Six vie for District 4 School Board seat

School Board District 4 stretches from the I-295 beltway to the northwest county and even includes part of downtown.

Current District 4 board member Paula D. Wright is a candidate to represent District 14 for state representative. She will face Rep. Kimberly Daniels in the primary. Wright has been representing District 4 since 2010. The current salary for a School Board member is $41,836.

Six candidates are running for the open seat. If one candidate gets the majority vote, they will be the next representative. If this doesn’t happen, the two candidates who received the most votes in the primary will run again in the general election Nov. 6.

The Florida Times-Union Editorial Board asked the candidates about budget cuts, school safety, "Teach for America" program and their personal accomplishments.

LINDA M. BUTLER

Linda M. Butler was born and raised in Duval County. She was a teacher at Richard L. Brown Elementary School and was selected as Teacher of the Year for the 2015-2016 school year.

Butler isn’t new to politics either. She was elected as a Monticello City Council Member for Group 5 and served for four years. She also served as a vice mayor in Monticello as well.

Butler told the Times-Union that she would first look at the budget and the current situation of DCPS before making any changes.

Butler said she believes Duval has taken effective efforts on school safety. She added that there should be security via a buzzer or a camera before anyone is allowed into schools. She wants to work with local law enforcement as well to ensure the safety of students.

“To go in with the idea of cutting without knowing all the details would be asinine,” Butler said.

Butler said she supports “Teach for America” and believes it’s a vital part of the district as long as the teachers are held up to the same standard.

Butler said her biggest accomplishment was being on City Council and being the vice mayor.

ERDINE JOHNSON

Erdine Johnson is no stranger to local schools. In her 40-year career, she worked as an administrator and principal in Duval County. She was a principal at five schools. She received many awards, including the United States Department of Education Title 1 Distinguished School Award, DCPS Service Excellence Award and the Times-Union “10 Who Make A Difference” Award.

Johnson said that having a $62,000,000 deficit is “simply not acceptable.” The first thing she would cut would be district-level funding. The last thing would be school-level funding. Johnson doesn’t support “Teach for America” under the current plan. The money should be invested in Duval teachers and in the teachers who understand the students' situations and are highly qualified.

She said her biggest accomplishments have been leading four schools to achieve a grade of “A” and maintaining “A” and “B” grades while as principal at Brentwood Elementary, Andrew Robinson Elementary and Henry F. Kite Elementary.

CHARIS SCURRY

Charis Scurry is native to Jacksonville and is the manager of education strategies for the United Way of Northeast Florida. She also serves on the Nova Southeastern University Alumni Advisory Board and has previously served on the University of North Florida Alumni Board Association.

When it comes to the budget, Scurry plans on cutting expenses that are aligned to the DCPS Strategic Plan. The last items to be cut would be items that directly affect student achievement. She said “Teach for America” is an asset to the school system. She believes that the teachers helped fill several vacancies in classrooms and several remain in the district.

When it comes to security, Scurry believes that there should be at least one armed guard on campus and in larger schools, there should be an additional armed guard. She also believes that there should be an increase in random weapon searches.

Scurry said her major accomplishment has been impacting middle schoolers through the United Way’s Achievers For Life Initiative. The initiative helps keep students on track to graduate on time.

Scurry has been endorsed by Bishop Leofric Thomas Sr., Bishop John Guns, Bishop Rudolph McKissick Jr., Connie Hodges, Susan Greene, and Dr. Charles Simmons III.

TIMOTHY SLOAN

Timothy Sloan was born and raised in Jacksonville before enlisting in the Army in 1988. After 23 years, he retired as a senior non-commissioned officer.

Since retiring, Sloan has worked in Duval schools to be a model for children. He is a mentor with The DCPS 5000 Role Models of Excellence, A Parent Academy Leader and an ambassador for the Jacksonville Public Education Fund. He has been a member of the Parent-Teacher Association, and has served on the School Advisory Councils and is a moderator for the Ribault Neighborhood Accountability Board.

Sloan said that instructional and curriculum development would be that last thing he would cut. He also supports “Teach for America” teachers and is more concerned about the impact that the teachers will have on the students.

When it comes to cost-effective safety measures, Sloan recommends having professionals, not educators, keep schools safe. He said he boycotted Landon Middle School last year due to the lack of safety.

“This past school year, I boycotted sending my daughter to school [Landon] because the school district failed to provide a safe environment for learning [no lock on the front door, security camera, and no buzzer],” Sloan said. “The superintendent and the School Board informed me there was no money to pay for any of that until after the school year, and only if the money was left over. That was unacceptable to me.”

Sloan continue to state that when the Stoneman Douglas shooting in Parkland happened, security systems were fully installed by May at Landon. He emphasized that safety should always come first.

Sloan said his proudest accomplishments have been the volunteer work he has done for the community. He loved to help mentor young men and is proud of the fact that he helped to change these men’s lives for the better. He is also proud of the financial donations he has made for tutoring and for teacher appreciation.

CYNTHIA SMITH

Cynthia Smith grew up in District 4 and has stayed in Duval for most of her life. She has been a Duval school teacher, bookkeeper, clerk, instructional coach and assistant principal. She currently is a small business owner and president of Minds of the Future Foundation, a nonprofit that has given thousands of dollars to high school seniors.

Smith said safety in schools is her priority. She believes the budget should focus on creating a safe learning environment for teachers and students. She also said she needs to review information and look at the budget and other initiatives before deciding anything.

Smith said her biggest accomplishment was being an educator at Ribault High School. She helped reach a 97 percent graduation rate and modeled practices from reading education that led to the school earning a grade of “A” in 2012.

Smith is endorsed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and Delta Phi Kappa.

DARRYL WILLIE

Willie grew up as a military kid, moving from city to city, and although he didn’t grow up in the Duval school system, he has taught in it. He is currently a recruiter and trainer for new teachers for Duval County. He has served on the Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation Board, and is a member of 100 Black Men of Jacksonville.

Willie believes that there has to be a deep and thorough audit of the current finances to see where spending has increased, decreased and changed. He would first cut places where funding is being duplicated or overlapped that is causing waste. He would try to avoid making any cuts to teachers and staff who work directly with students.

Willie is executive director of “Teach for America” in Jacksonville. He said that in the past year, seven “Teach for America” teachers were awarded teacher of the year at their schools. He believes that Duval should provide principals with a “quality pool” of teacher candidates and that “Teach for America” can be a part of that pool.

Willie’s said is major accomplishment has been to engage in communities as deeply as he has. Since arriving in Jacksonville 10 years ago, he has been involved with his church and as a volunteer in public schools.

Willie has received the endorsements of the Builders Association, Fraternal Order of Police and JAXBiz.

Hannah Lee: (904) 359-4097