Hall County voters will decide on Tuesday which candidate should serve on the Hall County Board of Education At-Large seat.
Republican incumbent Bill Thompson is running for a fourth term, and he has served on the board since he was elected in 2010. Democratic challenger Pat Calmes is new to education, but she worked in Hall County’s Family and Children’s Services for 10 years and then served as a state parole officer for 20 years.
Thompson has been involved with the Hall County School system for 45 years and formerly served as Chestatee High School’s principal.
“The first time I ran, something was tugging at my heart and said, ‘This is something you need to do,’” Thompson said. “And the reason I ran against the person I did, was [because] that was the only position available to me to be able to run in. I've enjoyed my terms on the school board and I hope to continue the good work that these fine gentlemen are doing, along with Mr. Schofield.”
Calmes said she has been involved with Democratic politics for the last six years, and she was concerned about the education-related bills that were passed in the last legislative session.
“I feel assaults to our democracy,” Calmes said. “Public education is really one of the foundations of our democracy. And so I wanted people to know [about] these positions. Even if I don't have a chance to win, I just want to get the word out.”
Specifically, Calmes said she disagrees with House Bill 1084, which prohibits teaching divisive topics like critical race theory.
“I learned through research that critical race theory is not being taught in Georgia or anywhere in the country,” Calmes said. “So really that law wasn't needed. The divisive concepts, I think, is will be a problem for the teachers. And I'm really very concerned about what the teachers are facing now with teaching.”
Thompson did not speak about House Bill 1084, but he said he and other school board members recently incorporated a parental bill of rights.
“I think everyone should feel that they have equal opportunity to speak to the board and address any concerns they have with their administrator or the school board,” Thompson said.
One of Thompson’s main education concerns is school infrastructure. Hall County’s population continues to boom, and Thompson said the school board needs to balance facility upgrades with financing.
“We have a magician up there in charge of Hall County Schools [finances], he's a math guy,” Thompson said. “And he knows how to adjust the numbers to our resources to our needs. A lot of these schools are older than [board member] Sam Chapman and I. We're trying to foresee some things in the future that will help us merge some schools, build new when we can and refurbish when we have to.”
Thompson is proud of the upcoming Sandra Deal Elementary School that is set to open in the fall of 2024.
Calmes wants more support for Hall County’s non-native English-speaking students and said she would look into potential COVID-related funds to help with their learning loss.
“There are so many children who might be raised with a primary language of Spanish,” Calmes said. “I think that's a challenge for the teachers in dealing with those children. There are children that have become so very far behind, and also that have more mental difficulties due to the pandemic. There need to be more services in the school system to deal with the individual challenges that these children all have.”
She also supports a supplement for teachers who may be dealing with burnout. Additionally, Calmes would like Hall County to consider adding solar panels to schools and using electric buses.
Thompson said technology and social media can interfere with teaching and a teacher’s control over their classroom.
“There's so much pressure on the teachers and administrators to do everything just perfect,” Thompson said. “We're not perfect, but we try to do what's best for everyone. There seems to be a lot more distractions for kids today. Social media can sometimes stir up a lot of problems that are not really so bad as they might seem. But when you have instantaneous news at their hands all day long and they hear of something going on, it takes their attention away from what they should be doing in school. We just try to keep the focus in the right place.”
School safety is also a major topic on both candidates' minds after the tragic Uvalde, Tx. shooting. However, it is a problem that Thompson and Calmes would solve differently.
Gainesville City Schools recently placed armed guards in each of its schools, and Thompson would like to see that decision replicated in Hall County Schools.
“From the days when I was out in the school building, I've always felt like we had 100% support from the school resource officers [and] the local sheriff's department [for] any resource that we needed for whatever might be going on,” Thompson said. “I always felt safe, and I felt safe for all the students and all the staff. I agree 100% with having armed guards in the school buildings. We do not have them in every single Hall County school, but we have very close resources for every school in Hall County.”
Calmes, however, thinks weapons in schools will not solve the safety problem.
“They need to make sure that they keep all the doors closed and locked during the school day, but I think the resource officers that are currently in place do that,” Calmes said. “As a parole officer, I carried a gun for 20 years. I know that more guns is really not the answer to the problem. I think the children that we have in school now have been terrorized by having to go through all kinds of trainings for what to do when you have an active shooter drill. It concerns me very much what is happening in our country.”
Election day for the 2022 midterms is Nov. 8.
