Dalton Board of Education race: Laird says Dalton schools are good but can be improved upon (with VIDEO)

Published 6:23 pm Tuesday, October 31, 2017

A successful school system is key to making people want to live in Dalton, says Steve Laird.

“We have a good school system. We’ve taken steps to make it better, but we can do more,” he said.

Laird is seeking a second four-year term on the Dalton Board of Education. He faces Matt Evans in the Nov. 7 general election.

Laird says that during the next four years the biggest issue facing Dalton Public Schools will be overcrowding at Dalton Middle School and Dalton High School.

“We are going to have to figure out how to take our middle school and high school students and put them in a position where they can perform to the best of their abilities,” he said.

Laird said much is riding on whether voters approve a $50 million bond package that will be on the Nov. 7 ballot to build a sixth- and seventh-grade school. That would allow the school system to move those students out of Dalton Middle School and to move ninth-graders out of the high school into the middle school building.

Laird is director of contract administration with Shaw Industries. He holds a bachelor of science in accounting and finance from Florida State University and says that his background in finance is one of the strengths he brings to the school board.

Laird said one of the big challenges facing the school board members during the next year will be selecting a superintendent to follow Jim Hawkins, who stepped down earlier this year as superintendent but will remain with the school system working on special projects until the end of his contract in 2018.

“That position is critical for us,” Laird said. “We need to pick someone who is right not just for the next year or two years but for the next eight or 10 years.”

Laird says the system also needs to look at what it can do to get students reading on at least grade level by third grade.

“One of the things we are looking at is increasing the number of reading recovery teachers,” he said. “Reading recovery and some other reading programs are critical, and I think as we focus on next year’s budget and we look at money we need to be looking at ways to address those needs.”

Laird says he has tried to be open and transparent with the public.

“Communication is vital, and I have always tried to do my best to answer questions to make the reasons for my decisions clear,” he said.

Laird says he is “100 percent committed to the success of Dalton Public Schools.”

“We need to have someone willing to ask the tough questions,” he said. “Yes, we have a good system. But we can be better. And we need someone willing to hold us to the highest standards, someone willing to hold us to the goals we set for ourselves.”