Area 21 - Meet your Candidates for Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees

Meet Angie Mosley and Steve Whaley, Area 21 candidates for Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees in the November general election. Area 21 is on Greenville County’s Eastside and includes Boiling Springs Road, Thornblade, the Hartness community, and the Kingsbridge and Kilgore Plantation area. In this episode, each candidate has 10 minutes to introduce themselves to the voters. Your vote is so important! Please take a listen and share with your neighbors.

Links:

Angie Mosley

Steve Whaley

Sample Ballot

Transcript

Catherine Schumacher:
This episode of Simple Civics Greenville County is sponsored by Public Education Partners. Since 1985, Public Education Partners has served as an innovation partner for Greenville County schools and a champion for public education. As an independent, non-profit organization, PEP fosters connections between the private sector and public schools to support the teachers and students in Greenville's classrooms. To learn more or become a public education partner, visit pepgc.org.

Katy Smith:
When you go to the polls on November 5th or in early voting, you have the chance to vote not just for the president. About half of Greenville County voters will also cast a ballot for their representative on the Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees. The 12-person nonpartisan school board, as it's informally called, governs the public Greenville County School District, the largest in the state, by setting policy, approving the budget, and selecting and evaluating the superintendent. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville, and on this episode of Simple Civics: Greenville County, we feature interviews with your candidates for school board and Area 21, Angie Mosley and Steve Whaley. Area 21 is on Greenville County's east side and includes Boiling Springs Road, Thornblade, the Hartness Community, and the Kingsbridge and Kilgore Plantation areas. Here's how the interviews worked. All candidates received the same question at the time of their invitation to join us, and they were given 10 minutes for their interview. Candidates were allowed to bring along a companion, such as a campaign manager, family member, or friend, and to record our session themselves. There were no edits made to the interview. We've put links to the participating candidates' preferred internet presence on the episode page. Candidates are interviewed by Catherine Schumacher, President and CEO of Public Education Partners. First up is incumbent Angie Mosley.

Catherine Schumacher:
I'm happy to be here with Angie Mosley, who is running for re-election for Greenville County School Board in District 21. Angie, thank you for being with us today.

Angie Mosley:
Well, thank you so much for having me, Catherine. I appreciate it.

Catherine Schumacher:
Absolutely. Well, we'll start off. Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your experience with public schools, and how your background prepares you to be a Greenville County Schools trustee.

Angie Mosley:
Well, thanks so much. Well, very simply, I am the married mother of three. I have three kids, two boys and a girl. My husband, Paul, and I have called Greenville home since 1997. I graduated from Clemson, where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Financial Management and a Master's in Human Resource Development. And I worked for eight years as a corporate trainer for Bank of America and decided I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but I also wanted to still have an income. So I started the chapter of National League of Junior Cotillions, which is an etiquette and ballroom dance program for middle school students. So I have literally taught thousands of Greenville County students over the past 24 years. This is actually my 25th year, my silver anniversary of teaching. And, you know, what I teach in Junior Catillion is really skills that I believe that they're going to carry with them through life. So that's a little bit about what I what I do every day. Additionally, I have served as the president of the Down Syndrome Association of the Upstate, a board member of Pro Parents of South Carolina and a board member of Langston-Tarter Middle School. When my students were actually my younger two were students there. When my first child was born with a disability, I found myself on a very new and unexpected journey. And so for 14 years, I navigated the school system with two children who received special education services. And I have tirelessly advocated for the educational rights of many others as a special education advocate.

Angie Mosley:
So what I bring to the table and what my background is, is really centered around special education. However, I am the daughter of a retired teacher, and I have a great respect for the profession, and I just want to continue to ensure that public education is a place where we teach our children how to think and not what to think.

Catherine Schumacher:
What do you consider to be the most critical issues for the district and board of trustees to focus on in the next four years?

Angie Mosley:
Well, it's funny that you should ask that because this year marked the year that we had to do our new strategic plan for the next five years. And if you've never been through the strategic planning process, let me explain a little bit about how this how this works. We gather all of these stakeholders. So whether that's parents, teachers, administrators, including board members in the district. And we have multiple workshops and they're guided by a facilitator where through the course of the questions and the exercises that we take our stakeholders through, you start seeing themes arise. They rise to the top. And so when the board enters the process, it's pretty clear what our themes are going to be or what our focuses are going to be. And so instead of me just saying, this is what I think we should focus on, this is a collaborative effort across the district to come up with what do we want our priorities to be for the next five years. And so this year, we put them in three buckets, for lack of a better word, or three goals. And the first goal is student success, which means we want to deliver high quality curriculum, instruction and interventions that meet the needs of every student.

Angie Mosley:
We have another goal, premier workforce. Clearly, we are in a teacher crisis to some degree, and we want to retain, recruit, retain, and develop exemplary personnel in all of our positions. And then lastly, our third goal is a caring culture and environment. And this just means to provide a safe, healthy environment that promotes learning and respectful relationships. And so within each of those goals, there are different measurements that we will use to know whether we're actually achieving these things. So I'll just give you an example. We have goals of how we want to increase the pass rate for things. This goes back to student success, the pass rate for things like the Algebra 2, excuse me, the Algebra 1 end of course exam, the English 2 end of course exam. And we have goals where we want to reach students who earn the graduation plus to increase from a certain percentage to another percentage.

Angie Mosley:
We also have a goal for the number of pupils in poverty enrolled in dual credit courses. We want that to double over the next five years because that is something that we feel like we can achieve. And we really want to have that happen. A premier workforce, clearly we want to make sure that our classroom teacher positions are filled on day one. We want to reduce turnover. We want to reduce turnover, not just at the teacher level, but also in our hourly employees as well. And then the caring culture and environment. I'm not reading every single goal in these things, but we really just want to increase connections between families and school and the personnel and make sure that parents are engaged as possible. We want to decrease absenteeism. We've seen a rise in that post-COVID. And so we have goals within our goals in order to how we're going to measure what we get there. So those are the ways, or I should say that is the way I believe we do.

Angie Mosley:
I'm not speaking very well. These are the roadmap. This is the roadmap for the next five years. And people can find this on our website. This is no secret. This is public information that folks can look at themselves. It's important to know that these are not just things that I believe are critical. Again, the community has had feedback in everything that we do. Everything that we do at the board level points back to the strategic plan. So when the administration comes to us and asks us to vote on whether a program needs to continue, it's because somewhere along the line, someone has evaluated whether we're getting our bang for our buck for that program. And it's all in line with the strategic plan, whether or not it's helping us achieve these goals. Beyond the strategic plan, personally, I still place an emphasis on things like meaningful inclusion in the context of special education. I think we've made some strides in this area, but we still have opportunities to improve. I want children with disabilities to have authentic, meaningful interactions with peers and not just be a visitor in the classroom. So that's something that's important to me personally. And finally, another thing of tremendous importance, and I think, you know, given the weeks, the tragedy that we saw unfold in Georgia this year, or excuse me, this week, is school safety. I can't think of another thing that's more important than the safety of our children. And I am so pleased to have supported budgets that have included expenditures that directly impact our safety measures. Yeah. Those are things that I think are critical issues for our board this year.

Catherine Schumacher:
Great. Well, thank you. Well, what do you think is the greatest strength of Greenville County Schools and how would you as a trustee work to enhance it and support it?

Angie Mosley:
Well, Greenville County Schools has many strengths. And the things that came to mind initially for me are school choice, teacher pay, because we have really focused on making sure we're staying in that top five in the state. And then ultimately, these enhanced safety measures are some of the things that come to mind for me as being strengths of Greenville County. There are many, many others. But since I am ultimately a member of what we call a policy board, the best thing I can do to support or enhance something is to ensure that we have appropriate policies in place to govern our district. To that end, it's my job, it's my responsibility to weigh every decision, every vote carefully, to think beyond myself, to critically think about and understand every angle of an issue and ultimately be student-centered in my decisions, my constituents elected me to be their voice. So I know they expect me to be a critical thinker. The school district is an incredibly dynamic and complex enterprise, and I ran and I continue to run on a platform of bringing reason and common sense to the table. Over these last four years, I have listened thoughtfully and respectfully to all that has been brought before us. I have made some hard decisions, and I have learned that you can't please everyone all of the time.

Angie Mosley:
But as a former education, or excuse me, as a former special education advocate, I consider myself to be a fairly effective relationship builder. I try to find common ground with people, even those with whom I disagree. And I believe that you serve best when you choose your battles wisely. Doing so allows you to become a more effective, um.

Angie Mosley:
Allows you to become more effective in your influence, in your trust. If you're constantly in fight or flight mode and picking every single battle, it's impossible to become an effective advocate for anything. And in this case, an effective trustee. So my philosophy is to approach everything very thoughtfully, very student-centered, and go from there.

Catherine Schumacher:
Okay. Well, thank you. We have a little bit of time. Is there anything else you want to share with listeners today?

Angie Mosley:
Well, you know, I have just, I just want to thank if anyone who's listening from my area, thank you for giving me the privilege of serving the last four years. I am asking your support again, obviously. I am not the most savvy social media person. However, I do have a Facebook page. It's Angie Mosley for GCS School. Is that right? Did I say that right? Yes, school board. Sorry, Angie Mosley for GCS School Board. It's a Facebook page. You're also can follow my, my personal Facebook page because I usually put things on both pages. And then, of course, my contact information is on the Skill District website. I'm always open and always available to speak to anyone.

Catherine Schumacher:
Great. Well, thank you so much. Thank you for making the time to be with us today. And thank you for raising your hand to run again in District 21.

Angie Mosley:
Well, thank you so much for having me.

Katy Smith:
Next up is Steve Whaley.

Catherine Schumacher:
Well, I'm happy to be here with Steve Whaley, who is running for Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees for District 21. Steve, thank you so much for joining us today.

Steve Whaley:
Catherine, thank you for having me. I appreciate being here.

Catherine Schumacher:
Great. Well, we'll start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your experience with public schools and how your background prepares you to serve as a Greenville County Schools trustee.

Steve Whaley:
Well, my wife and I have three sons and five grandchildren all here in the upstate. I'm real glad that I get to see them almost every day. That's a real treat. But we weren't always here. We moved here in 2001 from San Francisco, California, when our youngest son was accepted in a great special education school that met his particular needs right here in Greenville. We've always prioritized our children's education, trying our best to prepare them to become successful contributors to their own families and to society. We homeschooled our older sons while we were in California, and we've used private schools and public schools here in Greenville.

Steve Whaley:
Education is a part of the lifeblood of my family. After graduating from high school in Alaska, I earned my undergraduate degree in education from Virginia Tech and my master's degree in education from Clemson University through a graduate teaching assistantship there. My wife's been a Spanish teacher and recently retired from working in the Greenville County Schools as an aid for special needs students, and where she also coordinated by coming into classes to read stories to the elementary grade students. And my daughter-in-law taught kindergarten here in Greenville County for seven years. In upstate churches, including my own, I enjoy teaching college and high school youth. My scope of expertise in the educational environment also includes the academic opportunities I've received through sports. I was able to attend university because of an athletic scholarship offered by Virginia Tech, where I was also voted the track team captain after my freshman year. I've also volunteered as a coach in several sports.

Steve Whaley:
As an expert, though, in student transportation technology, I work for a school bus manufacturer, and I frequently speak on technology at the national, state, and regional conferences. But my work in this field also allows me to hold a commercial driver's license, a CDL, with a passenger and school bus driver endorsement. And in the not-too-distant future, I hope to use this for driving students of Greenville County Schools as well. So, my broad background in a variety of aspects of education, I think, prepares me well to serve effectively as a Greenville County Schools trustee.

Catherine Schumacher:
Great. Well, what do you consider to be the most critical issues for the district and the Board of Trustees to focus on in the next four years?

Steve Whaley:
I believe the most critical issues are the advancement of the fundamentals of academics, such as reading, writing, math, and science. And these should be the highest priority of our public schools as they partner with parents to educate their children to reach their greatest academic potential. We're seeing ever-increasing budgets that don't necessarily translate into increased results. Taxpayers and students both are paying the price. The school board must steward the funds received from tax dollars to advance core academics and provide our children with a quality education. We owe it to our kids to refocus on what's most important. As school board trustees, we should be laser-focused on making sure our schools recruit and retain the highest quality academic teachers possible. We should work to get back to the basics, keeping distractions like gender ideology, critical race theory, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social and emotional learning out of the classrooms. We shouldn't be increasing taxes, but we should push to prioritize our existing financial resources into academic classrooms first. I think these are the most critical issues for the school board in the next four years.

Catherine Schumacher:
Great. Well, what do you think is the greatest strength of Greenville County Schools, and how would you as a trustee work to enhance it?

Steve Whaley:
I think one of the things that Greenville County Schools has done very well lately is to hire at least one permanent substitute teacher for each school. While this doesn't totally alleviate the problem with getting substitute teachers, it's certainly a step in the right direction. Also, I'm really glad to hear the district started this school year with a certified teacher in every classroom. With ongoing teacher shortages around the state of South Carolina and around the nation, for that matter, that's certainly a praiseworthy accomplishment. As a school board trustee, I would work to keep that great recruitment momentum going by not only keeping teachers' salaries competitive, but retaining our teachers by reducing the demands of their time and energy on distractions from the core priority of focusing on the basics of their students' advancement of reading, writing, math, and science.

Catherine Schumacher:
Well, we have a little bit of extra time. So what else would you like to share with our listeners today?

Steve Whaley:
After talking with a lot of voters since I joined this campaign, I've noticed that nonpartisan races are not well talked about. And that's one of the things I'm really glad that you're doing this. But there's a lot of people who say, oh, I just vote straight ticket, whether it's Democrat or Republican. And I said, wait, wait, you got to go and you have to finish, you know, you have to finish well here and, uh, and make sure you go down to the school board members for your district and, uh, and listen to what they have to say, like, like what we're doing now and, and find out, you know, who aligns with the values that you have and put them in office by remembering to vote. And if you need any more information for me, I have a website, steveforbasics.com. That's Steve, S-T-E-V-E, the number four, and then basics.com.

Catherine Schumacher:
Great. Well, Steve, thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you again for your willingness to serve the students of Greenville County Schools.

Steve Whaley:
My pleasure. Thanks.

Katy Smith:
Simple Civics Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org.

Catherine Puckett:
Simple Civics: Greenville County is a project of Greater Good Greenville. Greater Good Greenville was catalyzed by the merger of the Nonprofit Alliance and the Greenville Partnership for Philanthropy. You can learn more on our website at greatergoodgreenville.org.