District 5 School Board: Tom Harrell

August 25, 2008

NAME: Tom Harrell

OCCUPATION: Retired Principal-R. C. Lipscomb Elementary

BRIEFLY EXPLAIN YOUR EXPERIENCE AS IT RELATES TO THE SCHOOL BOARD POSITION YOU ARE SEEKING:

I am a proven educational leader who puts children first in all decisions.

Teacher at Ransom Middle School for 17 years.
Assistant Principal at Brentwood Middle School for 3 years.
Principal at Escambia Westgate School for 5 years.
Principal at R. C. Lipscomb Elementary School for 10 years.
District Administrator on Special Assignment for 1 year.
Adjunct instructor at Pensacola Junior College for 10 Years.
Prior to becoming a teacher, I owned and operated my on business.

I retired from the Escambia School District in 2006 with 35 years of service. I returned to work in the 2007/08 school year first as a math coach at Bellview Elementary School and in October 2007 was hired as a District Administrator on Special Assignment. I resigned from this position on June 18, 2008. My experience ranges from elementary through junior college.

Education

B. S. degree in education from the University of West Florida
M. S. degree in educational administration from Troy State University
Ed. Spec. degree in educational leadership from the University of South Alabama
Education

B. S. degree in education from the University of West Florida
M. S. degree in educational administration from Troy State University
Ed. Spec. degree in educational leadership from the University of South Alabama

WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES FACING THE ESCAMBIA SCHOOL DISTRICT IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS:

Our District is facing a period of declining revenue. We must learn to do more with less and set priorities that puts children first in all decisions. I have the experience and expertise to manage large budgets. I will work collaboratively with others to bring about change.

District 5 is the largest district geographically. In my opinion, the last four years the citizens of District 5 have not received the level of representation on the School Board that the public deserves. As your School Board member, I will visit schools on a regular basis and talk to the principals, teachers, parents, and community members. I will return your phone calls and emails and I will be a positive and proactive member of the School Board. I will listen to the community’s concerns and make sure your voice is heard.

We need to continue to provide the resources necessary to improve our test scores.

We need to pay our teachers and employees a comparable salary with other Districts. This will help us maintain and attract the best qualified teachers for our students.

We have a mobile student population and our facilities do not match up with where students live. We need to look more closely at long range plans for our facilities.

WHAT CHANGES DO YOU SEE, OR DO WE NEED, IN NORTH ESCAMBIA SCHOOLS?

Growth is going to be a big issue in the coming years. We need to start preparing now for the impact of additional students. We need to take a long range look at facilities. I would recommend that we request a review of the five year plan from the Department of Education. Our facilities do not match up with where our students live and that is why it important for us to start the process of closing schools with the inner city first. Also, in my opinion we are going to need a new middle school in District 5.

WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO CARVER/CENTURY K-8 SCHOOL, AND WHEN?

I am against closing Carver/Century School for the following reasons:
It is not in the best interest of the children, parents or the community to close the school.

The distance to other schools is too far. It is one thing to choose to go to another school but parents should not be forced to bus their children up to 17 miles away from their community.

When I look at the situation from a cost perspective, I don’t see the big savings that they are projecting. I believe that transportation costs will consume a big portion of the savings.

We have programs and schools all over our School District that are not cost effective and we make exceptions. Due to the geographical location of Carver/Century School, I believe that this school should be one of those exceptions.

The town of Century is doing a good job in trying to attract industry and businesses. Closing the school will only hurt this process.

The process for closing schools needs to begin with our inner city schools. We have schools that are only a few city blocks from each other.

However, we do have too many schools in our District and we need to reduce the number as a cost saving measure. The School District needs to develop a master plan for closing schools and it should have clearly defined criteria that everyone can understand. The process should allow for adequate time for community input. Finally, the School District needs to stop talking about closing Carver/Century and perhaps this would help encourage some of the students to return.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WALK LIMITS FOR STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY IN A RURAL SETTING LIKE NORTH ESCAMBIA?

I believe that we need to make exceptions to the walk limits for the rural part of our School District where there are safety hazards and no sidewalks. Our first priority should be the safety of the children. Also, anytime changes are made to policy in this area we need to give parents plenty of notice and give them an opportunity for input.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD NORTH ESCAMBIA VOTERS KNOW ABOUT YOU?

I am a proven educational leader who puts children first in all decisions. Those who know me will tell you that I am a trained professional who educates from the heart. I have the vision, common sense and organizational expertise to make a positive difference for our community and School Board. We are facing some very difficult budget issues and this is not a time to elect someone who will need on-the-job-training. I have 36 years of proven educational leadership experience at all levels -elementary through junior college. I will work with the superintendent, other School Board members and the community in a positive and collaborative way to set priorities that puts children first.

My wife an I have been married 38 years and have three children who all attended school in District 5. We both are retired from the Escambia School District.
I have lived in Escambia County since 1969 and District 5 since 1976.
My son is a teacher at Brown Barge Middle School and my daughter teaches at L. D. McArthur Elementary.

Honors

Principal of the Year for Escambia School District 2006
Recognized twice by the Escambia School Board for outstanding service
Awarded master teacher status by the State of Florida, 1985
Teacher of the Year for Ransom Middle School,1980
Paul Harris Fellow–Cantonment Rotary Club

Organizations

Lifetime member of the PTA
National Association of Elementary School Principals 1989 to present
Florida Association of Elementary School Principals 1989 to present
Escambia Association of Administrators in Education 1989 to 2006
Cantonment Rotary Club 1996 to present

Comments

One Response to “District 5 School Board: Tom Harrell”

  1. resident2 on August 25th, 2008 3:21 pm

    Mr. Harell,
    Prior to making suggestions/ comments about the needs of the School District, like closing Facilites…Look at the BIG picture, without the required revenue from the State you have to close Facilites with lower number of Students….Because it is the right thing to do! Please focus on other issues to gain voter approval………………

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under General