Fort Mill school board race endorsements

The school district is fortunate to have four eminently qualified candidates for the school board.

In Tuesday's Fort Mill school board race, we endorse Michael Johnson and Chris Krieger.

This was a difficult choice. The district is fortunate to have four talented and qualified candidates vying for two seats on the board.

The race pits incumbent Johnson against two school volunteers new to politics — Krieger and Wayne Bouldin — and former York County Council candidate Marion Davenport. In addition to Johnson's seat, the seat held by school board chairwoman Jan Smiley also is up for grabs with Smiley stepping down from the board to take a job with the U.S. Census Bureau. Working for the federal government, she said, precludes her from holding public office.

Both seats are at-large, so all registered voters in the Fort Mill school district can cast ballots for two of the four candidates. The top two finishers will serve on the board

Johnson is the only candidate with a track record as a board member. We think he has distinguished himself in that role as a thoughtful public servant and a good steward of public money who has no qualms about questioning the administration's judgment.

For example, Johnson opposed the recent proposal by the district — supported by a majority of the board — to cut several academic support programs, including Reading Recovery, and to lay off nine employees to trim the budget. Reading Recovery is an intensive reading program for first graders who lack the reading skills necessary for their age group.

Johnson believes, and we concur, that the district instead should have furloughed employees.

Johnson has both earned and cultivated the image of one who is willing to ask hard questions of the superintendent and school administrators and who cannot be counted on as a rubber stamp for the administration's agenda. While we believe the administration is highly competent, we also believe the most effective board members question administrators. The best policies are formed through serious public discussion.

But Johnson is more than just a gadfly; we think he has the right priorities for the district and a clear vision of what a future with continued heavy population growth will entail.

Johnson, an attorney and resident of Tega Cay, was elected to his first term on the board in 2005. His wife is a first-grade teacher at Gold Hill Elementary School, and their two children are elementary students in the district.

This is the first run for office for Krieger, an information technical manager for Bank of America who works out of his home. He has lived in Tega Cay for the past 13 years, and both his sons attended schools in the district. His eldest son graduated from Fort Mill High School last year, and his youngest son is a junior there now.

He has been a member of student improvement councils and has mentored in elementary schools. He also has coached youth sports, including a traveling select soccer team.

His biggest involvement in the district has been through his work with the school band program, including fundraising activities for the band's booster club. He also has spoken before the board on several occasions about band fundraising.

He said he would approach service on the board with no preconceived agenda. He admired the board's budgetary decisions during difficult economic times and believes the board and administration “did a good job with what they had.”

He places a high premium on reviewing and improving the curriculum, with an emphasis on offering Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes. He also would offer more foreign language courses and expand programs to help students with the basics.

We think that, as someone who has long been involved in school activities, Krieger would make an excellent board member.

As noted, the other two candidates in this race also are highly qualified. Bouldin has been heavily involved in the district, including serving as one of the three chairpersons of the 2008 bond referendum committee. His two children also attended local schools. His son is a Fort Mill High School graduate, and his daughter is a junior at Nation Ford High School.

Davenport, owner of the Chirp and Chatter store, has political experience, having run for York County Council. She describes herself as a good consensus builder and said she would be in synch with a majority of the current board, not a likely swing voter.

She lists classroom instruction as the district's first priority and says teachers are the district's most valuable asset. She believes the district should emphasize reading fundamentals and maintain its English as a second language program.

While all the candidates are strong, Johnson's experience on the board and Krieger's reasoned priorities for the district make them the favored candidates. Whatever the outcome of this election, the district should be in good hands.