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Federal Hocking School Board to Fill Three Open Seats
By: Chelsea Sick
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Tausha Pullins’ son is a senior in the Federal Hocking School District, but has been going to school in the district since he was in Kindergarten. Pullins said she has seen the school district drastically improve since he began school.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes, it seems to be going for the better,” Pullins said. “He’s been through Federal Hocking from kindergarten up, so there’s definitely a lot of changes, a lot more modern. They are trying to definitely bring us full circle.”
There are three open seats on the Federal Hocking School Board, which will be on the ballot November 7th. This comes after current board members say they are in the best fiscal situation in at least 50 years.
President of the FedHock School Board Dan Torrence, says they had to make a lot of cuts because they were five million dollars in debt. Now that the budget is balanced, they are working to bring back the cuts, while keeping a balanced budget.
“We were in a fiscal emergency, we had a lot of issues with personnel, we were having to cut over a million dollars out of the budget, and since then, we have been able to start adding back things and look at different programs,” Torrence said. “So we’ve been doing that, and I would say we will keep doing that kind of thing to bring back different structures and avenues for kids to be able to move on.”
There are four candidates running for the three open seats.
Incumbent Lester Green has been on the board for a total of 12 years and helped Federal Hocking out of the fiscal crisis. He also helped build the athletic booster program at Federal Hocking over 50 years ago, and continues to be an advocate
Candidate Kerry Sheridan- Boyd believes the school district is on the right path financially and says students should remain at the forefront of decisions. Kerry Sheridan-Boyd wants to improve communication and transparency between parents and the school board.
Candidate Sara Brumfield also wants to maintain the current budget and continue free education, free meals, and free field trips for all students. She also wants to look into offering gifted education, especially at the elementary level.
Candidate Hazel Guess wrote on Vote411. org that believes in balancing the budget with local taxes and wants students to have acceptable classrooms and equipment. She also wants to listen to those concerned with the board or school district and find a happy medium.
In Federal Hocking’s 2015 audit it say all FedHock’s funds should be budgeted and appropriated, which is the responsibility of the school board.