School Board Votes to Reduce
The Polk County Board of Education met in regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Tuesday night. The meeting was preceded by a 48 minute public input meeting for questions and concerns about re-districting.
During the input meeting, former board member Harold Wingfield stood for 33 minutes voicing concerns over reducing down to seven members. Wingfield believed that minority groups would be “left out” by reducing.
Former board member Larry Dooley spoke of his strong support for reducing and allowing the entire county to vote on each member.
During the board meeting, teachers from each Polk County school were recognized for the “teacher of the year” award. Joy Hindman, of Youngs Grove, was awarded with the “Polk County Teacher of the Year” award.
The final action item on the agenda was re-districting. The board voted 6-3 to reduce the number of board members down to seven. Tara O’Neal, Crystal Sproull, Susan Berry, Tim Turner, Andy Fairel, and Chuck Thaxton voted for the motion. Jane Holbrooks, Tommy Sanders, and Grady McCrickard voted to stay at nine members.
Dr. Harold Wingfield did remind board members, during the public input meeting, that if the seven district map did not provide equal representation to minorities, then he would be forced to take action.
There will be a final public input meeting with State Senator Bill Heath on November 15, at 6 pm, to discuss the final vote. The meeting will be at Board of Education on South College Street.
