The District 5 School Board’s job is to serve teachers, staff, students and the community. They answer to the taxpayers.

The current school board majority, or the Core 4, has shown that fiscal responsibility is not their priority.

They bought a piece of property for more than double the assessed value, another which is largely a drainage ditch for an adjacent landowner and another on which a planned school cannot be built. Why?

The board majority argues experience is everything and a new board will lack the experience to handle complex problems.

I’M HERE TO tell you that those leading the district have failed miserably.

An opportunity to use their great experience to be fiscally responsible presented itself during the construction of Piney Woods Elementary School. Instead, the board majority has been recklessly spending taxpayer dollars while taking election money from the same contractors and consultants hired to build this project.

The Core 4 majority even prohibited board member Ken Loveless from going onto the job site to review the construction.

He is a general contractor of 45 years in the construction industry. The Core 4 majority says that they respect “experience” with the caveat that they oppose a trustee with whom they disagree philosophically.

They even threatened to remove him from the board if he set foot on this district 5 construction site.

CANDIDATE CATHY Huddle’s experience as a financial manager, audit committee chair and marketing manager with a large corporation gives her the ability and analytical skills sorely needed on the board. In addition, she has served on numerous school committees and councils and volunteered in District 5 schools for years.

Candidate Rebecca Hines owned a small business, is a law school graduate and has been the CEO of the Chapin Chamber of Commerce. Her experience with the Chamber helped market our students’ skills to businesses. That prepared her with experience the D5 board is currently lacking.

Candidate Matt Hogan is an executive with a large national insurance agency. He understands risk and liability analytics, safety, bonding and current topics of management that others can only read about.

His addition to a board that spends 89% of its budget on payroll related matters is timely and invaluable, especially with covid-19 employer liability.

IT IS TIME for a change on our school board. We have candidates who are qualified and eager to give back to the community. They will bring trust back to the board.

The community wants change.

Put teachers, staff, students, parents and taxpayers interests before that “same ol’ same ol’ experience” of the long standing board members.

Vote for Huddle and Hines in Lexington County and Hogan in Richland County.

Charli Wessinger is a Lexington County Resident and County Council Member Elect