Story By Katie Hightower
Jackson County voters have two candidates for the Place 4 position of the Jackson County Board of Education. Both candidates have a strong desire to serve students in the county. Sentinel writer Katie Hightower sat down with each candidate to ask the same set of questions about a school board member’s role and how they would approach it if elected.
Josh Fralick
While Josh Fralick has no experience as a school board member, he has taken the time to study the position through the Alabama Association of School Boards. He has attended school board meetings and said he wants to help students in need. Fralick said his research and development background has taught him that it takes everyone working together as a unit to achieve results and that it is important to put aside one’s ego and emotions when collaborating with others.
Fralick said the role of the school board is to support the superintendent’s recommendations and follow the chain of command. He said it is a cohesive unit and it is important not to overstep boundaries. He said it is also the role of the school board to be a cheerleader, be visible and be transparent in the district.
“The superintendent, Mr. Davidson, ultimately has the most knowledge about the day-in-day-out things of the school system,” Fralick said.
When it comes to disagreements, Fralick said it is important to maintain as much transparency as possible.
“There may be times where we can’t give all of the information, but it’s important to maintain open and honest communication while approaching it from a business standpoint instead of an emotional one,” Fralick said.
Fralick said the biggest challenge facing students in the district was the number of economically disadvantaged students. He said economically disadvantaged students showed lower test scores than their peers. He said it is necessary to bridge the gap and find ways to help these students achieve small wins, which could make a huge difference in their academic performance.
While Fralick thinks state-mandated academic testing is good for evaluating and tracking performance, he said it doesn't provide a full picture of a student’s academic standing. He said it is important to focus on the end goal rather than the process, and the end goal is a better indicator of a student’s performance.
Fralick has a collaborative approach when it comes to school safety measures. He said outreach programs and peer helpers could be good ways to create an environment where everyone looked out for each other.
When asked how the district should recruit and retain teachers, he said there is a large pool of teachers in Jackson County. To retain them, he said the district needs to recognize which teachers go above and beyond and make them feel appreciated. He said the district also needs to ensure teachers have all the tools they need to do their jobs.
“When they feel unsupported, they get unhappy, and that’s how you lose people,” Fralick said. “We also need to make it where teachers feel they can speak up so they feel visible.”
When asked what fiscal responsibility in the school system looks like, Fralick approached his answer from his past employment experience.
“Coming from a defense background, we need to make sure there’s a return on investment,” Fralick said. “If we’re investing $2,500 in a robotics club and get two engineers out of it, to me that’s a really good return on the investment.”
When it came to controversial curriculum concerns, Fralick said, “As educators and board members, we can’t count on parents to teach children. Our job is to prepare kids for the future. They spend more time at school than they do with their own parents in some situations. I feel like we let the kids down if we don’t try to teach them as much as we can.”
Fralick said he believes the district is doing well when it comes to the tech school.
“The tech school is very impressive and offers a lot of different career paths,” Fralick said.
Fralick said the district needs to improve academic performance in areas that needed support.
“If we see certain areas are consistently lower in academic performance, as long as there is a funding surplus, we need to put additional resources into finding creative ways to have students buy into an education. Not all solutions are the same. We need to make students excited about an education,” Fralick said.
Fralick said he would stay informed about classroom realities by staying present as much as possible, having good relationships with everyone, and through teacher surveys.
“I will prioritize whatever it takes to reach kids’ success,” Fralick said.
Robbie King
Robbie King has served on the Jackson County Board of Education as the District 4 representative since 2020. He is a certified school board member and has completed continued education. His experience working with children has helped him serve on the board.
King said the role of the school board is to hear the superintendent’s recommendations.
“When the superintendent brings recommendations to us, we’ll look over them, ask for more information as needed and work off of the recommendations,” King said.
When it comes to disagreements, King said it is important for board members not to get caught up in arguments on social media.
“I try not to get into the back-and-forth discussions on social media. If people have grievances they need to air, they can call or email me,” King said.
King said the biggest challenge facing students in the district depends on the schools and parental involvement.
“Some schools have more community and parental involvement than others. So for certain students, the help, encouragement, structure and support they get at home shows up in the new curriculum testing,” King said.
King said the school system introduced proficiency scales this year to better evaluate academic performance.
“When students are graduating with straight As and are scoring low on the ACT, it doesn’t correlate,” King said. “With the proficiency scales, it helps to evaluate where students are academically.”
King said school safety is his top priority. He is focused on keeping students, teachers, administrators, faculty and staff safe. Since he took office, campuses have added access badges to keep doors locked and added security vestibules with monitors, microphones, cameras and school resource officers.
When asked how the district should recruit and retain teachers, King said the state of Alabama has a basic salary chart to follow. He emphasized retaining math and science teachers through TEAMs contracts for those with certain certifications. He also said the administration bases salaries on surrounding school systems.
“We try to make an environment teachers like and have the resources they need to do a good job,” King said.
When asked about fiscal responsibility, King said Jackson County Schools are doing well.
“Our general fund has grown each year since I’ve served on the board. We watch what we spend. During the Skyline project, we looked at bids and talked about a number we were comfortable with investing in the project. Then we worked to keep the spending within that number,” King said. “The general fund has grown from $8 million to $27 million. So Jackson County has been very responsible in spending.”
On controversial curriculum issues, King said many board members are past educators.
“I will usually go to them for their thoughts and expertise to see where they are on the issues,” King said. “Some curriculum decisions come from a state level and schools have no choice.”
King said Jackson County Schools are doing well with countywide state test scores.
“The state testing scores continue to rise and the state report cards are up. This year, we saw the highest state report cards the school had,” King said.
King said there is always room for improvement. He said one way the district could improve is through more community involvement.
“We can keep improving if we offer more things for community involvement and improved community relations,” King said.
To stay informed, King said he always visits classrooms and talks to teachers to see how the school year is going. From attending games to bumping into people at the grocery store, he makes an effort to talk with teachers and students.
“I’m always mindful of classroom realities because I always ask,” King said.
