbent Wanda Warren has qualified, along with opponent Lucinda Brown for the City Council, while several have qualified for the Thomasville City Schools Board of Education.

District 1 school board member Kejar Butler qualified and will be running unopposed, as will District 1’s Mary Scruggs and District 2’s Britney Glass.

However, Thompson will face off against Ryan Bradburn for the Thomasville City Schools Board of Education At-Large Position.

Bradburn is a software engineer by trade and a father of four children in the City School system. He is a recent transplant to Thomasville, moving here in 2021 with his wife, Emily, who graduated from Thomasville High School.

Bradburn said he was originally drawn to his wife’s hometown because of the quality schools. Unfortunately, Bradburn began to question the quality of education when turmoil erupted earlier this year during Board of Education meetings. He felt at that time he had watched with a bird’s eye view for long enough and it was time to step in and play a role in getting the system back to the way he envisioned it.

“One of the reasons that Thomasville drew us here was for the school systems,” he said. “It helped recruit us and I want to further that recruitment. I believe Thomasville City Schools can be a gem in the state of Georgia. To get there, that means identifying dysfunction and forming solutions so we can provide this community the excellent school system it deserves.”

In order to create a top-tier school system, Bradburn said stability is necessary.

“I’ve witnessed the unfortunate instability in our school system over the past several years,” he said. “This has resulted in multiple changes in leadership. This directly impacts me and disappoints me. I’ve listened to our teachers describe the negative impact of constant turnover and how distracting it is from our common goal: educating our children.”

Bradburn explained that the lack in consistency has created a trickle down effect, resulting in the loss of talent, recruitment challenges and extreme stress on existing employees.

“With each round of leadership shuffling, the number of new students gets smaller, and the number of students leaving the school system gets bigger,” he said. “The unfortunate result is the quality of the school system as a whole worsens.”

Bradburn said if elected, he will work hard to maintain a stable foundation at the top level that encourages, attracts and retains talented educators.

“Our teachers and students, especially those facing instability at home, deserve this,” he pointed out.

Bradburn is thankful for the opportunity to run and hopefully be the change he wants to see in the education system. He encourages anyone with any questions to reach out to him or visit his campaign website, www.bradburnforthomasville.com

The City School Board election, along with the City Council election will be held November 7.