Five African Americans are among the people who have expressed interested in being appointed to an open seat on the Racine Unified School Board.
Former City Council Member Keith Fair, the Rev. Norris Johnson, the Rev. Melvin Hargrove, of Zoe Outreach Ministry, Karen Norton and Stella Young, a former teacher, administrator and School Board member, have all expressed interest in an open seat on the School Board. Board member Randy Bangs resigned in October.
The School Board will meet on Dec. 3 to consider Bangs' replacement. Joyce Gregg and Jeff Peterson expressed interest in the seat. Others can come apply for the position up to the board's meeting. Whoever is selected will serve out Bangs' term, which ends in April.
Hargrove said he decided to run after hearing a lot of complaining about Unified.
"I'd like to be part of the decision-making body to bring change to the district," he said.
Hargrove said there was no one issue he wanted to focus on. Instead, he wanted to concentrate on cutting through politics and focusing on improving education in the district.
As for diversity on the board, Hargrove said he would like to see more minorities in decision-making positions with the district.
"It's a passing thought," he said about running for a spot on the all-white board. "The more people I talk to, the more who say it's an issue. My thing is this, I want to make sure we have the right people on the board, period."
Young, who left the School Board in 1999 after serving eight years, said she submitted her name to ensure there was a person of color interested in the position.
“I didn't want them to say they couldn't find anybody and give them a reason to keep it an all-white board," Young said.
She added that if appointed she will not run for the board in April, and that she will support other candidates of color if they are selected.
"I don't have any desire to run for the board again," Young said. "I was on there for a number of years. When I retired from it, that's what I did."
How about someone who is not paid by or has links to J Wax?
ReplyDelete"she will support other candidates of color"
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the reaction would be if I promised to support only white candidates for office?
Repeat after me, people: "Pigmentation is not qualification" - vote for someone because of their position, their abilities, dare I say "the content of their character" - not the color of their skin.
Keith Fair? That would be a disaster! It would be fun to watch, though.
ReplyDeleteno it wouldnt Keith tends to ramble on... making eyes roll and meetings longer...
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous who says "pigmentation is not qualification": as a white member of our community I do not believe that an all-white school board, regardless of their background or character, should be making decisions for a district that is nearly half minority. (And I'm sure that scares you to realize you will soon be the minority). I hope that the school board becomes more and more diverse to give ALL of our students a quality education.
ReplyDeleteWhoever it is better be capable of making a decision and sticking to it. They also better be able to take being attacked by the other board members if they dare to say things are not perfect.
ReplyDeleteAs an African-American I hope that Mr Hargrove will work to have neighborhood school. I think that if there were neighborhood schools many of the problems of the district would be solved.
ReplyDeleteI hope that this will be one of the main issue the board will take on in the future.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that I agree whole-heartedly with Racine Girl. As a candidate for the Racine School Board election, I support both Hargrove and Norton for this very reason. I feel that the board should be representative of its community. With that said, I also think we need younger voices on the board. I feel that the board should strive to represent the employees and community members of Racine Unified, but we should not neglect student concerns. For more information, please visit my blog at
http://schoolboardelectionracine.blogspot.com/
Contact me with any questions and concerns that you might have!