Story & Photos By
LEGION TAYLOR
Reporter
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The Wakulla Sun’s second political forum featured candidates for superintendent of schools and two school board seats discussing a variety of issues, including employee retention and the rising cost of health insurance.
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The forum was held at the Wakulla County Public Library on Tuesday, July 16. (The final forum, with candidates for the contested county commission seat, incumbent Mike Kemp and challenger Valerie Russell, will be held at the library on July 30.)
The candidates Rick Myhre, Matt Payne, and Ricky Strickland are vying to replace Bobby Pearce, who is retiring, as superintendent of schools.
In his introduction, Myhre expressed that the safety of students is of utmost importance to him, as well as ensuring that the content in the classrooms is as good as it can be. He also mentioned how important it is to take care of teachers and staff so that they can serve the students as best they can. Myhre said he thinks God has given him talents that allow him to give back to the community, and he just wants to put those to work to make the students lives better.
Payne, who is 26, stated that his reason for running despite being so young is teachers are leaving Wakulla County due to inadequate compensation, which has created a teacher shortage. He also said teachers and staff leaving in large numbersis degrading the quality of education in the classroom, and that a culture change is necessary to correct these issues.
“At my young age, I think it’s gonna take my career to get us back to where we need to be.”
Strickland said he wants to make sure the district’s resources are used in the best way possible to support staff and students. He also brought up that teachers aren’t getting all the support that they need, such as a quality benefits package, to make sure they want to stay in Wakulla County. Strickland said that the district needs to be more transparent about what they’re doing, so that trust can be built between the district and the community.
The first question was on the rising healthcare premiums and what the candidates plan to do to decrease the cost of health insurance for teachers.
Payne said his plan was to cut unnecessary administrative positions so that there’d be more money freed up to contribute to the health insurance.
“For me, that means we gotta look at administrators in that district office up there that has become very top-heavy and overstaffed,” Payne said.
He said his plan is based around saving as much money as possible to put toward employee compensation and the contribution that the district makes to employee health insurance.
Strickland said that teacher benefits and educational finance have been an issue in Wakulla for years.
“I could not afford to have full-coverage insurance as a classroom teacher and be able to pay my bills,” Strickland said. “It pushed me out of the classroom, sadly.”
He stressed that collective action was important to getting better funding and better rates, whether that’s bargaining with the insurance companies or lawmakers at the Capitol, and that Wakulla needs a superintendent who will stand with those who are trying to take collective action to help the school district and the community. Strickland also said he wants to make a commitment to increase the contribution the school district makes to employee health insurance to be in line with the other community agencies such as the sheriff’s office.
Myhre said all Americans need to recognize that Obamacare has been a disaster and that the best way to fix it is to vote Republican in the fall. He mentioned that the cost of healthcare has risen across the U.S. and has increased faster for the district than the budget has, making it more expensive on the teachers and staff. He also said the district needs to do more research and find out if other providers might have better plans or better prices, and that money should be allocated from the budget to contribute more to the employee health insurance.
The next question was along those same lines, asking the candidates if they’d commit to hiring new negotiators for the health insurance.
Strickland expressed that it isn’t the negotiators that make health insurance costs so high, as most agencies in surrounding counties have similar insurance prices, it’s that the district doesn’t contribute enough to the cost of insurance and benefits package, and that the budget needs to be examined to put more money towards those contributions.
Myhre said he would want to work with the school board on what they want to see in a negotiator and then collaboratively pick someone who best serves the school district and the teachers.
Payne said he won’t promise anything, but he thinks that finding new negotiators should always be considered, because it’s the job of the superintendent and school board to do what’s best for the staff and the students, and if finding a new negotiator will help reduce costs then it should be done.
The candidates were also asked about teacher raises and how they’d increase veteran teacher salary to better retain experienced teachers.
Myhre said because the starting teacher pay is still not at the state-mandated threshold of $47,500, money cannot be put towards raises for other teachers who might have been there longer.
“Until we get there, our hands are tied,” Myhre said, “But I think our hands are about to be untied very soon.”
Payne made the point that he’s the only candidate currently living on teacher salary, which is $45,500 – some $2,000 below what the state mandates. Payne also mentioned that Gov. DeSantis signed a $1.25 billion allocation to raise teacher salaries, and that he wants to see 100% of Wakulla’s share of that money go to the teachers, including going to veteran teachers once everyone is making the required amount.
Strickland said that once the county meets the required amount, money should absolutely be invested into the salaries of veteran teachers, so they’ll stay here in the county. He also said that the district needs those veteran teachers to both educate the students and help guide the new teachers through the early years of their career, so retaining them is paramount.
The next question was about what initiatives the candidates would introduce to attract and retain qualified teachers in Wakulla County.
Payne said that retaining teachers starts with their pay, their insurance, and having an administration that has their back. He says he wants to start that culture at the top, so that teachers know and trust that the administration in the county is actively supporting them.
Strickland said that pay and benefits are very important, but the support teachers receive is just as important. He addded that when he was an elementary school teacher, he felt like the administration and principal were very supportive of him, but that not every teacher felt the same way, and that needs to change.
Myhre said that Wakulla wasn’t the only county facing a recruitment or retention problem, but that still there was room for improvement. He added Wakulla County has a problem with its image, and that if the district were to highlight the work that the teachers are doing in the classroom it could bring people into the county.
The candidates were then asked about their stance on expanding technical and career programs, and which programs they would add.
Strickland said that the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in the district are already training hundreds of students and getting them certifications that they can use later in life. He said that these programs should be expanded in the middle schools as well as the high school, especially through grants like Triumph Gulf Coast which partially funded the new CTE building at Wakulla High.
Myhre spoke about a needs assessment that every district goes through, where the job needs are assessed and grants are awarded to each county based on how well their programs help fill the needs of their community. He mentioned Wakulla High has a variety of different programs which are often hard to find in smaller counties around the state.
Payne said that the CTE building behind the high school is immaculate, and that these programs are often what keeps some students coming to school. He spoke on how he grew up in a “blue-collar world,” and how for many students college isn’t something that interests them, so these CTE programs give them the skills and knowledge necessary to find a place in the workforce after high school. He also mentioned that he wanted to look into adding plumbing and masonry programs to the high school because of all the new construction in the county and the jobs that would open up.
The candidates were also asked about how they’d ensure that parents and community members had a voice in making the decisions that affect education.
Myhre said that while the district and the schools are there for the kids, the parents and community was there for them before they were going to school, so they have to have a voice in the decision, especially the parents of students. He also said that he would like to bring God back into schools, and that he wasn’t forcing it on anyone, but that parents should be able to decide if that’s part of their child’s education or not, without pushing it on anyone.
Payne said that to him, being open and having discussions is incredibly important, and that if anyone had an issue with a policy or some way he was trying to run things, they should come talk to him about it directly. He said that it is vitally important that the community be able to come together and have discussions to decide things, and that he would even be willing to assist efforts to change larger laws such as at the state level if that’s what was deemed best.
Strickland said that we are lucky to live in a state where parents get some control over the content in classrooms, due in part to the parental bill of rights. He also said that he would like to see quarterly workshops with the community to discuss policies that are in place or could be in place, so that lengthy conversations can happen to better work out these issues.
For the last question, each candidate was asked about their long-term plans for the school district.
Payne said that he grew up in Wakulla County, he wants to live here all his life, and he wants to restore the schools back to where they were when he attended, not with inflated graduation rates as he put it, but where students are given a quality education and opportunities to be successful out in the world.
Strickland said that his vision is for qualified teachers who are supported by administrators working to give their students the best education possible. He also talked about how there needs to be more transparency at the district office, particularly around the budget and making it easier to understand, so that everyone can know exactly what their tax dollars are accomplishing.
Myhre said that he sees a future where parents have more choice over where their child goes to school, and because of that he wants to create opportunities to market Wakulla and its school as a place where parents feel their child is best served.
SCHOOL BOARD
The candidates for school board are, for District 4, incumbent Josh Brown and challenger Camden Smit; and for District 2, Angie Nichols and June Davis.
Brown is a Wakulla native and a local business owner. He has two children who are enrolled in Wakulla County Schools.
Smit is running as someone who has an education background, experience working in the school district, and as a parent of students currently attending school in Wakulla County.
Nichols has 22 years of teaching experience both in Wakulla and nearby counties. She said that the extreme insurance rates and stagnant pay drove her from the county, though she wants to return as a school board member.
Davis has been living in Wakulla County since 2009, and has been volunteering and helping out around the county since then. She said her son is going into 11th grade this fall, and she wants to step up from being a volunteer parent to help keep the school district strong and successful.
The first question was about health insurance and plans for reducing health care costs.
Smit said after doing some research, she found the contract that the school system has with Capital Health Plan isn’t the root of the increased costs, it’s the contribution the county makes that’s driving the price up. She specifically stated Florida Virtual School pays for 80% of the cost of employees health insurance, while Wakulla County only pays 40%, and the school board members need to advocate for their employees and allocate more funds in the budget to cover health insurance.
Nichols said that one of her biggest concerns is health insurance, not just for teachers but for all county employees. She went on to say that because the health insurance contributions are so low, employees are leaving to seek employment elsewhere, leading to a worse shortage of teachers and other staff than there would be otherwise. She also brought up that the district budget is very confusing, and makes it incredibly difficult for anyone who isn’t an accountant to understand it. She promised to work on making the budget easier to understand so that finding money to put towards the health insurance might be easier.
Davis admitted that she can’t answer every question about the budget and future plans, but she promised that she will connect with the superintendent and other members of the board, so that she can learn how best to support the students and staff.
Brown explained that the school system is mandated by the governor to increase the base salary for teachers to $47,500, and over the last four years the school board’s main goal has been to get salaries up to that point before any more money is put towards contributions or other raises. Brown also stated he was confident that the salaries would reach the state required level this year, but that the money was still limited and any changes have to be made in steps.
Candidates were then asked about teacher raises, and Nichols said that once the new teachers were making $47,500, veteran teachers need to be given raises in order to retain them. She said that she was one of the veteran teachers who had to leave the county, and that by raising the salary not only could those experienced teachers be incentivized to stay, other teachers could be brought back. She also said that she supports having more workshops and working to find money anywhere possible to put toward making Wakulla a district everyone wants to work in.
Davis stated that it was necessary for the school board and superintendent to come together and discuss the budget, so that teachers can be compensated fairly and future steps up can be planned.
Brown said that either the school district can make more money or spend less in order to find the money to put towards these raises. He mentioned as well that Wakulla is going to get $385,000 from the state this year, 100% of which will go to teachers, and the other money the district had saved is also going to be put towards teachers and staff.
Smit said that the current pay scale needs to be revamped, as it doesn’t adequately compensate veteran teachers. She said that if that doesn’t happen, veteran teachers are going to continue to leave for other jobs.
The candidates were then asked whether they would support a one-mill tax increase to raise additional funds for teacher salaries.
Davis said that she would support that additional millage if it were possible to implement.
Brown stated that he would support such an increase only if it were the only possible option left to raise those salaries. He said he wasn’t sure that everything’s been done to find the needed money, and until taxpayers can be certain that every other option has been exhausted they shouldn’t have to pay any more in taxes.
Smit explained she had done some research and found that Wakulla is comparable to nearby counties in terms of millage rates, and that she would not want to raise that rate unless it was absolutely necessary.
Nichols was staunchly opposed to a tax increase, saying prices and taxes are already high enough. She said she believed that there was more money somewhere, and that it could be found with a little more digging, rather than by simply raising taxes.
The candidates were asked about their top priorities if elected.
Brown said that his biggest goal was getting the base teacher pay to $47,500, but that he also wanted to make sure that teachers are getting the respect they deserve. He further explained that if the money was there, he would like to see a public relations position created, but that wouldn’t happen until the teachers were being paid at least the state required amount.
Smit stated that dealing with the insurance contributions and revamping the pay scale are her biggest concerns, but she also wanted to help make the school district more transparent and help boost public relations.
Nichols said she wanted to keep the school system accountable, make the budget easier to understand, and to make the schools as safe as possible. She explained that this would include things like mental health resources, substance abuse awareness, and partnering with other organizations to meet these goals.
Davis said her biggest priority was supporting the children, staff, and parents, but making sure teachers are being paid well is also very important. She also talked about how she would like the district to focus on communication, especially with the parents in the community.
The final question was about how the candidates plan to involve parents in the educational decision making process.
Smit said that it all goes back to educational choice with parents deciding where to send their children to school, so communication with parents and the community is paramount so that parents are confident that public schools are the best place for their children.
Nichols expressed that the district need to advertise itself as a great place with great programs and teachers, so it draws the public back to the school system, and that more collaborative workshops should be incorporated to make sure parents get a say in what happens.
Davis said communication, transparency, directly talking with parents, and more efficient ways of distributing information are vitally important to the future of the district.
Brown said he’s of the opinion that Wakulla is the best school district in the area, and that marketing is key to ensuring people know everything the district has to offer. He said that while he always was receptive to the community, having someone whose job it is to deal with community outreach would make all of that easier. He further explained that the district does need to make it easier for parents and community members to find relevant information, as currently it can be a struggle to find information online.
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