Latest / Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott / Campaign 2024 - Leon County School Board Member District 4 Laurie Cox

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Campaign 2024 - Leon County School Board Member District 4 Laurie Cox · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

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The Leon County School Board may or may not have a new set of faces
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serving after the upcoming election, We'll either have a couple of incumbents returning,
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or we'll have a couple of new faces, or maybe we'll have a combination.
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In one of the races, District four, Lorii Cox is choosing to
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run for re election. I recently sat down and had a visit with her.
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Lorii, how in the world are you, Preston. I am doing
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great, I'm honored to be here. You decided to do this when?
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Correct me if I'm wrong. Dede Rasmussen decided she was going to tap out,
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and so you ran in a special election, and now this is your
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first election in full correct? Okay, yes, why'd you decide to do
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it again? You know so, I've been in this role only year and
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a half after thirty six years of teaching, and we talked a year and
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a half ago, two years ago about why I got into this race in
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the beginning, and just felt so compelled with what I saw happening coming off
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of COVID and things that I saw at the middle school next door to where
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I taught, and just felt truly compelled to jump in and see if I
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could make a difference. And having been in this role for a year and
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a half, it has been so rewarding, very challenging. I probably am
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working harder than I ever have being out in the schools and listening to people,
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but it has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences. And having
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built some relationships with even our board members and that has been very beneficial.
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I can see where I am needed in this role. I've only done it
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for a year and a half and I really am excited about hopefully getting a
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full four year term. When you say needed, fine, Truly, my
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voice in what I represent had not been necessarily a voice on our board,
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and I've been able to lay eyes on some things that had been overlooked or
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things that from a different perspective having been a teacher for all those years,
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and I know a lot of people say teachers don't always make the best board
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members. I would agree, but I've had experience with curriculum and different things,
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some things that I've been able to really lay eyes on that may not
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have gone that would have just been passed through. And just being able to
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bring up some things with our board that has been excellent, And I mean
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I think I've built some relationships there and some camaraderie, and not that we
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always agree, but it's been very collegial and I think I've earned some of
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their respect, and it's been it's been a good thing. I think we'd
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both agree that not for the better. Running for an elected office as a
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school board representative or as a superintendent of education, by its nature, turns
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it into a political process. Yes, all right. With that said,
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how would you describe your view of your role as a representative. Let me
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explain. There are members of Congress that I've interviewed over the years, members
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of state legislatures, even city or county commissions, that view their role as
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voting what they think is best. That they were put in that position,
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they ran on their ideas and their values, and they vote what they think
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is best. There are others that view their role as representing their district whatever
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that may be, not necessarily aligning with their personal views all the time,
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and some a hybrid of both of them. Those what's yours? I would
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say a hybrid of both of those. I have very strong convictions in certain
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areas, and I'm not willing to There are certain lines that I'm not willing
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to cross. But in this role, things are not always black and white,
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and so it's that's one thing that I've learned, and listening to constituents
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and listening to maybe a different point of view, it kind of allows you
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to make a decision maybe maybe not something that you one hundred percent align with.
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And I'm not talking about those non negotiables, but certain things that you're
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able to see a different perspective and to see, and so sometimes you make
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that decision based on the good of the whole versus your personal conviction on a
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certain matter. And so I would say probably a hybrid of both in some
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ways. But like I said, there are certain things that I'm not willing
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to compromise on and those are hills that I will die on. I'm curious,
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just in the year and a half and some change that you've been on
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the school board, what would you consider to be whether for you personally as
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a school board member or collectively as a body, a high water mark.
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So for me personally, I think some of the relationships of relationships that I've
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built with some of our schools and being able to bring some partnerships for example,
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one of the title, the only title I school in my district,
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really spending time there getting to building a relationship with that principle, being able
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to build some partnerships to help support their students and teachers through a church and
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through another group that I'm involved in, and through a law firm. That
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that has been personally one of my greatest rewards in this year and a half.
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But as a collective whole, I think laying eyes on how working on
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graduation rates, working on absenteeism, some big issues that coming off of COVID
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that I really think that we're beginning to get a handle on and seeing some
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growth and progress in. Another big thing is our fiscal you know, the
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finance part. That's something that I had never delved into. I've never had
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to do big budgets. Thankfully, I have a husband that's very good with
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finances, and so laying eyes on that, but realizing how fiscally conservative and
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what a good job that our district has done managing finances. Now. Are
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we perfect, Absolutely not, but getting some really good audits that have come
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through that to me has been a good another sign of success for our district.
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Let's go the other way. What looking back, would you say maybe
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low water mark is a little unfriendly, but something that you look back on
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and think we didn't get that right or we should have done it differently.
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Let me think and if nothing, I'm sure, yeah, nothing comes immediately
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to mine. So I know, you know, we're dealing with all the
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book challenges that's been a thing, and I feel like we've got some processes
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in place that we're dealing with that. And when you said the book challenges,
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just to make sure that people tuning in and listening to the podcast know
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what you mean, you're talking about what books are in libraries at school.
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Correct, Okay, yes, So you know that of course was in the
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has been in the news in the front. And I'm very thankful that we've
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had some things that have been that have come before us that you know,
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people have come and read things and just brought attention to some things that probably
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don't need to be in our media centers. And people talk to me occasionally,
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you know, are you in favor of book banning? And I don't
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look at it as banning books, but just making sure that their age appropriate
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what's in our media centers. And so I feel like we've gotten some processes
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in place that we're got some good people that are working on that, you
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know, so that that's one little area, but I mean it's a big
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area, actually, But yeah, book banning is kind of it's a little
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gaslighting, truly, Yeah, because we're not talking about a public school library
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that's open to all kinds of people. We're talking to a finite group of
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specific individuals, young minds one hundred and they shouldn't have access to everything in
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a public school library in a school, I agree. I agree, we've
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got to make sure that those books are age appropriate, in making sure that
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they're educational, and you know, so I agree percent. Some people have
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said that historically this isn't necessarily being laid at the feet of the current superintendent,
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his predecessor, even his predecessor. But some have said that over the
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years, the Leon County School District is where bad administrators are given retirement.
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Not always, there are examples that are certainly bucking that, but that we
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take principles assistant principles that have failed demonstrably for cause at their job, but
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they're given then in essence a raise and a better job in the district.
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Is that a fair assessment yes, yes, And I will say I really
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believe we're starting to lay eyes getting a better handle on that. We're putting
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some administrative processes in place. And as a teacher, we used to talk
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about that quite a few years ago, that yes, if an administrator or
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teachers doing a bad job, we don't fire anyone in our district, and
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we would. So I don't know that we continue that. I don't know
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that we really fire anyone anymore, but I like to think I really believe
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that we're getting a better handle on if an administrator is not being effective in
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that school, either moving them to another school or making a switch, because
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not every assistant principle is meant to be a principal. And I was talking
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to a lady that works in the Georgia Department of Education this week and talking
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about how the key to me a school success is you've got to have the
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right administrator at that school, and that lays the groundwork for the whole culture
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of the school when you get the right administrator. And so I feel like
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we've made some changes this year to our superintendent's credit, and I'm excited to
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see what will come this next year. So, but an administrator that's removed
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from Let's just say a school has a principle and there have been questions and
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allegations made, and then findings determined that that person needs to be removed from
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being principal, period end. But then they end up in the district a
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very good job. Yes, I know it's been It's frustrated for parents because
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if they're not good enough for that position because of failures that are demonstrable and
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actionable, why are they getting a in essence, a better job with less
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responsibility in the county. Yes. And let me tell you, when I
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I was a teacher at a school, would we, like I said,
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we would talk about that a lot. Now that I'm in this role,
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kind I've seen a few instances where a principle was removed and they're out of
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the district office and they truly are effective in a role that they're in there.
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I can think of several instances where that's been the case. So there
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is anyway, But you're that's not really a school board issue in the sense
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that that is a decision made by education on that policy. But the school
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board certainly would have a voice in that right, and we do approve every
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personnel decision. The superintendent makes those decisions that they come before us to approve.
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So, yeah, this you have referenced in your letters to potential donors
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and supporters and those that have signed up for newsletters, and you've mentioned on
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your website a vision for what the school system OTEL look like here in Leon
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County. What does that vision look like and how is it different than what
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we're seeing unfold now? Yeah, So I really, first of all,
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we've got to continue with our school safety measures, and I honestly think our
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school board and our superintendent have done a great job investing in those security dollars.
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And we've got a great chief of security, Jimmy Williams, and I
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have one hundred percent faith in the things that he's put in place, and
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so that's been that's been great. We've got to continue to support those efforts,
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and it's really tough because you want to you want students and parents and
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teachers to feel safe when they're at school without becoming like a prison. So
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there's a real fine line there. So there's that, there's also just we've
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done a much better job and we need to continue to making sure that what
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we just talked about having the best administrators at our schools to lead our school
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We've got to continue to support our teachers, and we need to figure out
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ways that we can pay our teachers more. I mean, we're very thankful
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for the governor and making those baseline salaries a little bit higher, but we've
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got to do better, especially in light of the economy that we're in right
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now. So continuing to put resources in our schools that support our teachers,
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to help with behavior support and to help with academic support. We've got to
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continue to put money and focus on early learning. We know that ninety percent
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of brain development happens between birth and five years old. And we have a
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new five month old grandson and just spending time with him the last few weeks
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seeing he's five months old, but how much information they absorb and parents,
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the importance for parents and all of our schools to value education for their children.
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And so making sure that we're putting good resources in our schools to support
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our teachers, making sure that a parent, we get the parental involvement.
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And another vision I have truly is getting our churches more involved in mentoring and
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supporting our schools, especially in some of the communities that may not have the
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parental involvement, and so we've got to continue to work on some of those
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areas. And I'm with a great leader and with putting great leaders at our
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schools. As you know, that's to me that trickles down to the whole
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culture of the school and making sure that we have dynamic teachers at all of
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our schools. So when you talk about parents, obviously we're in an era
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right now where we can kind of broaden that to parents, grandparents, correct,
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Yeah, guardians of course, because any of that that group can be
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a custodial responsible party for you for a child in school. Correct. I
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want to share a story that you'll relate to as a coach. You've spent
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years as a coach. When I went back to visit my most impactful teacher,
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SLA coach in Scottsdale, Arizona, back a few years ago, a
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guy named Jerry Dawson. And I went to see Jerry, and I wanted
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to because I'm getting older, which means he's getting older than me. I
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wanted to look him in the eye and just say thank you because he made
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such a difference in my life. And so I went back home to see
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my mom, to see my sister, and to see Jerry. That's how
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much he means to me. I said, why are you retiring? I
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said, I get the age side, and you've kind of you've done what
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you wanted to do educationally, but still you've been doing this as the athletic
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director, not just a coach now for a while. Why, he said,
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I'll tell you why. He said, when you were in school,
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Preston, if I had a problem with you or anyone else on campus,
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you went down to the office and you sat there and your mom or your
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dad would walk in and say what did you do? And they would look
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at you and say that. He said, the other day, I had
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a student take a racketball racket and start beating another student with it. And
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when we took him to the office and the parent came in, the parent
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looked at me and said, what did you do to provoke my child?
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He said, Preston, that's where I'm quitting now. I share that story
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because I think it is well ahead of where we are now. That was
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a harbinger. That story's fifteen years old, yes, but that's where we
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are. Yes. So the question now comes, what are your thoughts on
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how we in essence hold parents accountable guardians, grandparent, parents accountable to be
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parents. Yes, I know we I think we've talked in the past about
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you know, we have the student Code of Conduct, and we've talked about,
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you know, having parents sign a contract, you know, for behavior
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and holding them. How do we that is a that is a deliment.
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I've had a few conversations with some of our district's staff. How do we
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hold parents accountable for the actions of their students? And I mean that's it's
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a reality of what's happening and having taught all those years and when you said
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about fifteen years ago, I remember that shift probably in the last fifteen to
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twenty years where like you said, I mean parents would come. I mean
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it was they always would back the teachers. But nowadays it's the teacher's fault
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and that makes it very tough on our schools. So to answer your question,
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trying to figure out ways that do you how do you teach parents to
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be adults and parents don't. I don't know, Preston, I don't know
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what the answer to that is. And how can we as a school district
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hold parents responsible? That is I wish we could, if we could figure
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out a way to do it, you know, signing a contract that X,
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Y and z and if your student does X, Y and Z,
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then this is what's going to happen. I mean, we have some of
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that in our student Code of Conduct conduct and you know we've anyway, I
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don't know, I agree it up because I think that you know, I
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brought it up with the current superintendent. I've brought it up with those who
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want to be the superintendent. Yeah, I've talked about it at nauseum on
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this program, the radio show, and and I think that a generation is
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going to have to suffer to correct this. But I think it is correctable
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so long as school's government quits taking on the responsibility of being the parent correct
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and require the parents to be the parent. As you well know, as
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educator, the person that gets the attention is the disruptive student, and that
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to me, fundamentally is what has to change. Right. They have to
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be removed from the environment. The administrator has to have the backbone to keep
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them sitting in the office until mom or dad or the guardian shows up to
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address the issue. Do you see us any closer to a scenario where we
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can see something like that happen, because the email that I get LORI from
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teachers is that I don't have control of my own classroom. I send a
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student out and they're back within a half hour. Yes, So let me
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tell you some conversations I've had with our superintendent and one thing I'm excited about
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this year a few changes. So number one, having that behavior support at
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the schools, which we have invested money to put behavior specialists at all of
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our schools. And my personal experience, we had a wonderful lady at Roberts
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when I was teaching there just two years ago, and it she's still there
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and if a student's misbehaving, she's called. She comes, removes the students,
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takes them, you know, works with them, gets them back to
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where they're ready to learn again, and brings them back. Every school needs
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to have something like that in place. So this year we've what I'm really
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excited about too, and it does cost money, but we've gotten most of
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our elementary schools now have two assistant principles or or a principal, assistant principle
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and a dean that can also help relieve some of that behavior. You know
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dealing with behavior issues. So to me, that's gonna help if but you
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have to have the right principle in place that puts those things in place.
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Again, it starts at the top, but is it that? And I'm
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bringing this up here because I think it goes beyond the principle. I think
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that has to be a district policy that it doesn't matter whether the principals like
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it or don't like it. This is the this is the reality. Yes,
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a disruptive student, right, And we do have have some policies in
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place, and I'm hoping that we can and I'm with you, I believe
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me. I see the value of having that. You've got to have strong
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discipline, you've got to have that respect for adults and for that, you
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know, that is what's missing in a lot of our society today. So
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yes, and that's something I truly know that works when we can have those
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processes in place. So we do have policies on behavior, but I what
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you're getting at is a specific process that would happen at every school if a
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student X Y Z that this is what happens. Yeah, because if if
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all of a sudden, the kid that usually gets the attention in the classroom,
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isn't coming right back to class and he's missing for Yeah, the rest
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of the kids all of a sudden learn a lesson. Yeah, And importantly,
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the teachers can go back to teaching. Yes, and yeah, you
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know, one hundred percent. And so another thing that we put in place
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this year. I'm curious to see. I'm excited to see how it will
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play out. But a partnership with FAM you and and when students are expelled,
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and believe me, we are expelling students, I mean we approve those
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expulsions. I've set in on multiple expulsion hearings this year. Heartbreaking, yes,
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some of the story, some of it's heartbreaking. But we've got a
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partnership with Fam you And so if parents will adhere to that for the week
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that they're suspended, they can go to this program and get mentoring, you
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know, working with them on academics and just hopefully put them on a better
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track to when they come back to school, it will be more of a
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deterrent too. But removing them from the school when there's you know, disrespect
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and all of that, We've got to continue to do that because teachers need
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to be able to teach without all the disruptions to that end, something I've
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recommended to the Commission of Education from the State of Florida that it be considered
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by the legislature. I've mentioned it to a handful of people that I've interviewed
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in podcasts like this. One is the notion of putting cameras in every classroom.
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Addressing the legal issues, not streaming live, not something where parents can
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look in and we're violating privacy, none of that. But when there's a
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question protecting the teacher by saying, Okay, we're going to settle who said
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what, but also protecting parents from a rogue teacher. There are few,
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but they exist. They brag about it, teaching opposing ideas from what state
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law and what the criteria requires in the curriculum. What are your thoughts on
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the idea? You know, we talked about this two years ago and I
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was like, uh, but Preston, No, the more I think about
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it and we're moving, I believe in that direction. We're already putting a
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lot more cameras in our schools, which I am one hundred percent in favor.
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A wait, and the other thing, the cell phone thing. We're
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going to get to the okay, good, good, good, So no
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I'm the law anyway. I am absolutely in favor what I've been told because
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I've talked to our safety and security guy and people at our district. It
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comes down to money, but I think that we're moving in that direction.
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I would love to see cameras in every classroom, more cameras in the hallways,
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more in the exterior. It just settles a lot of issus and it
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allows a student to see for him or herself what they said or did,
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allows a parent or guardian to see. And I think it. I think
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the end result, I think the teachers union will fight it. Initially they
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will, but I think the end result will be a win for teacher.
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I think it's a win win for everyone. I agree. All right,
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let's use that then to talk about phones. Orange County, one of the
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more liberal school districts in the state, has banned them. Correct, you
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can only use it making a call, but you have to be at the
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office, just like the the old days. You and I to the office
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to make it. Yes, And I don't know how our parents functioned with
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us not talking to them every hour, But part of the problem is the
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parents. I wish parents would not let their students bring phones to school.
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Well, I don't mind at this point because, with all due respect,
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safety considerations being what they are, I still don't think most school districts are
25:22
doing enough, and so with that regard, I don't mind it for an
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emergency. Correct, you're right now. But that said, the idea that
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Orange County has has moved to is and for those that do not know,
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you cannot pull your phone out at lunchtime, in between classes. You can't
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pull it out at all unless you're given an excuse to go to the office
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and place a call at the office like the old days, you got a
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call, you went to the office. Would you be comfortable as a school
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board member supporting going that far, because I feel as though from bullying from
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it's set up fights and picking on kids so that we can videotape it.
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There's a host of reasons in Orange County right now is saying it is a
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hands down success. Yes, yes I agree, and yes I would,
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and I'm hoping that we're moving in that direction. We did. We do
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have a policy and you know, the legislature passed a cell phone policy that
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students can't have it out in the classroom during an instructional time unless a teacher
26:27
wants to use it for whatever reason in their instruction. So the question,
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I've talked to multiple principles and one of them was like, Laurie, we
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don't know how to you know, manage that when if the teacher collects them
26:40
at the door. We've had students that broke another student's cell phone. We've
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had a student that took somebody else's cell phone. I was like, there's
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got to be a way. Keep it in your backpack, don't bring it
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out right, So to me, it's as simple. So that's right.
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I agree. So we do have a policy in place that they're not supposed
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to have it out during instruction in time, but I absolutely would go as
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far as not at all during the school day unless you're a junior or senior.
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You're driving off campus for lunch, you can use it and then come
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back. You know what's funny, Preston. So, I was at a
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teacher's class at Deer Lake Middle School several months ago and the teacher introduced me.
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It's like, do you have any questions for Ms Cox on the school
27:22
board? And one of the students, Yeah, can we get our cell
27:26
phones back. And I was like, absolutely not. I said, your
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teachers are loving the fact that you don't have your cell phone out and you're
27:33
learning a lot, you're talking more to each other. Yes, I mean
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all the research supports that. And I have the privilege of working at a
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camp in the summers and as you know, and the college counselors, the
27:45
staff do not have their cell phones. Obviously, the campers aren't allowed to
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have their cell phones for two weeks. And the difference that it makes so
27:55
many of the staffers and the campers love it. Not that pressure of posting
28:00
things or community and just seeing the conversations that happen. It's Orange County talked
28:06
about how it's been transformed talking to each other. No, one hundred percent,
28:11
it's something I'm on board with. One of the things that the counties
28:15
having to wrestle with is I mean, it's it's an ugly reality, but
28:22
there is an exodus from public schools. I think it's roughly ten percent is
28:26
the number that Leon County schools has lost in recent years to school choice,
28:30
people going to private, homeschooling, charter schools, whatever. And it's only
28:37
going to increase it's not going to get less. That creates obvious issues with
28:44
how many students are in certain schools, and we just aren't at capacity.
28:48
We're not near capacity in some schools. What are your thoughts on the best
28:52
ways to address declining enrollment at a given school and how to reallocate those resources
28:59
and even those students. Yes, so that's been you know, that's been
29:03
in the news as well. I mean, several school districts around Florida are
29:07
closing schools and I'm not ready to have that conversation yet. I was at
29:12
a school right before school got out, and you know, is it a
29:17
bad thing to have schools under capacity as long as they're able to fiscally make
29:21
that work. So I feel like that's those are things that we're going to
29:25
have to look at and we, you know, we will have to make
29:27
some hard decisions fiscally, I'm sure so with declining enrollment and there are schools
29:33
that are under capacity, but I think that is something that we will look
29:38
at this next coming year. I'm sure we will, and we've got to
29:42
come up with creative ways. I mean, I you know, closing schools
29:45
is never an easy thing, and I don't know that we're ready to make
29:51
that decision yet, but those will be some things that we'll have to look
29:55
at. And how you can't make people move into school certainly correct? Correct?
30:00
And now with the choice option, yeah, they can choose to pull
30:03
them and put them somewhere else, right, as long as they deal with
30:07
whatever issues come with that, correct. Yes, So we'll be I'm sure
30:11
we will be looking at that and this year and the next year, in
30:15
the next couple of years. So how do you how do you maintain your
30:18
fiscal responsibility and yet serve all the students, but you know, just making
30:25
making it work. I'm sure we'll be working to figure that out. And
30:27
we have an amazing financial team at our district. They're small, but they're
30:33
good at what they do. And so we'll be looking at those numbers and
30:37
does there need to be a new school in the northeast, a new high
30:40
school? Listen? You know childs is at what almost two thousand students and
30:45
there's a lot of growth happening, but we're you know the reason right now
30:48
the data that I've seen so far, and it may change with all the
30:52
new developments that are coming, but it's there are not a ton of school
30:56
aged students that are moving here, so we're grow Tallahassee is growing, but
31:03
not in our school age population as of now. So that is something we
31:07
will need to look at. And you don't want to be behind the eight
31:10
ball, you want to get ahead of it. So those are things that
31:14
we also definitely need to be looking at as the north is growing. So
31:18
I can only imagine that each and every school board member kind of has their
31:23
own lists they're working from of things that kind of matter to them. Yes,
31:27
maybe they're district related. Maybe and by district meaning they're the zone that
31:33
they represent geographically. Maybe it's more broad than that. I don't know what
31:38
about you, that's so funny you say that. I think we each have
31:42
our strengths and each have our things that we bring to the table. So
31:48
for me, I am all about the personnel, the people, the relationships,
31:53
the parents, listening to the parents, listening to the teachers, making
31:57
sure we have top notch a ministry at those schools, especially the ones that
32:01
I'm in and that I'm serving and well in all of our schools, honestly,
32:06
and I just lost my train of thought of Oh, and then the
32:08
safety and security, I mean That's one of my big things is our safety
32:14
and security, and a lot of it is from past experience is that I
32:16
won't get into, but I have some personal experience with why I'm so passionate
32:21
about the things that we're doing in regard to safety and security. I think
32:25
we have an amazing staff working on that. Twenty four to seven. They're
32:30
monitoring conversations of anyway, not conversations, but they're monitoring laptops. You know,
32:37
we've given all the students laptops, so if they're on a school device,
32:40
they're monitoring things that are going on there. Twenty four to seven.
32:45
They're working with law enforcement if there's an incident with us one of our students
32:49
that happens even outside the school day anyway, So those kind of things.
32:52
But I'm so much of people relational person, so making sure that our schools
32:58
are functioning to the best that they can, making sure we have the academics
33:02
are strong, making sure the curriculum is what it needs to be, making
33:06
sure that teachers have the resources that they need to teach their curriculum, and
33:13
that they're supported. So that's kind of my niche that I bring. Anyway,
33:19
I don't know if that answered your question or not. But yeah,
33:22
it's just priorities. Yeah, you know, what are the priorities that you
33:27
want to stay focused on as well as the broader picture, you know,
33:31
because every district is definitely different, correct, And that's the one thing.
33:35
Leon County schools, unlike the city, but similar to the county, operates
33:39
in a district format, and so you're representing a certain constituency. Yes,
33:45
as you're going around and having meetings through this whole campaign process, is there
33:49
something reverberating that maybe you weren't necessarily aware was as important as you're hearing that
33:57
it is. Or is there something reverberating consistently that has elevated itself now to
34:04
something that you're definitely making notes on? You know, nothing truly comes to
34:08
mind, because I've been out in the schools this year and a half,
34:12
so I'm hearing things and trying to bring those to the table. So,
34:16
you know, we've talked about just the behavior of students, the lack of
34:21
respect that a lot of them have. So that is something that I hear
34:23
from teachers. Teacher pay you know, is something that I hear from teachers.
34:30
But is there something particular that you're thinking of necessarily curious that because you
34:35
know, everyone's got an idea, right, you know, everybody. I
34:37
mean I got fifty of them. You know, everybody's got what they think
34:42
is important, right. You know, some people might look at, for
34:45
example, social promotion. We've got too many kids. They're not ready whatever
34:51
that grade point is, whether it's kindergarten, third grade, whatever the benchmark
34:57
is, They're not there. Why are we promoting them? You know that
35:00
could be an issue. I personally think that is because all the numbers are
35:05
telling us that we've got kids that are not ready for the next level of
35:08
fill in the blank. Yeah, that is absolutely true too. And I've
35:15
always said, how do we have students in this day and age with the
35:16
technology that we have that can't read in third grade and in high school?
35:22
So those are things. Another thing that is huge that I've been you know
35:27
what, to answer a question I think a little while back. Something that
35:30
I've learned this year as well, and something that I want to make sure
35:34
that we're moving forward with is making sure we have career tech opportunities in every
35:38
elementary, middle in high school. We have them in quite a few,
35:44
but making sure that the career tech things that we're focusing on in our elementary
35:49
schools is digital tools and different things that we need to be exposing our students
35:53
at a young age to career options outside of just the traditional college track.
36:00
So that's honestly this past year and a half, that's one thing that has
36:02
come over and over and over again. How do we prepare our students for
36:08
work and teaching them that life is hard, teaching them how to persevere,
36:14
how to work through hard things, preparing them for jobs and for success.
36:19
Let's take the elementary piece of that for a second. Do you see that
36:22
as a magnet program for specific schools or all schools? I think every school
36:27
ought to have some type of career tech exposure for those elementary age students,
36:35
and it could look like I mean, we could have a magnet school,
36:37
but I really think I would love to see some offerings in every elementary,
36:43
middle, and high school. Is one of my personal goals. What kind
36:47
of reception have you gotten as you've kicked that idea around. No, I
36:51
think we're starting to move in that direction. I mean absolutely, The numbers
36:55
show that fewer and fewer students are leaving high school and going to college,
37:00
they're going to vocational tracks, or they're just going into entrepreneurship, right right,
37:06
absolutely, And so we've got to prepare those students with the soft skills
37:09
to how to relate personally. Goes back to cell phones. You know that
37:15
kids don't exactly they don't know how to talk to one another anymore. So,
37:19
and that's what we're hearing from people in the workforce. What are they
37:22
looking for for to hire? You know, what kind of characteristics and qualities
37:28
that are they looking for when they hire someone, Someone that can relate to
37:31
people, someone that has some basic math and basic knowledge for things. So
37:37
how do we get our students prepared for the workforce? And so that's another
37:42
personal goal of mind too. Does the rest of the board share that,
37:45
Do they have an appetite for it? I think I think we do.
37:47
I do. Of course, we can never talk to one another except at
37:51
our board meetings because of sunshine laws. But I think that we've start,
37:57
we're starting to make that a priority. And that's when thing that I will
38:00
continue to push for because I think it's so important. If you were to
38:05
wrap up kind of what you want people to take away from our visit and
38:09
your desire to serve another four Well, to serve four more years on top
38:15
of the year and a half you've served, what would be I think that
38:17
we're still in such a critical point. I'm very thankful to our governor and
38:22
our legislators for putting guardrails on things that when I first got elected, I
38:29
knew that I was going to have to fight for, and so I'm very
38:31
thankful for a lot of those things that have been put in place. I
38:37
would love the opportunity to serve four more years because I've started some relationships and
38:43
partnerships. I'm excited about seeing career tech hopefully in every school over the next
38:47
few years. I would love to see, like we talked about a cell
38:51
phone policy. That's something that I've talked to our superintendent about and I've heard
38:55
some chatter from another board member brought it up recently from a book that she's
39:00
been reading and seeing the value of and the harm, honestly that our cell
39:06
phones and social media is doing to our students. So I think we're starting
39:08
to see an appetite for that, For cameras in the classroom, I mean,
39:13
those are things that I really would love to see happen but for me
39:16
personally, just having a conservative voice on the board is crucial because you know,
39:24
in this day and age, I just think that my voice having been
39:28
in the classroom for thirty six years, but also the convictions and principles that
39:32
I have, I think are important for us to continue to have that voice
39:37
on the board for the next four years. And I would love the opportunity
39:40
to continue to, like I said, build partnerships with our schools and relationships
39:45
and you know, seeing some things come to fruition. I would love that
39:51
opportunity. How does someone find out more about you personally and your campaign and
39:55
just maybe get involved. Sure, it's the website is Laurie l A U
40:00
R I E. Laws in l A W S O. N Cox.
40:06
The number for school board dot com is the website and I would love to
40:12
have your support check me out. And my phone number is on there.
40:15
It's my personal cell number. People can't believe that I've given that out,
40:20
but I said, my life isn't I know, but I have it so
40:23
far. I says change exactly, But my life truly is an open book.
40:28
I will answer any question to the best of my ability. If you
40:31
have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me, and I
40:35
would love first of all your prayers and your support. I mean, I
40:39
truly believe this is a calling and know that God has put me here for
40:44
such a time as this and for however long He deems me to serve.
40:49
So my life is in his hands. I'm every day is Lord here?
40:52
I am What do you want me to do? So thanks for the time,
40:55
Yes, Preston, thank you always a pleasure instead past