By Wayne Gates

Three candidates are competing for two open seats on the Georgetown School Board. They are incumbent Raymond Virost, challenger Greg Barlow and challenger Brian Faught.

All three submitted answers to written questions from The News Democrat. Their unedited responses are below in order of receipt.

Why are you running for school board and what qualifications would you like voters to be aware of?

Virost: “I was first elected to the GEVS School Board in 2003. I am now in my 16th year of service to the Georgetown community and the students of the district. It is a highlight of mine to watch the seniors receiving their diplomas on graduation day. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the School Board and would very much like to continue to serve.

I have lived in Georgetown for 40 years. My wife, Barbara, and I raised our three children, Ben, Carl and Maria here. They all attended school here and received their diplomas from Georgetown. I am heavily invested in the Georgetown community as my dental office is located here. As a dental student from 1973-1977 we were always encouraged to give back to the community that supports us. I have learned so much from being on the board. I feel that my years of experience on the Board are a definite qualifier for re-election.”

Barlow: “I have several reasons for choosing to be a candidate for the Georgetown Exempted Village School District Board of Education.

First, as a resident of the district for a total of 28 years, I consider Georgetown to be my adopted home. I was raised in Wilmington, and moved to Georgetown in 1981 after having been hired to be a 6th grade teacher at the Alverda Reed Elementary School. There was a period of time when I lived in Clermont County, but have lived in my current home since 1994. My wife, Sheila, and I raised our two sons, Ryan and Jake, in Georgetown. Both of my children attended GEVS from kindergarten through high school graduation. In fact, I had the wonderful pleasure of handing each of them their diplomas as they walked across the stage.

During my 27 years of employment by the GEVS district, I served in a variety of positions. I was a teacher for 19 years, and an administrator for 8. Following the graduation of my youngest child, I was offered the position of being the principal at Fayetteville Elementary School. While it was a difficult decision to leave my “family” at GEVS, I had the desire to work, once again, with elementary school aged children. It was also a future benefit for me to work in an entirely different education setting, and to gain new perspectives.

Following a total of 8 years as the Fayetteville Elementary School Principal, I learned of an open position as a school improvement consultant with Region 14 Hopewell. The state of Ohio is divided into a total of 16 regional offices through the state department of education. These regional offices provide a variety of different services to local districts, and individual schools. My primary position is that of working with school administrators in methods by which they can improve the educational opportunities of their students. I am currently in my 4th year of working as a school improvement consultant.

My reasoning for giving a detailed view of my career as an educator is to demonstrate that I am knowledgeable about the diverse needs, and operation, of public schools. In my current position, I work with 18 different school districts in 5 counties: Adams, Brown, Clinton, Fayette, and Highland. These four years have broadened my knowledge more so than any other part of my career. Not only do I understand the structures of the GEVS and Fayetteville-Perry districts, but I have experience with 16 others. I also have regular contact with employees of the Ohio Department of Education, particularly in the areas of federal grants management, and school improvement areas.

Perhaps the most important reason for asking the citizens of Georgetown to entrust me as a member of the local school board is that it is my way of giving back to the community. For 27 years, this was where I worked with the children of our fine community. After having taken an active role in more than 150 school board meetings during my administrative career, I am well qualified to serve as a member of the Georgetown Exempted Village School Board.”

Faught: “I have previously served on the Board of Directors for the Ohio Office of Workforce Development and as Vice President of the Brown County Chamber of Commerce. I’ve enjoyed my experience on both of these boards but I think I can better serve the community as a member of the Board of Education. We need to prepare our workforce before they become adults.

Working in manufacturing for over 25 years I have played a significant role implementing efficiency improvements and cost cutting initiatives. During this time, I’ve learned the importance of education to continue to advance my career. I have 3 degrees including a Bachelor of Business with a focus on Management as well as 4 certifications include a Six Sigma which is a process improvement certification. I will use my experiences in the business world to serve successfully on the Board of Education.

Follow me on Facebook at Brian Faught for Georgetown School Board.”

(Incumbent) What have you accomplished during your tenure to benefit students?

Virost: “During my tenure on the School Board, a new Georgetown Elementary School was built and the Jr./Sr. High School was renovated. This was a $21,000,000 project of which I am very proud. These two buildings are very attractive and wonderful places to learn. In 2016, the library was renovated into a much more inviting Student Center for learning. In 2013, the District started to phase in iPads and then Chromebooks for students to supplement their classroom instruction. As far as afterschool activities/sports are concerned, the tennis courts were built in 2008. In 2009, the Brian Grant Stadium was built for soccer and track events. We are currently finishing the renovation of the softball and baseball fields. We have also added bowling and tennis as high school sports.

In the spring of 2018, an anonymous donor enabled us to start an afterschool program designed for students who are not already involved in other activities. The program runs for six weeks in the Fall and six weeks in the Spring. There are twenty different clubs in the Elementary School and eleven in the Jr./Sr. High School this Fall. This program has been very well received! The clubs cover many interests such as cooking, puzzles, crafts, calligraphy, digital photography and fitness. It is so important for students to be involved.”

(Challenger) What would you do differently if elected?

Barlow: I would first like to make it clear that I am not a candidate for the school board because I believe that the current GEVS School Board is ineffective in any manner. In fact, the community is extremely fortunate to have the five individuals currently serving on the board. I know all of them very well, and they are all gentlemen of high character, and are serving for all of the “right reasons”. In fact, I would not even be interested in serving as a board member, had I not been made aware that Dr. Donohoo had decided not to run for reelection following his current term. My hope is that Dr. Virost, whom is also a candidate, will also continue to serve as a board member.

As far as my intent to doing things “differently”, I would say that I believe that it will be very beneficial to have someone with 38 years of service in public education as a school board member. I can bring a perspective that is unlike all of the other current board members.

A wise individual once said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The Georgetown Exempted Village School District Board of Education is not broken. It is my goal to take an active role in continuing the fine tradition of effectively serving the community’s children.”

Faught: “I will ask for a review of all district textbooks. Our students are using outdated textbooks. Just as an example, there is a chemistry textbook in use that is copyrighted 1989. The Periodic Table in that textbook is outdated. Based on a conversation with Superintendent Winterod I believe this is now in process. As a board member I will push to update textbooks with either new books or appropriate technology.

GEVS received a State Report Card grade of a D for Improving At-Risk K-3 Readers. I’ve gained some new valuable information about that grade since first seeing it. For instance, these grades are a year behind. However, this grade is only for at risk kids so the concern still exists that readers not in this group could fall behind. Reading is the foundation of all other education. Therefore, I will purpose that Georgetown should adopt the Success for All Foundation (See Facebook page for more information) reading program designed to focus on ALL K-5 students whereby they will be in the classroom according to their ability not their age. This will be tremendous resource for the elementary school teachers’ success teaching reading and extending to other subjects.”

What are the three biggest issues facing Georgetown Schools and what is your plan to address them?

Virost: “Money is always an issue. The Board (all five of us) has continually been fiscally conservative. We have had a balanced budget for many years. We need to be conservative because we are so dependent on Columbus for much of our money. The legislators develop a budget every two years. We never know what to expect from them. One example of our conservancy is the current baseball/softball renovation. The initial cost was more than we anticipated so we scaled the project back so we could be proud of the final result and not overspend.

The State Report Card is another issue. We have teachers who care deeply for their students, classrooms that are not overcrowded and yet some of the grades we receive from the State of Ohio are not what I would like to see. I am convinced that some of these grades are not a true reflection of the education that our students are receiving at GEVS. Everyone does agree that we must continue to strive harder.

Safety of the students will always be an issue. In order for students to learn they must first feel safe. At our schools the doors are continually locked during the school day. Students are instructed to NOT open any doors to let anyone in, even if they know them! There is limited access as the students enter the buildings. There are professionally trained volunteers in the buildings who are able to handle a problem if one should arise. We do our best to keep our students safe.”

Barlow: “One of the primary issues facing GEVS is that of funding, particularly at the state level. The district’s treasurer, Mr. Eric Toole, is one of the most knowledgeable school treasurers in all of SW Ohio. Truth be told, he’s probably one of the best in the state, but I only have experience with the 5 county region which I serve in my job capacity. That said, the district administrators, along with the board of education, have done an admirable job of managing the district’s finances in a prudent, wise manner. The former superintendent, Mr. Burrows, had a powerful influence on that, and I am confident that the new superintendent, Mr. Winterod, will do so, as well. The issue at the state level is that a district doesn’t know from year-to-year what level of funding to expect from the legislature in Columbus. This variance makes it difficult for a school district to complete their financial forecast. At this time, the district is doing very well with management of their funding, and I expect them to continue doing so in a fiscally responsible manner.

Another issue facing the district is that of areas of their district and building level “report cards” not being at the levels that I would like to see. As with all of Ohio’s buildings, and districts, there is always room for academic growth. The district has worked very hard to ensure that such steady growth occurs. As a board member, I will strive to ensure that they have the necessary funding, and personnel, to provide the services needed to continue the improvement process.

Finally, in a community the size of Georgetown, the school district is a major part of our social makeup. It is a one of the hubs of activity for not only our students, but for the community, as well. I would like to see the district continue to work with other county, and state agencies, in providing mental health services for our children. Far too many of our greatest assets deal with the many stressors of living in the 21st century. We have a substance abuse epidemic in our area that has a terrible impact on our children. While the district has done a very admirable job of providing such counseling services to our students, there is more that can be done. As a board member, I would like to work with our district’s employees in exploring additional means of counseling services. We owe it to our children.”

Faught: “Safety, communication and teaching resources are the 3 biggest issues facing Georgetown. I’ve already addressed the teaching resource issues I see so I will focus on safety and communication here.

We’ve all seen news reports of mass shootings at schools around the country. We hope and pray we don’t experience this but prepare for the worst. More importantly we need our administrators to better communicate with the community when security concerns arise. It was widely discussed among students last year that there was a threat made on the high school. I addressed this with the administration and the Board of Education. The response in my view was unsatisfactory. I believe these issues can be communicated to parents and community while protecting the privacy of the student. We deserve no less than to understand and be aware of our children’s environment (See my Facebook page for a copy of the letter I received and more discussion on this matter).

Lastly, I would encourage our community, especially parents to attend School Board meetings. The board can’t address your concerns if they aren’t aware of your concerns. You will learn a lot as well.”