Budget a top concern for school board candidates; six vying for two open seats

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A tight budget is what concerns most of the six candidates running for a seat on the Mount Pleasant School Board.

There are two open spots that will be filled after Tuesday’s election.

Candidate Martin Figg, groundskeeper at Riverwood Resort, 1313 E. Broomfield Road, said he was encouraged to run by members of the school district who thought he would be successful.

“A main challenge of ours is to meet the needs of our community and students with a restricted and tightening budget,” Figg said. “I think my experience of having to deal with those same issues at the Riverwood business give me a good opportunity to deal with those issues on the school board.”

Candidate Rosa Johnson, who taught for 30 years in the Mount Pleasant school system before retirement, said she is determined to keep quality education going.

She agrees the budget needs restructuring.

“We talk it to death, but it runs everything,” Johnson said. “I’ll try to look at cuts very seriously and prioritize. Every cut is a bad cut — someone always is affected.”

Along with the budget being a key issue, candidate Nicole Henry said there is a morale issue in the schools that needs to be addressed and the board can have an influence.

“We have communication issues between the board and the public,” Henry said.

Henry, who worked as a newspaper reporter and is currently a stay-at-home mother and teaches classes online for the University of Phoenix, said she hopes to bridge the communication gap.

Candidate Christine McKnight is retired and has been actively attending board meetings for the past year.

She said she is unhappy with how things have been operating at the district.

“I’m aware the board is limited with what they can do about the budget,” McKnight said. “Every member has personal interests they want taken care of, so there are those restrictions.”

Candidate David Lee Skinner Jr. said he wants to build bridges between the community and the district.

“We need the trust from the community and I intend to make myself accessible to our teachers, students and parents so that we can work together to provide an education our children deserve.”

Timothy Odykirk, the remaining candidate,  did not return several telephone calls seeking comment.