Cullman City Board of Education Place 3 debate

0:22 Hello and welcome to the beautiful Bailey Center auditorium on the grounds of Wall State College in Hansville.

0:29 Thank you to our gracious hosts Wallis State College and Dr. Vicky Carowicks. The 2025 Tribune Debate Series and

0:36 question and answer forums continues today with municipal elections, more specifically the Cullman City School

0:44 Board uh election. These events are designed to give the public more unfiltered answers without the questions

0:52 ahead of time, direct comparisons, and meaningful conversation. First, we focus on candidates running for place one. We

1:00 will begin with Jill Bradberry and Tyler Caldwell. The Tribune works diligent to diligently to reach all candidates and

1:09 we are happy that both have shown up for this debate. With all that being said, we'll get to

1:15 the rules for the candidates. No electronic devices are permitted on stage. If you have a smartphone or a

1:22 smartwatch, please turn it off. Um questions will alternate so no candidate answers first or last more than the

1:30 other. Opening statement will be limited to 60 seconds and may be a prepared

1:36 statement. Time allotted per question will be 2 minutes. Closing statement is limited to 90 seconds and must be spoken

1:44 without notes. One rebuttal per question, but only if a candidate calls out the other and they the other will

1:53 receive 45 seconds. Facts only, no accusations without proof. This will allow allocate additional time to your opponent. Voters

2:03 deserve substance over slogans. Talking points will not be enough. So, let's get to it.

2:12 Miss Bradberry, would you like to start by introducing yourself and giving your opening statement?

2:17 >> Sure. Are you gonna How will you call time? How will we know when it's time?

2:19 >> I'll say time. >> Okay, good. Thank you. >> Yes. Once once it hits time, I will say

2:25 time. >> Okay. >> Good afternoon. U my name is Jill Bradberry, candidate for place one of

2:32 the Cullman City School Board. Um I've said this before, this is not somewhere

2:36 that I ever pictured myself being. um running for school board, running for election, having my name on in signs in

2:43 people's yard, not something that I would ever anticipated. Um I filled a role on the board back in 2023 when

2:50 there was a vacancy and I did that because of a deep commitment I have to

2:54 serve. I had three children. Um at that time I had twins who were going to be

2:59 seniors. I had one that had just graduated and the Cullman City schools had been so excellent to my children and

3:06 I wanted to give back and this was the way that I saw that I could give back.

3:10 My parents were both teacher classroom teachers for over 30 years and I guess I

3:15 say it's just in my blood or my DNA to serve. So that is that is my main

3:20 objective for running for the Cullman City School Board is just to serve our

3:24 students, our teachers and our community. Thank you. Thank you for that. Mr. Caldwell

3:32 saying, you'll have opening statement. Um, good afternoon. I'm Tyler Caldwell and I'm running for

3:40 Cullman City School Board, place number one. I'm a recent grad or I'm a 2009

3:45 graduate of Cullman High School. My wife is also a graduate from Cullman High

3:49 School 2012. Uh, my daughter is in fifth grade at West Elementary and my son is

3:54 in kindergarten at the primary school. um they're my inspiration for running. Um you see things, you hear things, you

4:02 really don't know what's true. A lot of things, uh a lot of things are out

4:05 there. Um but you really got to go to the teachers. You really got to go to

4:09 the parents and the and the students to really figure out what's going on. And

4:13 I'm glad that I ran because when you do that, you find out that there's a lot

4:17 more than there's a lot more substance to the things that you hear. And uh my

4:22 reasoning for running is to just to create a better environment for all the

4:26 teachers, students, and uh support staff. >> Thank you for your response. Now that

4:33 we've uh done the opening statements, we will get to the questions. Are you both

4:37 ready? >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh I'm going to call you both by your first

4:44 name from now on. Is that okay? >> Sure. >> All right. Jill, you're up first.

4:47 Education priorities. What do you see as the single biggest challenge facing Cullman City Schools right now and how

4:55 would you address it? >> Uh the biggest challenge that I see facing the schools right now um if you

5:05 want to base it off of what you hear or see in social media um it would probably

5:11 be teacher morale. Um I know that it's been really difficult since co we do

5:17 have teachers retiring. we have teachers leaving. That's not uncommon. That happens in every school system. But I

5:25 want to make sure that we have teachers who love their jobs and they want to

5:29 stay in Cullman. Um I would propose if I'm elected to first to conduct a pay

5:36 study to make sure that we we are paying our teachers u adequately and in line with other

5:42 school districts. Frankly, I would rather pay them more. Um they deserve that. we we are top ranked in so many

5:48 areas and we should also so so be in that area. Um another way to do that I know we've done

5:55 some climate and culture uh surveys and those surveys haven't really shown so much to the board that there is a

6:03 culture and climate pro problem. So I think maybe we need to get that to a

6:08 third party, someone who's not a part of the board. I don't want to feel like our

6:12 teachers feel like they're going to be retaliated against for telling us the truth. I We want to know. We can't We

6:19 can't do better if we don't know what needs to be done or what needs to be

6:24 corrected. And I I want I want our teachers and our students to love coming

6:29 to Cullman City Schools every day. And I'm committed to doing everything that I

6:34 can um to make sure that that is the case. Thank you for that answer. Tyler, same

6:41 question. Educa, uh, Do you want me to repeat it or are you good?

6:44 >> Sure, please repeat. >> Education priorities. What do you see as the single biggest challenge facing

6:50 Cullman City Schools right now and how would you address it? >> Um, I I agree with Miss Bradberry. U,

6:58 the biggest challenge in our schools is 100% the morale of the teachers, but not

7:03 only the teachers, also the students. Um, the biggest question I have is for

7:07 the current board is, you know, what have we done to improve that? Under

7:11 under this board, we've gone from having stacks of applications to now we're having to host job fairs. And that's

7:16 never been the case at Cullman. Um, throughout throughout history, we were the measuring stick for North Alabama,

7:22 but as this trend continues, we're becoming more and more of a stepping stone to other program or other school

7:28 systems in our area. Um, and that that can that trend cannot continue. we've

7:32 it's not something that we can we can push off any further. It's something

7:36 that has to be addressed. Um the the uh the surveys that um that Miss Bradberry

7:44 referenced were in historically they were just a generic like uh when you'd go to a restaurant you'd see uh I'm

7:53 highly satisfied. They're you know moderately satisfied or you know however we've all seen them at restaurants and

8:00 things like that. up until recently, um, you've been able to voice an opinion and

8:05 actually write something down and and give give a heartfelt a heartfelt message, you know, to what you're really

8:12 experiencing. And that's certainly an improvement. Um, I'm not sure why it's taken this long to get that done. Um,

8:21 also, um, you know, as a board member, you know, I if elected, I plan to be

8:25 visible in the hallways. Um, I don't really feel like you can run do this job

8:30 uh without going to the teachers, without going to the principles and seeing really firsthand what they're

8:35 dealing with, what their struggles are. I don't want to rely on a survey. I want

8:39 to go right to that person and ask them what they need help with, what they're

8:43 struggling with, because they know more about our kids than we do. I not my

8:48 daughter and my son, they come home from school, I'll ask them what they did, and

8:51 you know, they may say, "Oh, they took a test and you know, things like that." Or

8:55 my son, he will never talk about that. He just says they played on the

8:57 playground. Uh but um so our teachers, you know, they they see what our kids

9:03 are like in uh in a different environment, you know, than what we get

9:06 to. You know, they're different kids when they're at school or when they're at home. So the biggest thing is just,

9:11 you know, having boots on the ground and seeing what our kids uh are going

9:16 through at the schools and getting a a an expert opinion from our teachers.

9:21 >> Thank you. Tyler will stay with you. >> Can I re to that? uh since he did speak

9:26 about the board and that you will have 45 seconds. >> Okay. Thank you. Um to the comment about

9:32 we used to have stacks of applications and now we're having to have a job fair.

9:36 Um one of the reasons for a job fair was to save money for the school system. In

9:42 the past we would send people to career fairs, job fairs at different colleges

9:46 and we said why are we doing this? Let's just bring this inhouse. Let's host it

9:49 at Cullman High School. Let people come to us. Let's don't spend that money that

9:54 could go somewhere else. Let's have the people come to us. And I know based on

10:01 what we had back in the spring, I think these were jobs that were hired based on

10:05 at the end of May. I think we had 373 job applicants for those application for

10:11 those those openings. So, while it is there is all, you know, talk in the news

10:17 about a teacher shortage, we do not have a lack of applications in Cullman City

10:22 Schools. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Tyler. We'll go to you for question two.

10:28 Starting out, it will be growth and facilities. Cullman schools are experiencing steady growth. How should the board plan for

10:37 facilities needs over the next decade? Um so certainly growth studies um if you

10:46 look at uh kindergarten and first grade they're actually lower uh they're actually our two smallest class sizes

10:50 right now. So additional growth may not be necessary. Um as you can as you can

10:55 see um there's multiple projects going on right now. U you know we've we've

11:00 torn down buildings that had a lot of history, a lot of character and we're

11:03 just putting up uh you know rectangular buildings that are cinder block. Uh so

11:09 you know uh I I do appreciate the progress that's being made with the

11:13 facilities. I don't anticipate that being an issue going forward. Um but I may have uh wanted to explore looking at

11:21 you know renovating some of the ones that just have so much history that you

11:24 know is gone now. Um so I don't envision that. Um as far as the STEM you know the

11:31 STEM building I think that's a great thing. Me personally I uh my entire

11:35 professional career has been based off STEM. Uh, I've been an electrician. I've I've crawled in crawl spaces all

11:41 throughout our city. Uh, been in atticss. I've been anywhere in between. So, uh, dug ditches, you know. So, my

11:48 history in Cullman, uh, it involves in that, you know, certainly involves that. Uh, and then my profession today, I I

11:53 build I build embassies all throughout, uh, all throughout the world. Uh, and, um, I'm a construction project

12:01 construction services project manager. And um you know I look forward to new construction if there is. I feel

12:08 comfortable in that. It's something I do for a living and uh for the last 12

12:11 years there's not many buildings in Cullman that I haven't been been a part

12:14 of the construction. So if there is I welcome it. I don't envision that being

12:19 uh something that's necessary, but I do certainly welcome it. Uh recently I passed my uh state Alabama electrical

12:26 contractors uh test. So they even more uh even more uh um experience or

12:33 justification for you know me being able to assist in any construction projects. >> So for your response Jill same question

12:45 uh growth in facilities schools are experiencing steady growth. How should the board plan for facility

12:53 needs over the next decade? Um just as Mr. Caldwell said, there has been growth in the schools, but it's not

13:02 as dramatic as you would think. U we have approximately the same number of

13:07 students and as a system this year as we did last year. U some grade levels there are more

13:13 students than others, but but looking at the past few years, they're sim they're

13:17 very similar. I think the investments that the board has made over the last

13:21 few years in the schools that we that we have going up now, um I think that well

13:26 positions us for the for the next 10 years. Um I know construction is a pain.

13:32 Gosh, if you've ever remodeled a kitchen or a bathroom, you just can't wait for

13:36 that stuff to be over. But gosh, when it's over, you're really glad that you

13:39 did it. And I I know the round building that probably was historic. A lot of

13:44 people went to the round building, had fond memories. I know all three of my

13:48 kids went to the round building, but if you ever went in the round building, the

13:51 walls didn't go all the way to the ceiling. The halls were tight, the

13:56 exterior doors, anyone could walk up on the campus at any time, it just was not

14:01 a safe environment for our students anymore. And while I hate dearly that we

14:07 have to destroy any kind of building that's tied to any kind of memory that a

14:10 child had at Cullman middle school, high school, elementary, wherever it was, u the job of the board is to do what is

14:18 best for the teachers, best for the students, and that is to provide a safe

14:23 learning environment. >> Thank you for your response and we'll stay with you for this next question.

14:31 It's on teacher retention. What strategies would you propose to recruit and keep quality teachers in

14:39 Cullman classrooms? >> Um, I think we already have some really good initiatives within the city

14:46 schools. One thing that we have um at our high school is uh educators in

14:52 training. It's part of our career tech program. And these students come in and

14:58 they're they have an instructor who essentially teaches them how to be a teacher. uh they make lesson plans, they

15:05 have bulletin boards. I've had the pleasure to be invited to their class before and they they're spending their

15:12 time learning to be teachers. So, our goal is that those students come back

15:17 and want to teach in the Cullman City School system. Another thing that we

15:21 have within our system um is for instructional aids and I think even this

15:26 applies to substitutes. We have a pathway for them to get an education degree if they would like to become a

15:31 teacher. uh we partner with Reach University and I think it's I want to

15:36 think $2,500 and you can obtain a bachelor's degree to be a teacher. So I

15:42 think that is the first and foremost we want to build teachers from what we have

15:46 these instructional assistants can become teachers and then in addition to that we do have the job fair. We want

15:53 people to come to our our campuses. They want we want them to see our schools and

15:57 put in an application to work for us. Thank you for your response, Tyler. Same

16:04 question on teacher retention. What strategies would you propose to recruit and keep quality teachers in Cullman

16:11 classrooms? >> Um, so first, as far as recruiting, um, you know, naturally Cullman's going to

16:18 recruit. Um, it's a it's a great place to live. We're very blessed to be in

16:23 Cullman. U, there's no denying that. Uh, I don't see that changing. U, it's

16:27 always been a great place to live. We're very fortunate to be where we are. Um,

16:31 the biggest thing for me is, uh, certainly retainage. Um, and in order to do that, and the

16:37 teachers that I've spoken to, uh, so there's been several from every campus. Uh, it's really just, uh, they feel like

16:45 they're they're not being heard, I guess. Um, so for me, that's what I would like to

16:50 do is to support them in any way possible. you know, they they the

16:55 teachers that you speak to, they'll talk about the chain of command, but maybe

16:58 that there's a link broken in that chain of command and that their opinions

17:02 aren't getting to the top. Um, so for what what I would like to do is to go

17:06 directly to the students, teachers. Um, because I I can't honestly I can't accurately vote on something that's

17:13 going to benefit these teachers lives unless I talk to these teachers. Um, so

17:18 certainly giving them the empowerment to do their job and making them feel appreciated and also giving them the

17:24 satisfaction of their voice being heard and making real change based off of their the opinions and

17:31 um using that from a a macros perspective throughout the entire school system and not valuing any one teacher,

17:38 anyone anyone administrator over the other and using those to make most educated decisions that are going to

17:44 benefit our real needs. Thank you for your response. And we will move on to question number

17:54 four. Parental role. Tyler, this is uh for you. How should the district balance

18:00 parental input with professional educators expertise when making policy decisions? >> Well, sure. Yeah. as a parent um you

18:11 know I feel like I uh uh have a good interest you know have a good uh

18:16 understanding of what my co child uh needs or wants or uh maybe the best ways

18:23 for them to succeed but as I mentioned earlier you know my child may be

18:27 completely different in school um they may do do certain things at home that

18:31 not that don't necessarily translate to to what goes on at uh at the school

18:35 system so obviously you know definitely take a grain of salt with uh you know

18:41 with the parents opinions uh certainly listen to them, make them feel heard and

18:45 uh you know channel that communication to the the proper locations. Um if it's

18:51 um if it's just one person with one teacher, then there's probably not you

18:55 know much to it. uh if it's multiple multiple parents with issues with one

19:00 teacher or one principal, you know, maybe it's something more to look into. But, you know, being just being an ear

19:06 for the parents to have someone to speak to uh but also the teachers and, you

19:11 know, using using everyone's opinion to to do what's best for our community and

19:16 our kids. >> Thank you for Thank you for your response, Jill. Same question on

19:23 parental role. What um how should the district balance parental input with professional educators expertise when

19:33 making policy decisions >> with anything? It's always important to listen to our parents to the the parents

19:43 of our students. Uh, when it comes to policy decisions, that's a pretty broad

19:49 question, though, so I'm not really sure how how much you want to how far I could

19:51 go. But when you talk about a school policy, that could be that could be

19:55 numerous different things. Um, so I think sometimes you have to look at what

20:00 what is the policy. If it is a policy on something that we have an expert in a

20:05 field that maybe the parent doesn't know about, we do have to lean on our

20:09 internal internal staff for those for those opinions. Um it does not mean that

20:14 we don't listen to parents. We want parental input. Uh we have open board

20:19 meetings. Every board meeting is open to the public. Anyone can come and speak.

20:24 Uh so I welcome that input from the parents. I would love I would love to

20:28 have have more parental involvement honestly. Um in in the decisions that we make as we

20:38 shape policies like AI. I I would love to have parental input. Thank you.

20:44 >> Thank you for that answer. And we will stay with you, Jill. For career

20:49 readiness, do you support expanding career and technical education opportunities in Cullman City Schools? Why or why not?

21:00 >> Um, easy answer 100%. Um, I had the privilege back in the spring of being able to go to a signing

21:08 day. And I know when you hear of a signing day, you think of football,

21:11 basketball, baseball, some kind of sport. Um, but we have a career tech signing day at Cullman High School. And

21:19 there are students that we we partner with the Academy of Craft Training that's up around Hartzell Decar area.

21:25 And students can go there, they can spend half a day and they can learn

21:30 building construct, commercial construction, they learn electrical construction, HVAC. Those are things that when they graduate, they can go

21:40 directly into the workforce. And that day at the um signing day, there were

21:46 kids that were getting their certificates and and these certificates weren't coming from a college. They were

21:51 coming from an employer. Someone was ready to welcome them to work. And this

21:56 was based on their training that they had at the Academy of Craft Training.

22:01 And that's just one small example. We have so many things that we're doing

22:05 with this expansion of the career tech ring career tech wing where we are going

22:10 to teach things like modern manufacturing um cyber security we had a meeting also

22:15 back in the spring and we had people from various industries Toyota Mazda um

22:20 there was someone from Boeing we we are seeking out guidance from these companies where our people where our

22:26 students are going to work and say what do you need what do we need in this area

22:31 for jobs and how can we best train these students so that when they graduate they

22:36 are ready to go into these jobs and some of these jobs I mean there it's it's a

22:40 very lucrative careers for students um so I am very proud of what we've done

22:46 with our career tech can we do more yes we can always do more but now I think we

22:52 we are setting our students on a very bright path >> thank you for your response Tyler same

22:59 question career readiness do you support expanding career and technical education opportunities in Cullman City Schools.

23:07 Why or why not? >> Uh yes, I do. Um as stated, I uh I spent

23:13 a professional career in uh in things that stem from this, whether it's electrical, water treatment, uh

23:19 construction, uh fever, um many different things. Uh I'm not sure, you know, if uh you know, if any of the

23:29 board members, you know, have that experience. So that's why I think that, you know, having the diversity for me,

23:35 you know, we hear a lot of talk about STEM and we hear a lot of talk about

23:38 career readiness. Well, that throughout my professional career, that that's all I've done. So, uh I feel like uh I guess

23:46 I guess I'm an expert maybe. Uh I've got a diverse understanding of it for

23:50 through multiple multiple different things. So, um I'm not sure if, you know, we we have that on the board

23:56 currently, but I think it would be beneficial, um just from, you know, from

24:01 my experience and just the knowledge that I have, u I I think that'd be

24:05 beneficial for a board member to have that when we're discussing STEM and career readiness.

24:11 >> Thank you, sir, for that response. And Tyler will stay with you for this next

24:16 question, which is public accountability. What new steps would you take to ensure board decisions are more open and

24:25 accessible to the public? >> Yeah, sure. So, I recently attended a board meeting here uh earlier this week

24:33 and I mean it's just so hard to find uh information. I wish that there was just

24:37 a one source that's just, you know, it's just right there. Don't make it hard for

24:42 don't make it hard for parents to find. Um I think the board meeting was

24:45 originally scheduled for 5, but then for some reason got moved to 3:30. I'm not

24:48 sure why, but um you know, it wasn't filmed or anything like that. You know,

24:53 maybe maybe maybe film it and broadcast it live just like we're doing now. It

24:57 doesn't seem doesn't seem too complicated, but uh you guys know more about that than I do. Um so just things

25:04 like that. Um you know, make it, you know, don't make parents or whoever it

25:09 may be, grandparents, don't make that information so hard to find. Make it readily available. Um put that put that

25:15 out there. Don't you know it's it's uh you know you're obviously you know if

25:20 you want people to come then I think you should make it as easy for that that

25:24 information to be to be out there. >> Thank you sir for your response Jill.

25:31 Same question public accountability. What new steps would you take to ensure board decisions

25:40 are more open and accessible to the public? >> Great question. Um, and I've said it

25:47 before, transparency, but I feel like we build trust through transparency. And I feel like since I came on the

25:56 board in 2023, um, there is not a decision that has been made in the board that I would want

26:02 for anyone to think was hidden or we did not want someone to be aware of that.

26:08 Uh, for example, I know Mr. Mr. Caldwell said he came to his first board meeting,

26:12 I think it was this week, and we had a budget hearing at that meeting. That

26:17 budget is on our website. Our budget is open. We had a budget meeting. Um, I

26:23 will tell you there was there was only two people, I think, in the audience

26:26 that didn't work for the um for the school system that came to that budget

26:30 hearing and they're both candidates that are running for school board. Um, in the

26:34 past, I don't know that anyone has come to the budget meetings. We we have

26:39 parents come to the board meetings for to get awards their children. We'll honor all sorts of students and we'll

26:44 have a boardroom full of people and then we say, "Okay, we're going to dismiss

26:49 and we're going to go to the business part of the meeting." And that back door

26:52 opens and everyone leaves and I don't know I don't know what we do. You can't make a board meeting it's

26:59 it's it's kind of boring. It is what it is. It's hard to make a board meeting

27:03 any more exciting than it is. Um, but I feel like we are transparent with when

27:07 we have the board meetings. Maybe live broadcasting it would be a good idea. I

27:12 mean, I would be completely open to that. Um, I want our I want the public

27:16 to feel like that they are invited to come to any board meeting that we have.

27:22 >> Thank you for your response. And Jill will stay with you on school climate.

27:28 What measures should the district take to strengthen student character, respect, and responsibility in schools?

27:38 >> Let me say that again. >> What measures should the district take to strengthen student character,

27:49 respect, and responsibility in schools? Well, people may not like this answer, but I am transparent. I think a lot of

28:01 that probably starts at home. Um, but we do have we do have a duty as as a as

28:08 teachers, as school board, as mentors to children uh to teach them these things

28:16 because let's be honest, some children don't have that at home. We don't know

28:20 when our kids walk through our doors. We don't know what they went through the

28:24 night before. We don't know what they're living in. We don't know if they've ever

28:29 learned how to They don't even may not even know what it means to respect

28:32 someone. And so that is our duty as teachers, educators, um administrators to do that. I know we

28:41 do have programs within the school and I can't think of the name of it right now.

28:45 I want to think liberty learning is one program that we have that teaches

28:49 children, you know, about character development, um having good character, uh having respect. Um but like I said, I

28:58 think a lot of that starts at home and it's really difficult um to be to for to make the school solely

29:08 responsible for those things. I I want us to do all that we can though to do

29:13 that. And I feel like we have those programs in place and I would certainly

29:17 be open to discussing those and if we need to expand those programs that would

29:21 certainly be something that I would always be open to. Thank you for your response. Tyler, same

29:28 question. School climate. What measures should the district take to strengthen student character, respect, and

29:36 responsibility in schools? >> Well, I I agree with Miss Bradberry. It certainly starts at home. Um the the

29:44 biggest thing for me is to um um to reach out to the teachers u and the

29:49 parents because every kid's different like um like it like was mentioned every kid is different. So it's really more of

29:57 an individual approach that you can't just paint a broad brush over. Um each

30:02 each situation is different um for for each child. you'd have to go to each

30:07 individual teacher, each parent, and um you know, empower those teachers to do to do their jobs to say, you know, hey,

30:16 you know, we're having to contact the parent and say, hey, you know, we're

30:19 having we're having some issues with your child. Would you mind coming in and

30:22 let's just kind of discuss some things and and maybe maybe that teacher has

30:26 some insight on that that child's uh on that child's uh situation at school that

30:31 maybe the parents aren't, you know, aren't that familiar with or vice versa. So really just getting the parents and

30:37 the teachers together uh to really understand the needs of each individual child. >> Thank you sir for that response and we

30:47 will move on to the next question which is academic uh academic excellence. Tyler will stay with you on this.

30:55 Cullman schools consistently per uh perform well academically. What area do you believe needs the most

31:03 targeted improvement? Um well yes uh Cullman does always uh or as far as my knowledge goes back uh it

31:12 does always test well. Um academics is you know in Cullman has always has

31:17 always been great. Um the biggest thing for me is just the environment that that

31:22 the kids are in. You know we've never that that I can remember. Um we've never

31:27 had kids considering leaving our schools where the education is so great to go to

31:31 to other programs. Um just this week uh Sunday at church uh I was I talked to a

31:38 parent there who was also very involved in our school system donated a lot you

31:42 know spent a lot of time at our at our school system found out that they moved

31:46 to a county school um just yesterday another one so and this was a kid that

31:50 I've known my entire life and you know they're just not happy anymore and these

31:54 are high school age kids middle school age kids uh we all know someone who's

31:58 choosing to we've all cho we all know someone who's choosing to uh not attend

32:05 Cullman City Schools with the good education program that we have and and go elsewhere. And that to me that's the

32:11 biggest concern is keeping those people in our school systems. >> Thank you sir for that response. Jill,

32:20 same question. Academic excellence. Clemency schools consistently perform well academically. What area do you believe needs the most

32:30 targeted improvement? Um, first I'll speak to Mr. Caldwell's uh statement about students leaving the

32:39 school. I think it's important to understand why does a stu why did the

32:44 students leave the school? We we don't know why students why some students leave the school. Um, I can be honest

32:51 with you. I had three children. Still have three children. Two of them. If any

32:55 I know some of y'all teachers in here, you you'll know which kid I'm talking

32:58 about. I had one kid. He did not love school. He did not love school. I I

33:03 received the tardy letters. I got the call from the truency officers. He did

33:07 not love school, but I think he didn't love school sometimes because it was

33:11 hard and we expected a lot out of him. And there was ac the rigor, the

33:17 curriculum. It was hard. He didn't want to do a hard thing. He said, "Mom, I can

33:22 just do that online school. That's what I need to do. I need to do that online

33:26 school." But that was not going to prepare him for the workforce. that was not going to

33:31 prepare him to go to college. So, I think we need to look I'm definitely not

33:37 dismissing that we have students leaving our school and I want to know the

33:40 reasons that they're leaving our school, but I do know there's some some situations where

33:46 kids they want to do something that's easier. They don't want they don't want

33:50 to take the higher level courses. They don't want to be in an AP course. They

33:55 don't want to do a dual enrollment. They want to do that. They want to take the

33:58 easy path. And and I think that that is something that we we need to we need to

34:02 look at think about. It's not that students are leaving because they hate Cullman or because it's the best. It's

34:09 it's just, you know, it's not a great environment. I think some kids leave

34:13 because Cullman, it is so hard and and our curriculum is hard. We have great

34:18 teachers. We have great teachers that that are strict on our students. They have high expectations and that's what

34:25 they're going to encounter in the workforce and that's what we are preparing our students for.

34:30 >> Thank you for that response. Jill will stay with you on this question

34:36 and it is decision making. How do you handle situations where you personally disagree with the majority of

34:44 you? I will say that I am a very open-minded person. Um, I may have my opinions about

34:57 things, but that's what they are. They're just opinions. It doesn't mean it doesn't mean that it's right. Um,

35:06 that's one thing that when I when I joined the board, I've immediately had

35:10 parents start calling me, what can you do about this? and they would launch

35:13 into these long conversations and I would say, "Okay, let's take the feelings out and give me the facts

35:20 because I can't work with feelings. I can't I can't go to the superintendent.

35:23 I can't go to the board members and say, "Hey, this parent feels this way. I got

35:26 to know some facts. I got to know some numbers. I got to know some data. I got

35:29 to know what's happened." Well, when you start drilling down, a lot of times we

35:33 have a lot of fact. We have a lot of feelings and we don't always have a lot

35:39 of facts. And so I think that that is where I try to any decision that I try to make I

35:47 always try to see all sides. I've spent Mr. Cwell spent his life in STEM. I

35:53 could not have spent my life in STEM. Um I bring my expertise to the board from

35:58 the financial perspective. I've spent 30 years in the banking industry. Um started in banking when I was 18. Done

36:05 that for 30 years. I've served um in community banks, commercial banks, even worked for the government um as a bank

36:11 examiner. I've worked with a lot of different people, a lot of different ideas, a lot of lot of different

36:17 different thoughts and I I think that is that is one thing about me. I'm

36:23 open-minded and I will listen to all sides. >> Thank you for that response. And Tyler,

36:30 same question on decision making. How do you handle situations where you personally disagree with a majority

36:38 view? >> Well, I like to consider myself a student. Um, it doesn't matter who you

36:44 speak to, who you talk to. Even, you know, if it's a small child, you know,

36:48 you you can learn something from everyone you encounter. So, I'm not always right. U, so

36:56 when I'm in the when I'm in the minority, I go to the people that are in

36:58 the majority and ask them, you know, why do you think this way? or I see what you

37:02 know it's the biggest thing is just communication you know maybe I see why

37:06 you think that way but explain to me you know why you do and vice versa and then

37:11 we can work together and we can develop an opinion uh where maybe you know maybe

37:16 those two even out and we can all be closer to the same page together but the

37:20 biggest thing is just open communication with um whe regardless of when you're whether you're in the minority or the

37:26 majority or if you're in the 1% or the 99% uh either way the biggest thing is

37:31 just open communication and uh working together to formulated formulate a decision that best represents uh the

37:39 entire community or the entire um you know all parties involved uh to come

37:44 together and uh make the best decision. >> Thank you sir for your response and

37:50 Tyler will stay on you for the final question. This is on higher education

37:56 partnerships. >> We're excited. You're to the last question. >> Oh, okay. I was like, did I skip

38:04 something? Okay. So, higher education partnerships. Should the district pursue more partnerships with Wallace State or other

38:12 higher education institutions? If so, in what ways? Um, well, you know, even since back when I was in school when

38:20 we've had the we've had the dual enrollment dual enrollment programs and, you know, that's always been great. I

38:26 feel like for the students who choose to participate uh through Wallace, you can

38:29 take uh college courses while you're at while you're in school at Cullman. Um,

38:34 something that I would like to see maybe is partnering with more local businesses

38:38 for, you know, high school students who are, you know, age legally of age to

38:43 work. uh and have that so that they can they can go and you know earn an income

38:49 during summer. Uh for some for some students it's tough. This would create opportunities for them to buy their

38:54 school clothes or school you know anything that they need for school. Um kind of work during the summer to kind

39:00 of build up some money. Um but definitely you know just partnering with different different businesses

39:04 throughout our community and um and using that to help grow their experience and you know could potentially you know

39:10 I believe it's around 20% of our students don't go to college. So u they

39:15 go they enter directly into the workforce. So um you know through through partnering with local local

39:21 businesses to create summer intern type jobs you know maybe that could grow into

39:26 something else. And for the kids, the kids that aren't necessarily thinking about college, uh, you know, they all

39:32 have their own different paths and at 16 15 16 they really don't know what

39:36 they're going to do, but they may have an idea. And for the kids that don't

39:40 have that don't have that desire to go to college and just want to uh go

39:44 directly into the workforce, I think that'd be very beneficial. >> Thank you. Thank you for your response,

39:51 Jill. >> Last question. So, higher education partnerships. Should the district pursue more partnerships with Wallace State or

40:01 other higher education institutions? If so, in what ways? >> Um, thanks for that question. But before

40:07 I answer that, I want to uh speak to a point that Mr. Caldwell made about the

40:12 students finding jobs. One thing that we have at Cullman High School that it's

40:16 been I think about three years maybe this position, we have a college and

40:19 career coach at the high school. Um, don't know if you're aware of that. If

40:23 you're in a elementary or middle school, you're probably not, but the high school, we have a phenomenal person who

40:28 is a college and career coach. And there is even a job board that she she

40:33 operates. So, local businesses, if it's someone who needs someone to do yard maintenance after school or if it's

40:40 McDonald's hiring for weekend jobs, we have a job board that local businesses can reach out and we can develop that

40:48 partnership with them and and put these students, you know, in line for a job.

40:52 We're also having a college and career fair I believe next Monday night at the

40:55 high school and at that there's going to be the military will be there, local

41:01 colleges will be there, but there also will be local businesses. So I want I

41:05 want the people to know that we are providing those opportunities uh for our

41:09 students. Um now to go to your other question about the higher learning uh

41:14 opportunities um we do have several paths for students. Um like Mr. Caldwell said dual enrollment. Um that had

41:22 traditionally been through AP courses at Cullman. Um if you took an AP class, you

41:28 could also dual enroll for that. Um last year we did open up dual enrollment

41:33 without having to have an AP course. You and I think some of those classes were

41:38 free because Wallace there was some type of grant and so we had students who were

41:41 able to just take dual enrollment courses. We also have the fast track where students can they don't even have

41:48 to come to Cullman to school. They can come and practice football or basketball

41:52 or cheer or volleyball, whatever they want to do, but they can come to

41:55 Wallace. And when they finish Wallace, they graduate from high school and they graduate from Wallace. But I would

42:02 always be open to any more partnerships. If we could partner with any other

42:06 universities, but always be open to that because I always want to do give the

42:10 kids the best that we can. Thank you so much for that response. Thank you both for uh coming out today

42:17 and attending this debate. I know it's always fun to get on stage and have to

42:21 talk to people. Um we're going to go with closing remarks. Jill, since we

42:26 started with you, Tyler, we're going to let you go first on the closing remarks.

42:30 >> You have 90 seconds, sir. Um, well, I had a closing statement that I was

42:34 wanting to do, but we really didn't talk about something that's important to me,

42:38 and that's students with 504s, IEPs, and, um, for those of you that don't know, you

42:46 know, uh, I've got a little brother, and my little brother, he's somewhat of a

42:50 celebrity in West Point, Alabama. When I go out there, I'm not Tyler Caldwell,

42:54 I'm Tanner Cwell's brother. And Tanner Caldwell, he's got Down syndrome. And uh you know it just uh I really wish some

43:01 you know I really wish we'd have gotten an opportunity in the questions to speak

43:04 about uh those children because I haven't you know certainly that was something that I was you know I'm very

43:11 passionate about and was really wanting to speak about. Um it saddens me to know

43:16 that some of our employees have special need children and they're pulling them out to go to other school systems. um

43:23 you go talk to the teachers and u they just don't feel like they have the

43:27 resources to uh adequately support those kids the way that they needed and it it

43:32 breaks my heart you know seeing my brother he went to he graduated from

43:35 West Point High School and uh uh the people there you know they went above

43:39 and beyond to make sure that he had the best school experience all the way from

43:42 kindergarten through high school and you know it really saddens me that um you

43:47 know that some of the that the staff you know feel that way that I've spoken to I

43:52 can't speak to all of them, only the ones that I've spoken to. Um, but I

43:56 appreciate your time and uh appreciate the appreciate the Cullman Tribune for bringing attention to this matter and um

44:03 you know if any advice that I can give you would be to reach out to the

44:07 teachers, reach out to the administrators and reach out to the students, parents to get an accurate

44:12 opinion on how to vote next Tuesday. >> Thank you, sir, for that. and Jill, your

44:20 closing statement. >> Uh, first, thank you, Noah, for hosting this. As much as it's I would like to

44:26 admit that it's super fun to get up here and compete in a debate, I guess. Is it

44:30 are we competing? I don't know what we're doing, but it is it's it's eye

44:35 opening and it's an interesting thing to do. Like I said, I never thought I would

44:38 find myself here. So, it is it is very foreign for me to to get up and and have

44:43 to do this. Um, but the reasons that I want to stay on the school board are the

44:50 same reasons when I was appointed to the school board two years ago. I greatly

44:56 care about our students. I care about our teachers. I care about our community. Um, and I will take any call.

45:05 If a if a parent emails me, texts me, a teacher calls me, a teacher texts me, I

45:11 will answer anyone. I don't think there's ever been anyone who has contacted me that I could not that I did

45:17 not speak to. Now, I will say sometimes you can't give them the answers that

45:21 they want to hear. There's some things that it's just the way it is in a school

45:26 and there's things that gosh, I wish we could change. But at the end of the day,

45:30 we are public school. We have the resources that we have and we have to do

45:35 the best that we can. But I will always listen. My door is always open. I will always be

45:43 open-minded. I will hear anything that you have to say. Like I said, I had

45:48 three kids, three very different children who all had three different experiences in high school. Um, they are

45:56 all in college now, but I know there are teachers who made an impact on them.

46:04 >> Thank you. >> Sorry. >> All right. Well, everyone, that uh concludes our place one debate for the

46:13 Clinton City School Board um between Mr. Caldwell and Miss Bradberry. I want to

46:19 thank you both for coming out and participating in this. I know it's a lot

46:22 of fun to get up here. I want to thank everybody who came out in the crowd and

46:26 uh we will continue next with place three in just a few minutes. Thank you

46:32 all. That was >> super fun. Yeah.