McCurdy: ‘Limit meetings if possible’

Published 6:53 pm Tuesday, October 7, 2008

By Mark Millican

markmillican@daltoncitizen.com



Kay McCurdy says she doesn’t know what goes on in the executive sessions held by the Murray County Board of Education. Therefore, she says, she can’t know how she would make decisions given the current budget crisis that has forced schools to make cuts statewide.

But McCurdy says she would suggest that the number of board meetings — which are sometimes convened two or three times a month, with each member paid $50 per session — be minimized by having longer meetings.

McCurdy, a Republican, faces Democrat Anthony Gallman in the Nov. 4 general election for the District 2 seat on the board, which is currently held by Pat Hooker, who decided not to seek re-election. McCurdy defeated Sam Bright in the Republican primary in July.

“It appears from the outside looking in that there have been an inordinate amount of meetings,” McCurdy said. “To alleviate the burden of expense to the school system, I am not opposed to staying late to complete a meeting.

“However, there are a lot of issues that our school board is dealing with at this time — the new (high) school, budget cuts, etc. I believe that the board needs to limit the number of meetings, if possible. However, the welfare of our students and school system should come first. If an extra meeting is necessary, then there should be a meeting. But I am not running for the school board for the money.”

McCurdy, 49, says she “grew up in a construction family” and wants to use her knowledge of that field to help the school system come in under budget for the new North Murray High School.

“Considering the shape of the economy, the school board is going to have to stretch every dollar spent,” she said. “I don’t think anyone likes to see cuts in our school system. It’s going to be a continual process, especially with the new school being built, but there is one point I want to stress — my No. 1 priority is that our students’ education and our teachers are not adversely affected by these cuts.”

McCurdy said she would look at grants before cutting the budget deeper.

“We (the Murray County Republican Party) met with state school Superintendent Kathy Cox two weeks ago, and she assured us that she was fighting for the state’s schools to keep the cuts as low as possible,” McCurdy said. “We have many schools in our system that have benefited from grants. It takes quite a bit of hard work and a lot of time to put a grant together, but (our) schools have received many thousands of dollars. The money is there and someone will receive it — we just have to make sure that it is Murray County.”

McCurdy previously worked in the technology department of the school system and has been a member of the Gladden Middle and Murray County High advisory councils. She says she is the “type person who does well with challenges.” She attended Dalton State College and studied finance, management and computer technology.

McCurdy’s family owns Leonard Polled Herefords and sells cattle to other purebred operations around the country. She serves as vice president of the Georgia Pollettes, a state women’s cattle organization.