Area 25 - Meet your Candidates for Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees

Meet Greg Cantrell, Michelle Goodwin-Calwile, and Jack Logan, Area 25 candidates for Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees in the November general election. Area 25 generally covers the area along Augusta Road including part of Chanticleer, Pleasant Valley, Belle Meade, and Mount Pleasant. 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:

Greg Cantrell

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile

Jack Logan

Sample Ballot

Transcript

Catherine Schumacher:
[0:00] 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:
[0:30] 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 in Area 25, Greg Cantrell, Michelle Goodwin-Calwile, and Jack Logan. Bruce Wilson also filed to run, but when we called to schedule his interview, he informed us that he was dropping out of the race. However, his name will still appear on the ballot. Area 25 generally covers the area along Augusta Road including part of Chanticleer, Pleasant Valley, Belle Meade, and Mount Pleasant. 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.

Katy Smith:
[1:59] First up is Greg Cantrell.

Catherine Schumacher:
[2:01] Well, I'm happy to be joined today by Greg Cantrell, who's running for Greenville County School Board Trustee in Area 25. Greg, thanks for being here today.

Greg Cantrell:
[2:08] Well, thank you. And thank you for doing this. This is a great service that you give the voters to get to hear from the candidates. And I do appreciate it.

Catherine Schumacher:
[2:17] Well, thank you. Well, first of all, why don't we start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your experience with public schools and how your background prepares you to be a Greenville County Schools Trustee.

Greg Cantrell:
[2:26] Okay. Well, I grew up in Greenville County. I went through Greenville County Schools, graduated Woodmont High School. Along the way, when I was at Ellen Woodside, back then it went through seventh grade, I met my future wife, the love of my life. And I told her when she was a seventh grader, I said, I'm going to marry you one day. And being a man of my word, I did that as soon as we finished Lander College.

Greg Cantrell:
[2:52] Went on to get a master's degree at Clemson. And then I earned my doctorate at South Carolina State University here at the University Center in Greenville. Have two daughters, four beautiful grandchildren. My daughters aren't bad looking either.

Greg Cantrell:
[3:10] Two of my grandchildren are students in Greenville County Schools. My oldest daughter is a school administrator here. So years ago, I developed what I termed my litmus test. So if I made a decision about a kid or about a group of students, I always said, would I make that same decision if it impacted my daughter or later in my career if it impacted my grandchildren? And if the answer is yes, I would, then that's what we did. And I think that just speaks that you got to treat the kids that are in your charge like they're yours. And so I've done that. I've spent two-thirds of my life as a public school educator. I started my career at Wren Middle School in Anderson 1. I was a music teacher and a football coach. And that just raises eyebrows when you even say that. Three years later, I became assistant principal, age 25. Then I was the principal for a good number of years. In 99, I went and interviewed in Spartanburg 6, was hired as director of personnel.

Greg Cantrell:
[4:25] Pretty quickly was promoted to assistant superintendent, then associate superintendent, and finally to the last few years as deputy superintendent. Sort of sounds like I can't hold on to a job, but I stayed in two districts my entire career.

Greg Cantrell:
[4:44] As deputy superintendent, I got to work very closely with the school board, and I learned a lot about the decision-making process boards go through. I was directly responsible for the development of budget, for the oversight of construction, the oversight of bidding processes, growth projections, land acquisition.

Greg Cantrell:
[5:08] Personnel policy development, personnel policy implementation, and then, I guess more importantly, from me, I worked closely with the superintendent on communicating with the board, and I understood how important it was to communicate with the school board and to learn how to communicate with populations, districts, or organizations, and organizations do very well when the people in them know what's going on and feel like that they're transparently involved, and so that's kind of what I did then I also took care of all their strategic planning I took care of all the accreditation planning and while I was there I'm proud to say I did my level best to do what's best in the interest of every kid and every employee and to be fair this experience with the school board, I think provides me a good opportunity to take a position here in Greenville.

Greg Cantrell:
[6:20] And as I said, I would have done it two years ago, but they'd redistricted on me. So I had to wait to this cycle. And I'm happy to get to share. I've committed my life to sharing and supporting kids. And this is a way I can do it in my retirement.

Catherine Schumacher:
[6:41] 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?

Greg Cantrell:
[6:48] Well, I think in no rank order, teacher and employee retention and recruitment. There are fewer people going into teaching and you got to be competitive to get them. And Greenville's done a great job being competitive salary-wise, a great job. And they've done some other things that are innovative. They've got some alternative certification programs that they have done.

Greg Cantrell:
[7:18] But there needs to be more done to improve.

Greg Cantrell:
[7:22] The recruitment of teachers, and the retention of teachers and employees. When an employee leaves, there's a cost associated with that. You've got cost for finding somebody, inducting somebody, training somebody, not to mention the disruption in your program. So I think it's important to get on the front end of that and to make sure that we're communicating about the good things we're doing. And we're giving teachers opportunities to feel respected and to feel like they are valued and employees that are valued. Every adult in the building teaches. When students see a custodian or a food service worker or a bus driver, they are teaching how behavior should be and i think it's important to to treat people that way um most people in the profession most teachers leave because they get into teaching because they love children and then they quickly discover you can't love somebody into compliance or into learning and there needs to be methods so we got to continue to focus on ways for teachers and students to develop those real important relationships that will allow for teaching and learning to occur.

Greg Cantrell:
[8:49] Student and staff, safety is paramount. We live in a time, I don't need to remind anybody listening to this, what happens. So training with law enforcement, fire and rescue needs to be regular and meaningful. Entry security systems, expand the Evolve program. I was involved in Evolve over in Spartanburg, and I think Greenville has deployed it to some degree. I would use that platform to try to encourage them to continue to look at that safety. I think student mental health is another one. It's tough to be a kid today. It's hard to be a kid because you're bombarded with social media, you're bombarded with cyberbullying, you're bombarded with all manner of things that we used to not have. So I think it's real critical that we take time to find ways to do that.

Catherine Schumacher:
[9:56] Well, what do you think is the greatest strength of Greenville County Schools, and how would you as a trustee work to enhance it?

Greg Cantrell:
[10:03] Well, one of the greatest strengths is diversity of the district. You know, it's large, but it's not unwielding. I think that the district's done very well using the approach of data-driven decisions, particularly fiscal decisions.

Greg Cantrell:
[10:20] I would certainly want to build on that, build on the communication, transparency, build on those issues that I think have made this district one of the leading districts, not just in this state, but in the region. Um, that diversity is a strength and we need to realize that our communication systems, processes, and procedures have to be geared to reach all of them, all of the people, no matter where they are, where they find themselves. And I would strive to bring my experience in strategic planning, communication, and data-driven decisions to the district and to help them to continue to focus on making decisions on what is necessary, what is not on what I feel we need, but what does the data show.

Greg Cantrell:
[11:16] I think my experience working with school boards, my experience in the breadth of all the positions I've held prepares me well to step into a school board seat and be an effective board member from day one. And that would be my intent. It'd be my honor to serve the people of District 25. As I said, I've lived here all my life and never worked here because opportunity just didn't present itself, but would be honored to be elected to be the board member.

Catherine Schumacher:
[11:51] Well, thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you again for your willingness to serve the students of Granville County Schools.

Greg Cantrell:
[11:57] Well, thank you for all that public education partners do.

Katy Smith:
[12:01] Next up is incumbent Michelle Goodwin-Calwile.

Catherine Schumacher:
[12:05] Well, I'm happy to be here with Michelle Goodwin-Calwile, who is running for re-election for Greenville County School Board in District 25. Michelle, thanks for being with us today.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[12:12] Thank you for having me.

Catherine Schumacher:
[12:13] Well, first, let's tell 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.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[12:22] Wow. My experience in public schools, I am a native of Greenville. So I've gone to the public schools here in Greenville all my life. Elementary, middle, high school, Carolina High School. And then I went to Winthrop University, well, it was college back when I came through for my undergrad. And I went to Converse for my first master's in education and to Furman. I was part of Furman Fellows Program for my second master's, which was in administration. So I was in, have been in the public schools as an educator was in there for 20 years. And then I retired in 2016. When I retired from GCS in 2016, I decided to run for school board because I felt like we needed better representation, for District 25 that we did not have.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[13:24] When I ran for school board, it was like, I wanted to make sure that we have we serve a diverse population in Greenville County schools. And I wanted to make sure that all of our students and staffs, because I was one of those staffs for years, had what they needed to make sure that our kids were successful. I've been on the school board now for eight years and loved it. Didn't know going into it that we were the policymakers. That the school board only has one employee and that's the superintendent. And then he delegates and make sure that the policies are carried out and compliant. I am a mother of one, but have a bonus niece that I raised. They are both grown now. And so there are three, four grandchildren.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[14:25] But what prepared me to serve effectively is that I'm an educator first. I am not a politician. And I think that educators should be the highest paid profession in the world because you know everybody if you think about it everybody had that that teacher that you know you had that aha moment in school that special teacher so I think that the reason why I serve effectively is because I look at everything when I was in the school system I was a title one facilitator And we had to do data analysis and we had to make sure we had everything correct for those federal funds. So I am that effective leader. I was effective leader when I was in the school system. And I think I'm an effective leader on the school board.

Catherine Schumacher:
[15:26] Thank you. Well, 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?

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[15:32] The next four years, what we've got to focus on is the growth process. Of the area. And what people don't understand is that we have to levy millage in order for us to pay for us to have a great, they want a great school system. We have a great school system, but we have to make sure that we have the funding to pay for it. And with all of the growth that is coming in the area, we have to make sure that we have the building capacity to handle all of the students that we are going to have.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[16:16] With that being said, we have to make sure that we have the finances available to do that. Also, what is important is the legislature gives us mandates, and most of the time they're unfunded mandates. And like Burke said the other day, it was unintentional consequences when we had all of these parents that spoke about the pause in the book fairs, because of the book bans and everything. So we've got to make sure that the legislators know what the educators, you have people in the schools that went to school for education. So let's let them lead.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[17:13] Now, to say that again, critical issues for the district is to make sure that we have the resources, we have the financial resources, so make sure that the community knows that, We have to levy taxes in order to have resources for our district. And also, I think that with the curriculum and instruction, with the standards, if the state Board of Education and the state legislators would make it where that the teachers can teach what they need to teach without us having all of this other stuff. Because, I mean, you know, they have lots and lots of standards that are put on the teachers to teach, and they don't get to most of them because a lot of them are not covered in the standardized testing.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[18:19] So critical is the growth, making sure that our teachers can teach. Also, mental health. Whenever we came back from COVID, we saw a lot of behaviors that we hadn't seen before. So we had to put more funding into mental health, school safety, having to end with that that's going on. We have to make sure our kids are safe. So we have to have the buildings safe. And I'm glad to see that the legislatures, they put money into upgrading facilities, the school facilities, finally. And it's not just on the local boards to do that. So the school safety, safety in our community standards, making sure our educators have what they need in order to make our kids successful, to make this a great district.

Catherine Schumacher:
[19:20] Well, what do you think is the greatest strength of Greenville County Schools? And how would you as a trustee work to enhance it?

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[19:27] Our greatest strength is that we have more of an educationally-minded board. It's good to have, you know, business-minded people on there, but when you have people that have been in the system and are strong on what works and what doesn't work, is our strength is in number because, you know, on a board, it's always about the number, in order to get something passed. And our policies, we've been revising the policies. We have some policies in place that have been in place since the 80s that we have to go in and we need to revise them. A lot of the policies don't work. You know, today's time is different from.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[20:20] When I came through school, but we have to make sure that we have the policies in place that are pushing our kids forward. We have college and career readiness where, you know, if you want to go to college, fine. If you want to come out of school in a career, we want to make sure you're prepared. And with Greenwood County, our strength is that we have the career centers, we have the innovation center. We're looking at the industry that's around here so that we can prepare our kids. If they don't want to go to college, when they come out, they'll be able to be viable in those industries. I think that that is one of our greatest strengths that I think we have and that some of the other districts across the state doesn't have is that we work closely with our partners, with our industry partners to see what is needed. And then we try to make sure that our kids are equipped when they come out so that they will be valuable in the community.

Catherine Schumacher:
[21:29] Great. Well, Michelle, thank you so much for being with us today. And thanks again for your willingness to continue to serve the students of Greenville County Schools.

Michelle Goodwin-Calwile:
[21:35] You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

Katy Smith:
[21:38] Last up is Jack Logan.

Catherine Schumacher:
[21:40] I'm happy to be here today with Jack Logan, who's a candidate for Greenville County School Board in District 25. Jack, thanks for being with us today.

Jack Logan:
[21:48] And thank you all for having me.

Catherine Schumacher:
[21:50] Well, so we'll start. Please tell 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.

Jack Logan:
[21:58] Okay. I'm Jack Logan. I was raised in a small town in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Calpheon, South Carolina. And after finishing high school, I pursued my education to major in journalism. My minor was education at the University of, of South Carolina Spartanburg at that time. And I completed three years there. And going into my fourth year, I wanted a new car. My dad always told me, so when you finish college, I'll get you a new car. But I didn't. So I took a job as the assistant director at T.K. Gregg Recreation Center, continued working, began working with children and coaching the league baseball and football and so forth. Then at the same time, I was a substitute school teacher for Spartanburg County, all seven districts. And that was my involvement more with children. And I loved it and been involved in the community in Spartanburg County and from football to baseball and education. And now I'm the founder of a nonprofit, Put Down the Guns Now, Young People Organization, where we promote gun safety. And we have reached that national level with Project Child Safe and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Catherine Schumacher:
[23:16] 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?

Jack Logan:
[23:23] Safety in schools. because we're having too many children, too many teens being hurt in schools or getting expulsion from schools, from taking guns to school with the lack of the evolved system at all schools. If we have safety in schools that produce good teachers and that teacher feels safe standing in that classroom at the same time that student feels safe in trying to achieve and concentrate on their education.

Catherine Schumacher:
[23:56] What do you think is the greatest strength of Greenville County Schools, and how would you as a trustee work to enhance it?

Jack Logan:
[24:04] The greatest strength in Greenville County Public Schools that we have one school system. And how would I try to enhance it along with my constituents because they'll be hiring me on November the 5th, 2024, and I will give them my advice, what I would like to see done. But one thing I would want to see that all children and teens and students go to the closest school in their district because the hardship right now is the expense of taxpayers with busing children all across Greenville County. And I understand all of the engineering schools, all of that is fine. But when you do the statistics, how many continue to achieve that in college, it don't add up. I want to see, again, children and all students continue to be able to go to a school and they're closer to them. Because one thing that bothers me to see kids at Highland Homes going to Carolina High School and they pass over Southside. One thing that bothers me when I see kids living right at Berkeley Point's apartments in Avalon, jail man is right there. And then those kids are going to Southside. Those kinds of things just don't add up. But to strengthen the schools, you would have less violence on buses.

Jack Logan:
[25:30] Those kids are able to walk like I monitored last week at Greenville High School with the gentrification, you know, with kids walking to school. And that's the way it should be. So, again, safer schools.

Jack Logan:
[25:45] Teachers and good students and the parents will be comfortable when they leave. When that child get on that school bus in the morning, that they'll get off that school bus in the afternoon or walk back home the same way they left home walking and those, students who parents take them to school, that when that parent pulled back up in the afternoon, that that same student will walk out there and get in that car instead of that mother, that father being called to a hospital for something that happened to their child in school. All that goes back to helping to and provide good education towards students.

Catherine Schumacher:
[26:25] Well, thank you. We have a little bit more time. Is there anything else you'd like to share with listeners today?

Jack Logan:
[26:29] I just want to remind people that most of them know me in Greenville for working hard against violence and trying to educate children and teens about safety. With safety, again, in schools, that teacher can stand up and teach that student without her being worried that a student may have a gun, that somebody may enter that building, that at the same time, a safe haven for those students in that classroom to be able to concentrate. And I want to see teachers get the best pay that money can buy because teachers deal with so many personalities in that classroom.

Catherine Schumacher:
[27:13] Well, great, Jack. Thank you for being with us today. And thank you for raising your hand to serve the students of Greenville County Schools.

Jack Logan:
[27:19] And I thank you all again for having me.

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.