Jeffrey Wilson says schools in the Brainerd area have come a long way in the past four years, but he thinks there's still plenty of work to be done.
"I think we've made some strides with test scores," said Mr. Wilson, 44, who is running unopposed for re-election to the District 5 seat on the Hamilton County Board of Education. "But I'd really like to see if we can do some things to improve the graduation rate while at the same time decreasing the dropout rate."
Mr. Wilson, who has served one term on the school board, said he's seen some "good academic gains" in his district, which includes eight schools. He anticipates growth in the area, with families from Volkswagen and other companies moving into the district and sending children to its schools.
"We have to continue building up our schools so families will be comfortable sending their children to the schools that are located in District 5," the Chattanooga native said.
Part of that process includes not only addressing physical issues with school buildings that have been around for as many as 60 years but maintaining high academic levels, he said. Mr. Wilson wants more students who attend elementary school in his district to stay within the district for middle and high school, rather than going to another district for a magnet program.
JEFFREY WILSON* Age: 44* Family: Wife, Yolanda; son, Thomas, 2* Occupation: Senior pastor at New United Baptist Church
"We've got a lot of good magnet programs, like the magnet program at Brainerd (High School)," Mr. Wilson said. "And I want to make sure we're relevant in terms of our offerings."
Mr. Wilson also hopes to tackle the high school dropout rate, now at 19 percent. He said he especially is concerned with the number of black students dropping out of school.
Chantelle Roberson, who lives in District 5 and has known Mr. Wilson for 10 years, said he has gotten the community involved in education by "trying to bring awareness to the issues and get the citizens of Brainerd excited about our area and what we can do to invest in our community."
School board members serve four-year terms. The general election is Aug. 5.
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