Henry Daily Herald

District 1 Board of Education

Pam Nutt, 52 (incumbent)

Media specialist for the Griffin-Spalding County Board of Education; member of the Henry County Board of Education

Divorced, with three wonderful children — Patrick, 32, Joe, 25, and Charlotte, 22.

Forty-plus years, a Henry County resident

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: To be able to reach and teach each child in our school system.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: Being a practicing teacher allows me to see first hand the needs of the students and what I as an educator can do to meet the needs of each child.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: Cutting programs is a task that needs to include the county office and all board members; one board member cannot cut the programs of a school system.

District 1 Board of Education

John Dewberry, Jr., 47

Forty-six years, a Henry County resident

Local pastor

Married to Sharon Dewberry, with two children — Jonathan, 23, and Averi, 19.

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: Better communication across the board with school system and parents.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: Currently serving on boards at executive level.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: Presently, there are no programs I feel that need cutting, just programs that need more community support/involvement to help off-set cost.

District 2 Board of Education

Ben Sosby, 25

One year, a Henry County resident

Service clerk at Ingles Markets

Single, no children

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: I want to try to get some pay raises for the employees.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: I have a heart for Henry County.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: I will have to look at the budget first before any decisions.

District 2 Board of Education

Taqua Thrasher, 31

Two years, a Henry County resident

Network administrator for the City of College Park, Ga.

Married to Amanah Thrasher, with one child — Ashlyn, 1.

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: I will significantly improve educational technology resources in District 2.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: I was an application specialist in the Dutchtown cluster from 2010 to 2012, so I know first hand the frustration students and teachers have experienced trying to use technology in District 2 classrooms.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: By implementing more efficient technology systems, and using technology to automate and streamline education-related processes, the line-item for instruction can be reduced considerably while actually increasing learning outcomes.

District 2 Board of Education

Josh Hinton, 31

Twenty-seven years, a Henry County resident

Risk management advisor

Single, no children

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: There are many things that I would like to improve, one of which is our graduation rate throughout the entire county.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: N/A

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: N/A

District 2 Board of Education

Larry Stanley, 57

Twenty-two years, a Henry County resident

Account manager in sales

Married to June Stanley, with two children from a previous marriage — Andrew, 23, and Michael, 18.

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: Henry County currently has a 70 percent graduation rate from high school within four years, I would like to improve graduation rates.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: I have 12 years experience of active participation in local government with emphasis on government spending.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: I don’t believe there is a single department or program that should be eliminated; however, every budget can be cut with close scrutiny.

District 2 Board of Education

Reginald Ponder, 50

Fifty years, a Henry County resident

Married for 25 years, with four children

Education and information technology professional, and insurance agent

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: Have all board members give back a half of year's salary at a point of their choosing.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: Being a parent of four children who are in the school system.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board's general operations budget?

A: A one time six-months salary cut from each board members during their four year term.

District 3 Board of Education

Charles Vickery, 64 (incumbent)

Thirty-six years, a Henry County resident

Insurance broker/agent; member of the Henry County Board of Education

Married for 31 years with two children — Jessica and Chris

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: I want to maintain the integrity of the Henry County School System.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: Having the honor of serving the citizens of Henry County for the past 16 years as District 3 school board member.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: In the past, we have tried to make the cuts that had the least impact on student achievement, this path would be continued.

District 3 Board of Education

Mike Griffin, 51

Twelve years, a Henry County resident

Co-owner of Griffin Insurance Agency in Stockbridge

Married to Doris Griffin, with two children — Alexander, 14, and Martin, 10.

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: If elected to the school board, my goal is to bring to the board more ideas, more energy and a bigger vision of what the school system can be.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: I worked with Carolyn Fuller and many others to bring the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy to Henry County six years ago, [and] we have sent over 75,000 free books to preschool children in our county.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board’s general operations budget?

A: If further cuts are required, I would work closely with school system staff to identify the least hurtful reduction in staff or programs; my hope is that, if the economic recovery continues, we are soon talking about teacher salary increases and staff additions to reduce classroom size.

District 3 Board of Education

Nichelle Wiggins, 29

Five years, a Henry County resident

Educator

Divorced, with a five-year-old daughter.

Q: What is the one thing you would like to accomplish, if elected to office?

A: If elected to office, I would like to increase the number of Early Head Start Programs in Henry County.

Q: What one special experience do you have that you believe is beneficial to the position for which you are a candidate?

A: As an educator, I have experienced, first-hand, the impact of critical decisions at the classroom level and can bridge my experience with that of the policy makers of Henry County Board of Education.

Q: What is the first budget item, or program, you would cut to help balance the school board's general operations budget?

A: Instead of cutting the essential educational programs of Henry County, I would reconstruct existing programs to reduce their cost without jeopardizing their effectiveness.