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Recently The Cullman Times posed a couple of questions for the candidates running for Superintendent of Cullman County Schools.   Here are the answers Billy provided to The Times.

First of all, I want to thank the Cullman Times for giving me the opportunity to answer these questions, and the first answer, I might add, is a very difficult one.  Whatever the situation is, good or not so good, I think we have to set priorities.  In this case, I think the foundation of our priorities should be:  the closer it is to the students, the more important it is.  With that in mind, we should do everything in our power not to cut classroom teachers.  Of all our resources, they are the closest to the students.  As we seek to address our financial situation, I would begin by an organized systematic study of every aspect of our school system, starting with the central office and then to each branch of our services looking for ways we can save money.  Much of that approach would be geared toward the “little” things that sometimes get overlooked and fall into the shadow of the “big” picture.  That search would start with my own office.  For example, as long as I can remember, the superintendent has driven a vehicle provided by the Board of Education.  Should I be given the opportunity to serve as superintendent, I intend from day one to drive my own car and that would be my intention regardless of the financial situation.  Now when you look at the big picture, this is a small savings, but it exemplifies a philosophy I would bring to this office for four years.  To manage the big things, we first must manage the little ones.

We must remember that our schools face tough financial times today because of our economy.  When Alabama takes in less sales tax, our schools suffer.  This has happened in education in our state throughout my career.  One of the keys has always been how we manage our finance during the good years.  How do we approach the everyday decisions we have to make in regard to our financial state?  This is true in our personal lives and it is true in business.  We must carefully examine all the potential possibilities when we borrow money.  We must do everything we can to minimize legal fees, which unfortunately seems to be more and more of an issue in our culture.  We must make every financial decision with our eyes on tomorrow so when tomorrow comes, we are prepared.

Finally, and I promise the answers to the other two questions won’t be this long, I intend to aggressively pursue all other potential sources of funding for our schools.  Recently, some legislators were thanked for helping provide $220,000 for Cullman City Schools in regard to their renovation project for the football stadium.  With the dire financial need of the Cullman County School System, this astonishes me.  I have great friends in the Cullman City System and I certainly don’t blame them for seeking and receiving these funds.  If I am in their shoes, I do the same thing.  And given the opportunity, I will do the same thing. 

I think the biggest issues facing our county system are the same ones facing all schools systems:  how can we prepare our students to be the best they can be as they become active, contributing citizens of our country.  And that preparation must include all aspects of our young people’s lives.  As our society changes, so must we in education change, but at the same time realizing that our core values and beliefs never change.  Great teachers have the same qualities today they had a hundred years ago.  The goal of the Cullman County School system is to provide the employees of our system the opportunity to be the very best they can be so we can prepare our students to be the best they can be.  From the classroom to the vocational workshop to the band room to the ball field, our vision should always be to provide a learning experience that prepares our young people for tomorrow.

Heavens knows, we have more than plenty of projects in education and teachers know exactly what I am talking about here. Instead of projects, what I would try to bring is a philosophy of leadership based on service and hard work.  It is my goal to be on the school campuses more than any superintendent has ever been.  In fact, should I be fortunate enough to be elected, I intend to be on every school campus before I take office in January.  I am committed to this for the entire four years of my term, not just at the beginning and the end.  To truly know the needs of the schools, I believe you have to be on campus.  I look forward to the day when my being at a school is the norm and I can personally interact with students, teachers, administrators and support personnel in a positive way and demonstrate to them by my presence that what they do is vitally important and that we at the central office are there help them in any way we can.

I have a communication plan of I am very excited about.  I believe that schools in general all over our country need to do a better job of communicating in every area: with parents, communities, businesses and government.  I will have community meetings every semester in each of the seven school districts.  These meetings will be to inform, answer questions and be accountable for decisions made which have impact on schools and students.  There will be many other avenues of opening up lines of communication we will be starting and these will be done throughout all four years.  I think Cullman County Schools have a message and it needs to be heard.  I look forward to that challenge!
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End of questions - We ask for your prayers and support.