The Cullman Tribune Debates: Cullman County Schools Superintendent

0:41 welcome to the Cullman tribunes 2024 candidate debates this is WC man your moderator for this event and we are

0:49 talking to candidates for Cullman County school superintendent we have with us superintendent Shane Barnett and Morris

0:58 Williams his Challenger U tell us a little bit about yourselves Mr Barnett start us out absolutely uh hey I I

1:08 entered the uh education field 28 years ago uh education has been my mission

1:13 field uh I went into education to make a difference in young people's lives and I

1:17 feel like I've done that over the past 28 years I'm married to my best friend

1:21 it's an education for 29 years I have three boys that are graduates of Cullman

1:26 County Schools uh I've taught High School I've been assist at principal I've been a principal and now I've been

1:33 a superintendent for eight years and I'm running to uh really just be able to

1:37 finish some things that I've started and I believe in a few more years I could

1:41 finish up some things and I'm hoping to serve a few more years I appreciate your

1:45 vote thank you I'm Mars Williams and I've been in education for 27 years I've teach at

1:55 holon high school been teaching history government economics uh for 27 years pretty much uh

2:02 I also have chicken houses and I've been doing that for 20 years I adjunct teach

2:08 at Wallace US history and I am a firefighter and EMT with Jones Chapel fire and rescue

2:15 service I went into education for basically the same reason to try to make

2:19 a difference for kids and and I too feel that I've done that uh I've I've seen so

2:25 many testimonials from former students and it really really makes a difference in my life when they say things like

2:32 that so thank you thank you we have a list of 12 questions here we will uh alternate uh

2:43 we will begin with uh superintendent Barnett so question number one how safe are our schools now and how will you

2:52 make them safer well you know I don't know if you can put a number on how safe our schools

2:59 are I think think it's something that we're constantly trying to address um and it's a uh everchanging

3:07 goal to try to make our schools safe uh we constantly are doing things to our

3:12 schools to make them more safe I I think the the biggest thing is getting kids

3:17 connected to one another and to activities at school so and uh getting them the help they need as far as mental

3:24 health goes to make sure that they're not a threat to one another uh but

3:28 outside of that we've done many things that we've made second entrances uh on

3:32 all of our campuses where people that are visiting our schools can come in and

3:37 uh get uh what they need from the office but not access to down the hall from the

3:42 schools but we've also spent a lot of money on fencing and things like that

3:46 we're going to continue to do that uh right now I'm negotiating uh to add

3:52 additional film on our Windows around all of our entryways and everything on our campuses and uh we have a a huge

4:00 plan of what we can do to move forward as far as the safety goes uh I won't say

4:04 all of those things because some of them need to stay inh house um but we

4:09 continue to you know do things to beef up our safety we have SRO on all of our

4:14 campuses through a partnership with the sheriff office and with the County Commission uh just this year we've added

4:20 three more so that we have two sro's on each of our largest campuses uh but

4:26 really just having them there as a presence and then uh and doing additional training with all of our

4:31 Educators and all of our students so they know what to do if we do have an

4:35 incident at school and we take all of those incidents very seriously and I

4:40 think those are the things that we can do to keep our school safe and and

4:43 really to move it forward uh and we're always looking for new ideas and I just

4:47 set up an appointment this next week to talk to an individual about another

4:52 program where we can have a uh quick notification for our offices and our SRO

4:58 if a teacher need to notify them immediately if we had an incident all right Mr

5:04 Williams uh a lot of the problems with the safety we have a lot of devices that

5:12 will help with safety and the fencing I know that we're putting up some fence at

5:18 holon high school I don't know for sure how that will absolutely lead to some uh

5:26 improved safety it can uh stuff like simple things doors being unlocked uh where people could just walk on to

5:36 campus it shouldn't be happening but it does happen and that's human error and

5:41 you you have to just reinforce that uh although programs with the cameras and

5:46 and safety devices are are good ideas and that's things that we need to follow

5:51 up on and Implement it's just a matter of of doing it so yeah that's what we

5:58 can do um I think that's a lot of it you have to deal with human era because I've

6:03 seen some vot photos or videos where people were able to just walk into a

6:08 class into a a school building with because doors unlocked in in this County so that's what I have to say Okay

6:20 question number two we'll go to Mr Williams first uh the Tribune uh publishes campaign Finance records was

6:28 in our paper this morning and so we'll give y'all a chance to speak about that so on the topic of

6:34 campaign Finance what do your donation and expenditure lists say about you well I I I saw your paper this morning and I

6:44 bought it and what it says about me I think I hope it sends a message mine is

6:50 a is a Grassroots campaign uh I have donations from Ordinary People there's not a single i' I've funded a lot of it

6:57 myself and I've I've had donations from just individuals who believed in me you

7:04 know there's nothing from a business on there I believe I think it's all

7:10 individuals I triy to remember uh I believe it's all individuals and fairly smaller contributions I think my part is

7:18 the biggest I know I I think I'm at $854 myself not counting you know some

7:26 incidentals uh and the rest of it has has has been uh just individuals that

7:32 have given donations to me so I I'm I'm trying to run a Grassroots campaign I

7:38 didn't want to take donations but to run a campaign across this County like this

7:43 you have to I tried before and it's it's almost impossible to do it on a on a

7:51 just a single paying for it yourself unless you have a lot of money so there

7:57 you go that thank you I guess what would our uh my donations and expenditures say about

8:05 me um I would say first of all I'm not a politician so it's probably the world's

8:10 worst to go out and ask people for money uh I think the donations that I have and

8:16 um so far have been there's a few businesses in there but I think more

8:22 more than not it's individuals or leaders of those businesses that have seen uh the great changes that we've had

8:29 in our school system that it will impact our economy and impact our way of life

8:33 here in Cullman County so I think a lot of people I know a lot I just got a a

8:39 card yesterday in the mail with with a check from um some people here in

8:44 Cullman County and then they just said hey we want to keep great things

8:48 happening in our school system because it rolls over into our businesses and our Industries and the success of

8:53 Cullman County as a whole so they're individually uh investing in my campaign and uh and really just as an

9:00 encouragement to hey keep on going keep doing you're the right thing and let's

9:04 try to move this County forward okay question number three and we'll start with

9:13 superintendent and if we had to pinpoint one thing and there's of course so many

9:18 things to choose from but if you had to pinpoint one thing what is the most

9:22 urgent need facing our system right now and how will you address it okay uh there there's plenty of needs

9:30 for sure I don't I don't know if one's more urgent than the next but I I will

9:34 say this our our Mental Health crisis in our society and in our school systems um

9:41 they affect so many things from like we mentioned school safety earlier it affects school safety but it also

9:47 affects the academic achievement of our students and the well-being of our students and and uh so many things so I

9:53 would probably say it's the the Mental Health crisis and how are we going to

9:58 address that and I already have done that some um we F we applied for a grant

10:04 and we got a grant that's a mental health coordinator um we're on the

10:08 second year of that and we're going to apply for that Grant again but some of

10:12 the things that we also done we've used grants and we've used federal funds to

10:16 uh hire social workers and those social workers are a bridge between our students and their families to other

10:24 organizations in Cullman County as you all are well well aware of we have many

10:28 organizations in Cullman County that are eager to help people mental health uh people struggling with mental health

10:34 issues and other things but our social workers are that bridge and they also

10:38 our our teachers are not trained to deal with mental health so our social workers

10:42 come along and they try to help with that as well we have a couple of uh

10:47 things Outreach opportunities planned relative to mental health coming up and we constantly have guest speakers that

10:54 come in and talk to our kids about bullying which I think is still part of

10:58 Mental Health as well as suicide attempts and things like that that's a real struggle so uh

11:05 it's a moving Target and we're going to keep working on it but I think a key to

11:08 it is our social workers our counselors and and branching those other governments entities and bringing them

11:14 into partner with us and help out in that area Mr Williams well I don't want to sound like

11:22 I'm just saying ditto I agree so much with what he is saying mental health I

11:27 think is going to be or is a huge problem for our County for our students

11:34 there are there are students you know as I've stand in the hall and I just watch

11:38 and I see kids that I can tell just you know just I don't know the

11:43 professional diagnosis because that's beyond my scope but you can tell that they are something's not right and those

11:52 kids need some help and we have kids you know it goes beyond beyond

11:57 bullying and and things that teachers are not trained to do to to inter

12:03 intercede in things that the our counselors at the schools are not interceded not able to intercede with

12:10 effectively uh I do think one thing that we could do really is the bullying uh

12:17 you know on a on an everyday level I think that would help somewhat with

12:23 minor cases of helping these kids our students need to feel like the school is

12:29 the safest place for them maybe even safer than their homes because some of

12:33 these kids are coming from places uh where it's not particularly safe and it's very sad to say that but

12:41 we need to do whatever we can to help these kids feel a part of our schools

12:46 and that they are uh necessary that they are important parts of our school

12:52 cultures and I think if we can do that coupled with the mental health um ideas

13:00 yes I'm I'm all for that I think with the counselors you need to have you need

13:05 to you need to be very careful with that but I think it is exactly what we need

13:10 to be doing so yes all right Mr Williams you get this one first yes sir what is

13:17 right with the school system right now that you'd like to see preserved or

13:23 strengthened I would like to see a sort of a return there's there's we do have school spirit it's not as

13:34 strong as it used to be uh that sense of belonging I was just talking about I I

13:39 don't want it to be divisive you know where I remember the Rivalry between

13:43 Holly Pond and fairie years ago and and at times it would get you know dumb okay

13:50 uh kids do things but I think that that sense of belonging that you can have

13:56 with a school we've lost it at at several schools and I think we need to

14:02 do things we're on the right track at Holly Pond I believe doing things to to

14:08 bolster that sense of belonging and that that pride in the school if we do that I

14:14 think it will help students feel a part of the school and feel that that they

14:20 belong and that they have a stake in it and I I think that will make a make a

14:25 difference I think that's something good that we need to keep doing Dr Bernett well there's many things that

14:32 are that are great in our school system right now and there's many things that

14:35 we'd like to keep doing um I love the belonging thing we started a campaign a

14:40 little while back about connecting getting every child connected to to each other in the school I think uh that

14:46 helps academic things and and it help helps behavior in so many different areas uh but I will say I think what's

14:53 going right right now in our school system is we're we're not uh going to be

14:59 satisfied with mediocre we're in a position right now in Cullman County that our kids are striving to be the

15:05 absolute best that they can be and our teachers are helping them achieve those

15:08 things so we're achieving more than we've ever achieved our graduation rate's higher than it's ever been our

15:14 College and Career Readiness rate is higher than it's ever been and we're creating more opportunities for kids and

15:19 more Pathways for kids to be successful we're helping kids if they want to go to

15:24 college we're going to help them figure out a way to go to college if they want

15:26 to go to the workforce we're going to help prepare them to go to the workforce

15:30 and to me that's exciting because that gives them hope and they see that you

15:34 know hey I want to do this and we're going to help them Reach their dreams

15:37 and that's exciting to me that's what's going right and we're going to keep

15:40 doing that all right Dr P you get the first shot at this next one okay what improvements

15:50 should be made to the systems curriculum yeah and there's always rooms for improvements to curriculum so so

15:57 many things in in relative to our curriculum is mandated from the state department our um you know the pathway

16:04 that we have to follow comes from the state um I I'll tell you we we get to

16:10 vote on and we get to select our own textbooks and things like that but uh

16:14 one of the things that we do we don't get enough money from the state

16:17 department to buy a quality textbook so we have to use local funds to help pay

16:21 for that so we need to continue to do that we need to provide our teachers and

16:26 our students with quality textbooks but but the answer is not the textbook the answer is putting the absolute best

16:34 prepared teacher in front of those students every single day and uh and when we do that the kids are going to

16:41 learn what they need to learn the curriculum can be tweaked there's no doubt um we're always uh like we got to

16:48 select what type of textbook we got this year and the last few years always but

16:53 the last few years um for instance our reading series there was only two

16:58 choices and and one of them um that met all the CR criteria for the state

17:04 department the requirements that they had but in my mind I knew that I have a

17:09 very conservative board and I'm a very conservative person and when I look through that textbook there were things

17:15 that I just could not agree with uh and and I vetoed it I said no we're not

17:19 going to be buying that book for Cullman County schools and we got to continue to

17:23 do that we got to continue to be involved in those things in the

17:26 selection of the curriculum but as far as the standards the state department sets those standards but what we use to

17:32 teach those standards we get to choose that locally and we're going to continue

17:36 to be conservative about that and um and teach all the standards and help our

17:40 kids learn all they need to learn Mr Williams well I I believe I I have to

17:50 Echo what he's saying there as far as the best teachers in the classroom the

17:55 changes to the curriculum let me say I one thing that I would like to do and I

18:01 will push as hard as I can if elected when elected however you want to say it

18:06 uh is our trade school our vocational school we need to be working towards I

18:14 would like to see I want to look at the the explore the feasibility of of moving

18:18 towards an all day concept like we used to have I believe the grant ran out and

18:24 then it sort of faded out and I think that would be a huge huge bonus uh to

18:31 help our students to find that that pathway find their way into the workforce because a

18:38 lot of our kids from the numbers that I've looked at 50 60% are not planning on going to college

18:45 they're going to go to work they need a a trade they need a skill and they can

18:50 make so much money with those skills uh it makes you makes me wonder why you

18:56 know the the teaching you know it's it's they can make more money their first

19:02 year than some teachers are going to make in their 10th year of teaching so I

19:06 think we need to expand that and give those opportunities while the state I

19:11 went to a Workforce Development uh meeting down there the day before I was

19:17 wasn't able I couldn't take off school long enough to go to it didn't have

19:21 enough warning to have a sub but they have this new program called skills for

19:25 success and I think it we need to be helping our students to find that where

19:30 they can go down there and they can get a credential uh in like driving a skid

19:35 steer driving a bulldozer running an excavator uh doing things like that and and with that

19:42 credential that will help the kids help the students that are not they're not

19:46 going to college they just choose not to that maybe college is not cut out for

19:50 everybody so they can go down there and in a short period of time get a

19:56 credential that will help them get a job job and then they will build their

19:59 skills once they get on that job you know if they don't choose to go to

20:03 school but we need to open up opportunities like that uh build Partnerships with industry like we've

20:08 never had before uh where these kids these students have every opportunity Cullman is changing it is not the

20:16 Cullman of my youth when there were very few opportunities and I want to do

20:21 everything possible to help these students get to those things stuff that I don't know about even because you know

20:29 I've went to college I I'm academic oriented but there's a world out there

20:34 you know with working with my chicken houses and and stuff I'm exposed to some

20:38 of that and there's so many opportunities that uh that we need to really expand on for these students and

20:45 get them to understand there is absolutely nothing wrong it's it's great there's there's a shortage of these

20:51 workers out there and there's the opportunities are almost boundless for those students okay Mr Williams yes sir and we we have

21:03 uh had suggestions for questions from uh students teachers parents and this is one that a a student or a teacher might

21:12 ask and probably from different very different points of view and so we'll let y'all address this as you as you

21:18 like where do you stand on student cell phones and electronics especially personal electronics in schools and in

21:27 classrooms uh I think that cell phones are a major distraction I they're so so ubiquitous

21:37 in our culture it's it's they're everywhere but I like I tell the students when I'm teaching I I say put

21:44 your phones away keep them away I cannot compete with Tik Tok I can't compete

21:49 with YouTube uh and and they're constantly there there is a real addiction to those devices I don't know

21:58 know I mean we have had policies of no cell phones and that is a policy but

22:04 it's so hard to enforce it is so hard to enforce and they're they're they managed

22:11 to hide them you think they don't have them out and then you you turn around

22:15 and there they are well you can take the phone up but that is a major distraction

22:21 and I don't know if we can put the genie totally back in the bottle because you

22:25 run into those you know student privacy issues and things like that um and and

22:31 some of those are well founded I remember when I used to take up cell

22:34 phones and put them in the office and stuff and you know sometimes people

22:40 student aids would go through them and I don't like that so it's a major

22:45 distraction and I don't think they should have them in class and we just we

22:50 can enforce the policies and uh but it's very very difficult Bernette how do I feel with cell

23:01 students having cell phones in the schools in the classrooms uh I feel like

23:05 students don't need to have their phones during instructional times uh most definitely I know a lot of parents are

23:11 concerned with uh they want their students to have the phone if there's an

23:15 incident or a crisis at school or something like that but I will tell you

23:19 now if there is an incident or crisis most more likely than not that uh grid

23:23 is going to be bogged down with everybody trying to contact everybody but uh the biggest thing is they just

23:29 don't need to have them out during instructional time um when when we try

23:33 to cut back on cell phones we increase instructional time and it all goes back

23:38 to that time that the teacher has with the student um more often than not when

23:42 it comes to cell phones we have students um uh that are that are getting in

23:46 trouble with cell phones not for just having them it's for take sharing inappropriate pictures or whatever they

23:52 might be saying but during the instructional time there's really no place for a cell phone during that time

23:59 but as well uh I think there needs to be some lessons about etiquette and how to

24:03 use them when it is convenient and when it is appropriate to use a cell phone

24:07 and so forth because we see now you go out in a public restaurant or something

24:11 or you go somebody just almost ran into me yesterday they had their face in

24:14 their phone as they're walking through Walmart U we we're going to have to

24:18 teach some of those lessons to help people uh be more appropriate with a

24:21 cell phones but during instructional times there's really not not a place for it um I know could kids use them now to

24:29 to access Google Docs and things like that and and they're going to say that

24:33 but I think uh they can practice that at home okay as we get into the second half

24:39 of our questions y'all have already answered enough questions that you have probably at least partially answered

24:45 some of these questions that are coming up but we're still going to put them out

24:48 there and give you another opportunity to to uh get give us some detail and so

24:54 question number seven Mr Barnett first How would you deal with the problem of

24:59 bullying well I I'll tell you if I if I had an easy answer for that I'd wiggle

25:04 my nose and just stop it uh I I think more than anything it it's got to be a

25:09 partnership with parents uh with our teachers with our counselors our Administration it's going to take all of

25:14 us that's been an ongoing struggle for a very long time um and it comes down to

25:20 how we raise our kids to treat one another more often than not when we deal

25:25 with somebody that's been bullying other kids um it it comes back to um they were

25:32 raised differently than other people were and and there's got to be some lessons in there um we have a discipline

25:38 ladder when if there is a a young person that's bullying they progressively move

25:43 up that discipline lighter for different consequences we'll continue to do that but one of the things that we've got to

25:50 do we it's got to be a Grassroots effort where we bring in speakers our

25:53 counselors are now doing lessons on bullying we have advisory they're supposed to be teaching that in the

25:59 classroom about how to get along with one another and um we got to continue to

26:04 do that but we got to do a lot more uh one of the things that we need to do is

26:08 if if we have students that are routinely bullied we've got to get those

26:13 names and find out who those kids are doing that and address them directly um

26:18 you know sometimes people will call my office and they'll say uh their child's

26:22 being bullied but they can't give me a name and they can't tell me who and they

26:26 can't tell me exact instance and if we get that information then we can do our best to put a stop to it and

26:32 train that young person not to do that not to treat others that way and and

26:36 that's what it's important we got to change those behaviors not just punish them for the

26:41 behavior Mr Williams well bullying I think is a huge problem uh the biggest thing you can do of

26:52 course you want to punish you want to intervene and you want to educate the

26:57 bully and try to get them to change you know the the treat others as you want to be

27:03 treated some people haven't learned that lesson and at school we are charged with teaching that

27:12 and we need to model that and I've I've heard of instances where in some cases

27:20 that bullying they know who's doing it and they just don't they don't just

27:24 don't choose to intervene because that person has connection to the school or to someone and they

27:32 just Overlook it and sweep it under the rug and I think when you sweep stuff

27:36 under the rug you run a real risk of tripping over it later and there's so

27:42 many kids that that are hurting and uh there's so much that you want to do from

27:48 their home life and and part of the bullying is is from home what what they're going

27:56 through there and they don't don't know how to deal with it and maybe it is what

28:00 they have learned how to deal with controversy or something or simply just picking on somebody that they can pick

28:07 on because they don't want anybody bothering them most of your bullies are insecure about something and then they

28:15 act out on it and if we can we have to intervene you have to that discipline

28:20 ladder that Mr Barnett's talking about we've got to actually Implement that and not over look bullying um I've heard

28:30 several people talking about cases where they allege that it's just been Overlook so I think that's what it is I you know

28:39 as teachers we've got a a important job to not look the other way when things

28:44 are happening and administrators have the same responsibility so I think it is a huge

28:51 problem and I think if we could adequately address that we would deal with some not all but some of the mental

28:58 health issues that students are going through in our schools okay and here's an elephant in the room

29:06 question one of the things that has contributed to this election and this campaign is the controversy over the

29:14 so-called Project X if such a uh proposal would your Administration uh run from such a

29:28 proposal would you look at it in a different way how would you would you

29:33 approach that in in my view I have no problem with the concept of a Project X except for the school

29:43 system being involved in it uh when project de was talked about several years ago and I forget which year it

29:52 was uh I did a little bit of research on my own and it's just just me Google

29:57 goling so there's nothing scientific about it but it was a $30 million project so using simple math the the the

30:06 amortization on the loan was going to be like a million dollars a year that we'd

30:09 have to pay I forget what the interest rate was I'm sure it was a low interest

30:12 rate so you're talking a million dollars a year then you also have to maintain

30:17 the facility and I think I heard I may misremember but the projection was that

30:23 we would eventually be making $3 to5 million a year out of it I my problem is

30:30 not if the city wanted to build it if the county wanted to build it if if a

30:35 private investor wanted to build it that's their deal that's that's their project let the let them vote on it let

30:42 them go through the process the thing I didn't like was that it wasn't discussed

30:49 effectively with the voting people with the taxpayers we sometimes forget who we work for in this system we are working

30:56 for the taxpayer payers um I don't know I would have to look at

31:02 it I I just don't think it's the role of the schools that's my gut reaction I

31:06 don't think it's something that school system should be involved in because most of

31:11 us are in academics we're not in the business of development and I don't think it's a

31:20 wise choice for us to do that now you could do partnership but I don't think

31:25 the schools need to be partnered in something like that let the county do it

31:29 our business we've got enough just handling the bullying handling the curriculum handling the student issues

31:37 that come up every day and I just don't feel that that is something that the

31:42 school system should be involved in I think it's better left to private developers or some other entity like

31:49 that that does that day in and day out and um that's that's what I think about

31:55 it Dr berett thank you uh the really cool thing about Project X when we first

32:01 uh had that idea um I had some of developers approached me about it and

32:07 the really neat thing about it was the developers were helping us develop it

32:11 and put together a a business plan for that that they would pretty much help us

32:16 lay it all out but yet our school system would generate that $3 to5 million and

32:21 it would come back to our school system that we could use that money at our

32:23 local schools we all know that we can't build what Cullman high school has all

32:29 the artificial turfs and all the nice facilities we can't build that on seven

32:33 different campuses that I don't foresee that ever happening because that would be multi-million dollars huge budget but

32:40 the goal for that way back then was that we could build one that we could share

32:45 periodically and when we were not using it then they would rent the facility out

32:49 to other things in the business plan that would generate several million dollars and that money would be applied

32:55 back to our local schools and and the developers help us uh meet with

32:59 government officials and far as uh trying to put together a business plan for that during that time we couldn't

33:05 really go to in the public about it because somebody was uh donating the

33:11 property that was worth millions of dollars they were donating that to the school system and it had to be quietly

33:17 done and we were also working on competitive grants and so forth that we

33:22 were going to uh acquire millions of dollars to apply toward the pro IC that

33:27 other people were applying to also and that's one reason we couldn't go public

33:32 but if nothing else this was a perfect example how when the community they

33:37 didn't have all the information they had what we could share with them but when

33:40 they started expressing that hey they didn't want us to go that route I put it

33:44 on the shelf and I said no okay well let's not do it it's not time for that

33:48 we listened to the community we put it on the chef it was a little too

33:52 Progressive a little too far out there and we didn't do it have I ever tried to

33:57 bring it back up no I haven't do I have a plan to do it again no I don't um

34:02 we've worked hard to make the improvements because during that time everybody said we would rather use those

34:07 funds right now to make improvements on our local campuses and that's what we've

34:11 been doing one of the things that come up during that is while we still had

34:15 that they would like for us to get rid of the section 16 land and and the

34:20 property that my predecessor bought on Smith Lake property so we worked hard to

34:24 sell that and put that secure that money and stuff so so no I I wouldn't look at

34:29 doing that project again U but the project itself at the very beginning U

34:34 it was good and it would have put a lot of money into our school system and the

34:37 good thing about it is um you know we did shelf it and the city's doing it now

34:42 and it's going to generate millions of dollars and that's great for them because that money will go back into

34:48 their budget and not our school system and uh we would love to have had that

34:52 money in our school system but we don't have it and that's okay we're going to

34:55 work on other means okay uh Dr berett some schools and systems are doing away with honors like

35:05 valedictorians in order to be as Fair as possible to all students uh do

35:11 competitive honors still have a place in our schools yeah competitive honors do um I will tell you one of the arguments

35:20 for validator and salor and we're not doing away with those but uh one of the

35:24 arguments of that is we have so many different path ways um now to get a high

35:29 school diploma uh you can be a full virtual virtual student and do your work

35:35 from home and still be valid atoran at your local high school which or you can

35:41 go to Wallace your last two years and be a full dual enrollment student and be

35:45 validator or you can be on your local campus there are there's so many

35:50 different Pathways but one of the things I'm really excited about not just validat toan and salutatorian about the

35:57 honors program um we have many honors programs as well um that their grades or

36:04 their classes are weighted uh it's the dual enrollment classes but at the same

36:09 time we have honors at the local school and we have some advanced classes that

36:13 are weighted differently as well um which leads into I'm really excited that we have so many students that take um

36:21 advantage of our dual enrollment classes either through Fast Track or through local schools and starting this fall all

36:27 of our students that take dual enrollment classes through Wallace State will have free tuition and that's a

36:32 partnership that we have with Wallace that starts in August and we're really excited about that but yes those classes

36:38 we need to challenge those kids if young people they need to take the most

36:42 advanced class that they can take that means they may there may be students

36:45 that take advanced math but they don't take Advanced English whatever that may be and we have a pathway through an

36:51 online computer system or through Wallace State Community College that we can challenge those kids and they can

36:56 take as as much advanced classes as they possibly can take Mr Williams well I have been a a senior

37:06 sponsor for I I don't really remember how many years it's been several years

37:11 and I remember when there there was a time and I forget the time frame it was

37:16 a few years ago that there was actually discussion about doing away with valoran

37:21 and soran and the reasoning was that there were not enough students getting those uh it was like one and two you

37:29 know validor salutatorian and what they wanted was you know to go like you do in

37:34 college where your Magnum Lai suum Lai Kumi and go to a system like that

37:39 because it would spread it out and it would make everything more kids would

37:44 participate more kids would get honors and stuff and I think that Val dictorian

37:51 and salutatorian is important because it's something you know it's a tradition that kids have

37:57 worked for now I think we can go with if you wanted to you can have your Summa

38:02 Lai and you know you can have your honors uh program in addition to there's

38:08 nothing wrong with that but I don't think you know there are some kids that

38:11 they really I don't want them to be overly competitive you know unhealthily competitive but they want that it's it's

38:19 a goal for them to strive for uh to to be validator you know uh my daughter for

38:24 example she she talked about it at one time that she wanted to be Victorian in

38:29 her class and I don't know if if she will be you know who knows how that'll

38:35 work out but it was something that might spur some interest uh on the we do have

38:41 a great program at one time with the deal enrollment in FasTrack at one time at Holly Pond you I

38:48 teach deal enrollment history uh we have dual enrollment English we had dual enrollment computers for a little while

38:55 we had calculus dual enrollment math and we have dual enrollment biology I I

38:59 joked with people saying we're like an Annex of wall state right here at at

39:03 Holly Pond so I I think those are important and the weight that is

39:08 ascribed to those with our curriculum is is a wonderful thing because you reward

39:14 those kids for taking those harder classes and I've never been about grades I'm more about the learning I tell the

39:22 kids you know with weight it kind of takes some of that off you know if I I

39:28 think it's better if a kid makes an 87 in a class that they're that they're

39:33 learning something in than if they're making a 92 in a class where they they

39:38 can just Coast or they make a 95 and they're just coasting uh one thing that I would like

39:44 is um on our GPA that is calculated right now we allow uh PE to count on GPA

39:53 and I think it should be four core that's one change I would make that

39:56 maybe go beyond your question or whatever I'm sorry if I do but that's

40:00 one thing that I think we need to to readdress in the future is is PE yeah

40:06 they get a grade but I don't think it should be counted in the GPA for validor

40:11 and salutatorian and so on like that so yes sir okay uh Mr Williams yes sir uh

40:19 online education just came up in in this one in this last question but this

40:23 question is about online education it is becoming more popular especially since covid uh how should the system respond

40:32 to the trend of online education well you have to you have to make sure that

40:39 the online curriculum is a good curriculum uh in the election in the Forum at the

40:48 Republican Party the other day I made the comment you that some homeschool I

40:54 know this is not a homeschool question but you know like sitting and watching

40:57 PBS Kids is not a viable option for homeschool for virtual school you know

41:04 that's what they would say it has to be a a viable uh a rigorous or a good

41:11 curriculum for the students where they actually learning something in some of our cases now there's obstacles uh some

41:18 of our students are doing these access classes and access Spanish would be extremely hard for these students

41:27 so what we need to do to respond to it I think we need to find a way to make it

41:34 where the kids can do it make it doable if that's what we're going to do if

41:39 we're going to offer virtual classes we need to make it where it's doable we do

41:44 have to make sure that they're actually learning that it is a good curriculum

41:48 and that this the kids will profit from it there are some students who have

41:52 maybe com uh comprise compromise excuse me compromised immune systems and you know I'm thinking of of a student who

42:01 maybe is taking chemotherapy and coming to school could put their health at Jeopardy so we need to be able to

42:08 address that I think it's going to be an issue in the future let me say that the

42:12 the most important the best place for a kid is in the classroom with a qualified

42:19 highly qualified teacher and I think that's the best solution but we're going to have to deal with it and

42:26 we just need to to ensure that it's a good quality education so that answer

42:30 your question right ber thank you it is a trend virtual and the the whole world

42:37 our Workforce is online now even more now since Co and we back before we even

42:43 had covid we we started an online school and um and I will tell you we had

42:49 several students that were taking full classes online virtual school and uh and some were being successful and some were

42:55 not when we moved in due to covid we moved into like everybody moving into a

43:01 virtual school and we quickly learned that that is not the best way to learn

43:06 so one of the things during Co that we we quickly returned as much as possible

43:11 to face Toof face instruction and we I'm really excited to see here and tell you

43:15 today that we actually even during Co when we were having to do two days in

43:19 rotate kids and stuff we had more face-to-face instruction than most school districts in Alabama uh they

43:25 began looking at our schedule as a model and wondering how we did that and that's

43:30 one reason because we did that um we didn't have such a drop off at preco as

43:36 during covid for our learning and the only reason I mention that is because

43:40 yes face-to-face instruction with a quality instructor in front of that student is the best way to learn are

43:48 there exceptions absolutely we have a lot of students and right now we offer a

43:53 virtual option for middle school and high school but you have to have a letter from a

43:58 doctor to get into that and uh because we know that's not how kids learn best

44:03 um we have many options many Pathways for kids to learn they can actually

44:08 through dual enrollment they can take an online class through wall State um many

44:13 of many of our students are taking that after hours and during the summer taking

44:17 online courses through them but we do have a curriculum that we offer an

44:21 online virtual school with and it's been vetted and approved by the state and and

44:25 it's quality instruction and uh but we also offer access classes as Mr Williams

44:30 said and those access classes are actually teachers at other other campuses that are teaching these classes

44:36 and our students it maybe we don't have a teacher that teaches that subject at

44:40 that school so they can take an access class to learn that curriculum and we

44:45 also you know like I said we have a virtual school that some students are

44:48 enrolled in that we have students excuse me we have teachers that are working

44:54 with our FastTrack program they also work with our virtual students so they're always tracking the progress

45:00 that those kids are making to make sure they stay on track and and and Meeting

45:04 those goals that they need to meet okay next question comes to you Mr

45:09 Barnett uh mental health came up earlier on another question and this one is just

45:15 about what mental health services do we need in schools or do we need them in in

45:22 the schools U for so do we train our faculty staff do we hire specifically

45:28 dedicated mental health personnel good question um I don't think there's a one-size fits-all when it comes to

45:36 mental health I will tell you like I talked about earlier we've hired social

45:39 workers that go across our district I would love to have a social worker in

45:43 every single school we we ultimately need that we've hired uh several but a

45:49 lot of school systems in we got zero money for social workers from the state

45:52 department in our budget many school systems in Alabama have no social workers available what you may not know

45:58 is we don't get fully funded for our counselors that are in our schools very

46:03 few of our schools qualify for a full-time counselor so as you can see we

46:08 have to use local sales tax money to to get a whole uh unit for a counselor at

46:14 every one of our schools and we have that but U what I would love to have I

46:18 would love to have a social worker and at least a full-time counselor and maybe

46:22 an assistant at every one of our campuses to help those students with mental health

46:28 challenges Mr Williams well the the question I believe was I'm reading it do we TR okay The

46:37 Faculty I think we could do we're not going to be qualified teachers are not

46:42 in the in a and we don't need to put teachers in a in a position where they

46:47 are counseling students I think that could be a recipe for disaster because you you may say something well meaning

46:55 and it may be not what that kid needs to hear at that moment we're not we're just

47:00 not trained for that we've got all we can do teaching our classes um I I

47:06 second the idea of the mental health um Personnel in the schools that are

47:12 trained and qualified we we're it's it's a growing problem Nationwide it's not just here it's everywhere and we we're

47:22 going to have to find the money somewhere to help with this situation so

47:29 uh to train the faculty I think you'd have to hire specific folks who are

47:35 trained it would be a whole lot of training for the teachers to go through

47:39 and you've got to be sure that those the the people who are doing this counseling are

47:46 doing it correctly and I guess you just have to be sure you vet what they're

47:51 doing in those with those students there's there's a lot of of mental health stuff out there that can actually

47:58 be dangerous to students at times and I I won't really get into all that but

48:04 there's there's a lot of things to look at but we do need to have trained people

48:09 helping our students to cope with these problems that they're having all right and our last question

48:17 what is the proper balance between college prep and Vocational prep in the curriculum of today's high school or

48:24 today's school system I think in my opinion if I understand the correction right uh the the question right excuse

48:36 me that um you need to have the the balance is geared toward the student in

48:44 the perfect world every student would have an indivi individualized educational plan and you could work out

48:52 what they need and where they need to go based on that I don't know that we're we

48:56 need to go into what they call tracking but we need to gauge these students and

49:02 help them to go down their area of interest on vocational prep there's a

49:09 lot of stuff I've I've talked to some um uh talked to some people in industry and

49:15 I asked them what do you what do we need to be teaching kids what do we need to

49:20 be teaching our students that will help you when you get when they get to the

49:23 job that they can do and I've heard stuff like you need to teach them soft

49:28 skills you need to teach them you know show up on time talk to people look them

49:33 in the eye when they're talking to you uh how to shake hands even and things

49:38 like that financial management I mean we're next year we're going to have a uh

49:42 the state's mandating a financial class I was talking to a lady at a bank and I

49:48 asked her that question what we need to do and she said learn teach them to

49:51 manage their money because if they have a 400 credit rating and they want to go

49:56 to work as a teller I can't really hire them and put them in that position

50:00 because they can't manage their money I can't trust them to manage someone else's so the balance between the

50:06 college prep I think you're going to have students that are going to go a

50:10 pathway they're going to be go headed toward the college prep level like with

50:15 your dual enrollment classes uh you just have to cater it to those to those

50:20 students find their interest and help them I don't want to create a situation

50:25 where it's a the road not taken you go down the road so far and you can't go

50:29 back I want it to be as much as we can where they can they can vary if they

50:36 want to but help them find their pathway help them find their way to where they

50:42 want to be and uh yeah I think that's that's what we need every kid needs some vocational

50:49 prep we got to get some work ethic into a lot of these kids they're just not

50:53 getting it at home that's what I've heard from several people just knowing how to work and not being ashamed to

50:59 work so there you are when we talk about a balance between uh uh college prep and Vocational prep I

51:09 I think of what balance do we need they need to know both uh I don't know how

51:14 many people's watching this and I know people that are in this room right now

51:17 but how many of you knew when you were in a sixth grade when you thought hey

51:21 this is what I want to do how many of you are doing that now as an adult

51:25 probably not very many of us so I will say we need to introduce them to both

51:29 one of the things that we're currently doing right now is that every single

51:33 student in our school system before they graduate they will have at least one

51:37 college course completed and what why do we do that is because I read an article

51:43 a while back that said every everybody that takes or completes one college course they're 80% more likely to take

51:51 that second College course so I went to Dr carck and we put together a program I

51:55 had to go to the chancellor of Alabama actually to get it get the pilot program

52:00 approved uh because we're doing it at no cost to the students so we uh we put

52:05 this program together and we've got kids that are taking college courses and I've

52:08 had several of those kids come back to me and they say Dr Barnett I had no idea

52:13 that I could actually go to college that I could complete a college course and

52:17 they're going to go on and take more courses well that's only part of it the

52:21 other thing that I want to do I want every graduate from Cullman County count

52:25 school to have a credential in their toolbox that if they decide that college

52:29 is not for them or maybe they go to college and they decide whatever they

52:33 got to degree in that's not what they want to do the rest of their life they

52:36 can fall back on this skill that they learn and go right into the workforce

52:41 there is absolutely nothing wrong with going out of high school and going to

52:44 work you've heard me say many times I don't care what you do just get a W2 I

52:49 want our young people to be able to provide for their families and make a

52:54 good living that they don't have to depend on the government one of the

52:57 things that we're doing right now with our uh vocational prep we've been doing

53:02 we build it better in eighth grade and they're learning how to do many skills

53:07 but we just this year we were the first school system in the United States to to

53:12 begin we build it better in grades one through five and we're really excited

53:17 about that the other thing that we added just this year is a program called you

53:21 science and it's a partnership with economic development they helped us fund this program where it doesn't just take

53:27 the interest of the kids the kids take an aptitude test where it says okay what

53:32 are you good at what are you interested at and then it shows you a pathway to be

53:37 able to do that to reach your dream goes a little bit further and it says here

53:41 are some Industries and businesses in Cullman County that you can do this at

53:45 and here's what it pays and here's the degree or here's the credential that you

53:49 got to have so we're trying to prepare those young people either go to college

53:52 and be successful or go into the workforce and be successful so the balance is we want both and that's what

53:59 I'm excited about thank you gentlemen those are the last of our questions so

54:04 as we finish out Dr Brett you've got the microphone one more chance one more

54:09 thing folks need to know well they need to know that we we've got a school

54:14 system that is thriving that's doing great things we're graduating more kids than we've ever graduated they're

54:20 they're ready for the workforce or college like they've never been ready before and being a lifelong colemanite

54:27 I've lived here all my entire 50 years and I am more proud about our school

54:31 system and it's not just Shane Barnett it's I've hired well I've got other

54:36 people I've got teachers and administrators that are doing a fantastic job but we're taking on the

54:41 challenge of finding that kids's Niche and helping them be successful and going on and providing for their families and

54:49 I am super excited about that and if you elect me on March the 5th I'm going to

54:54 continue to do that that and we're going to work hard and I'm already working on

54:58 New Opportunities and more Pathways for kids because there's a few more kids out

55:01 there that we're not reaching and we want to reach them and we want to do

55:05 whatever it takes to help our young people be successful thank you Mr Williams finish us up well I uh will ask

55:16 humbly for people to vote for me on March the 5th what I want to bring to

55:20 this school system is the same thing that I've talked about before accountability and

55:25 transparency I want it to I want to show that I think I've shown that in my life

55:31 in my teaching in in all everything that I have done I've tried to be accountable

55:36 and I I think in our school system there are things that we can do better we need

55:42 to remember that the taxpayers are the ones that are calling the shots in this

55:47 system they're the ones that we have to answer to the voters and the taxpayers

55:53 and what we have we have a great school system we have a system that can be so much better we

56:01 just need to work diligently to improve it we need to have the that

56:07 accountability and the transparency so that you know what's going on at all times in your school system and you have

56:14 a voice in it uh I will I will point out to the to certain things like uh board

56:22 meetings you know could be at a time when when people can come uh what I what

56:28 I I think I bring to the the table in this is I haven't been a a administrator

56:34 but I've been in the classroom and I think it is the classroom teachers that

56:37 make the difference I think me and Mr Barnett or Mr Barnet and I would agree

56:42 on that that it is the classroom teachers that make the difference the reason that these kids are achieving and

56:48 they have gone over and and above and we didn't have the losses as Mr Barnett

56:53 said it is because because of the classroom teachers and I will never forget that uh that's what makes this

57:01 whole thing work you you can have administrator set a culture But the teacher also set a culture you close the

57:09 door and you teach what you're supposed to teach and your interest is what is

57:14 best for those kids and that is what we need to focus on my job if you give it to me is to

57:23 ensure that the principles have all the tools that they can have and and there's

57:27 nobody in this County in this state that will work harder than I will work to

57:33 bring initiatives in to help Foster that environment the principal's job is to help the teacher my job is to help the

57:39 principes and it all goes back to those kids and if you ever lose focus of that

57:44 then I don't know what the point of the school system is that's going to be my

57:49 focus it has been my focus for 27 years and I hope that you'll let me do that in

57:55 the future thank you thank you gentlemen go ahead uh as far as our board meetings

58:03 their board meetings are currently at 3:30 p.m. we used to do them at 5:30 or

58:08 or 5 and uh we had several board members and several people that we were trying

58:14 to highlight at our board meetings and they couldn't get there because they were doing other events later that night

58:20 so we moved them up to 3:30 so that people could come right after school

58:24 before their games and things like that started I am proud to say that we have

58:28 had more people attend at 3:30 than we did at 5 or 5:30 so we were just trying

58:33 to find a balance for that but one of the things that we do to try to stay

58:37 transparent is that we live stream all of our board meetings and we have them

58:41 on our website you can go back and watch any of them I don't think there's a soul

58:45 out there that's ever called and want to schedule an appointment with me that

58:48 I've turned them away and wouldn't meet with them I'll always meet with you and

58:52 if we overwhelmingly if we want if people say I want to be there but I

58:55 can't be there till 5: we'll change the board meetings back to 5 it doesn't

58:59 matter to me we just want to be a part of all of our students lives and we were

59:03 able to go to ball games and things like that after the 3:30 board meetings thank

59:07 you all right thank you gentlemen and you who are watching thank you for

59:11 joining us for the Cullman Tribune 2024 candidate debates