Valdosta City Schools Logo 2

VALDOSTA — Valdosta City Schools nominating committee named three nominees to fill the vacant Superward West board seat.

The nominating committee consists of board members Trey Sherwood, Stacy Bush, Dr. Tad Moseley and Tyra Howard.

Nine candidates submitted resumes and letters of interest for the seat and the committee’s purpose is to narrow it down to three candidates to present to the full board.

The nine candidates were Stephen Findlay, Amy Hall, Bill Love, Peggy Parramore, Dr. A.J. Ramirez, James D. “J.D.” Rice, Marty Roesch, Gregory Williams and Lynne Wilson.

Each of the committee members gave their picks for the three nominees.

Sherwood noted that, as former Superward West Chair Kelly Wilson had a background in education, he selected Lynne Wilson, Peggy Parramore and Marty Roesch as his top choices.

Wilson resigned from the board last month after she accepted a job that would be a conflict of interest, leaving her board seat vacant.

Moseley agreed with Sherwood that selecting people in education made sense and that Wilson and Parramore were also his top picks. He said he was struggling with a third pick and noted both Love and Roesch’s previous experience with the board.

Howard’s picks were Williams, Ramirez and Rice based on “their desire to set goals and clear vision for Valdosta City Schools.”

Bush said his first choice was Wilson, second Parramore and third Roesch.

“Mr. Findlay, Mrs. Hall, Mr. Love, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Rice and Mr. Williams, I have lots of respect for and their resumes are outstanding but knowing Mrs. Wilson brought an element to the board of expertise and K-12 education, I felt they were the best candidates,” Bush said.

Superintendent Dr. Todd Cason read the choices back to the committee, noting that Wilson, Parramore and Roesch came in with the most votes from members.

Moseley asked Cason if having Roesch, a former Valdosta schools superintendent, on the board would be awkward.

“Actually, probably so,” Cason said. “In all honesty, it’s rare that a former superintendent serves as a board member. I know Mr. Roesch well, we’ve known each other for a long time. I’m pretty sure I could work with him; it’s just rare.”

Howard’s concern for the “awkwardness” continued through the discussions. Sherwood said he’s spoken with Roesch and expressed that it would be on him to make sure that it was not an awkward situation because that would accomplish nothing.

“I’m looking from a pure experience standpoint and what I think is best for this board is to get someone who has been boots on the ground who has got time involved in this stuff who can help us as a board understand it,” Sherwood said.

Cason reiterated he could work with anyone and encouraged the board to not let it stop them from selecting the best people to serve students.

Howard said she had some concerns about bringing in young, vibrant ideas and noted the three selected are all retirees. She said Williams would be the youngest and asked what would deter from selecting him.

“There’s not one thing that would deter Mr. Williams in my mind. I think he’s very much qualified and has the ability to serve in many community positions and give good leadership; he’s just not in the top candidates in my mind, but I have a lot of respect for him and think he’ll do a great job in the community,” Bush said.

While all board members agreed that each candidate was impressive; the top choices boiled down to educational background, leading to the committee majority to decide on Wilson, Parramore and Roesch.

These choices will be brought before the full board for discussion and later for a vote.

The chosen person will serve through the completion of the set term, which ends Dec. 31. The successor for the next full term must run as a candidate in the November election.