Dougherty County School Board candidates make their case ahead of May 21 primary election

ALBANY – When it comes to education, the Dougherty County School System is big, with an annual budget of $260 million and about 13,000 students. The system is tasked with educating students who will be the community's future leaders, entrepreneurs and workers.

In the May 21 primary election, veteran incumbent James Bush has drawn a challenger in retired educator Wanda Mallard. During interviews with The Albany Herald, both candidates shared their ideas about the county’s educational system and how to improve education.

Before he joined the school board 20 years ago, Bush had already played a role in the school system. Two school board members requested his assistance in helping pass the system’s first education special-purpose local-option sales tax (E-SPLOST), an effort that ultimately was successful.

“We got over $90 million from that first SPLOST,” Bush said. “As a result, the school system, they built four new field houses, (one) for each high school. We built two new schools from the ground up. They modernized some of the existing buildings that were in kind of deplorable condition.”

The effort to improve facilities is continuing, the incumbent said, with the proposed transition of Morningside Elementary School to a pre-kindergarten facility. The system cited the need for expanded Pre-K as the reason for the latest project. Improving early education is a key, Bush said, as statistics show that students who cannot read well are going to struggle throughout their educational careers. Students who are unable to read on grade level also will struggle in other subjects as well.

“It starts at an early age, trying to get our children educated,” Bush said. “Our literacy rate has gone up somewhat, and we are real proud of that. The state of Georgia is using our model. We are trailblazers with our literacy program, and I hope it works out perfectly.

“I think this literacy program is working. We just need to give it a chance.”

Data from 2023 show that literacy has improved at the school system's high school, middle school and elementary school levels, he said, with Lamar Reese, Morningside and West Town Elementary Schools excelling.

When Bush joined the board a couple of decades ago, its finances were in dire condition, he said. It took a considerable amount of work to dig out of that hole and get the budget back in the black.

“When I got on the board, we had to borrow $25 million every December, and I was wondering why this was happening,” he said. “We finally got our house in order. We have a $41 million reserve at this particular time.”

The board also has rolled back taxes six of the past seven years, the candidate said, and has worked innovatively to earn financial grants. Bush said he has never supported a tax increase and that the board has been able to put a team in place for future success, paying those employees well to get good results.

“My phrase is: ‘All children can learn,’” he said. “I think all children can learn if they’re properly taught. I will continue to work tirelessly to ensure our school system, the children – the whole child – benefit from innovative things.”

Mallard's experience in education came largely from working inside the school system. She retired in 2008 while serving as principal at International Studies Charter Elementary School, where she oversaw the transition to that status from a traditional elementary school program.

“I was a highly performing principal under (former state school Superintendent) Kathy Cox,” she said. “As principal of a blue ribbon school, we traveled across six different states looking at schools trying to bring the international baccalaureate (model) to Dougherty County.”

A Cairo native, Mallard moved to Albany in 1974 to attend Albany State University and has made Albany her home since that time. And she has remained active in education.

“I’m going into my 15th year as adjunct professor of early childhood education at Albany Technical College,” she said. “I especially enjoyed the early years because so much learning is going on. I’m enjoying working with college students. The reason I chose to run is because I have a passion and a love for learning.”

For Dougherty County Schools, Mallard said she would like to bring some of the energy of charter schools to the system.

“What I’d like to do is be able to use the flexibility and the innovation we are given through the implementation of the charter system,” she said. “All children have to make those milestones in the Georgia Milestones Assessment. How you do it is for the school to determine.”

Those methods of teaching, however, must be research- and evidence-based.

“I am a proponent for flexibility and the innovation to help all children to learn and be successful,” Mallard said. “They’ll all learn differently. The old (model) where everybody sits in a line of chairs … children have changed; we’ve changed. These children have phones and games. You have to be able to actually engage them.

“When you have a good reader, with comprehension, then you’ll be able to comprehend other subjects as well.”

The candidate also is a proponent of engaging parents in education. Since her retirement, she has served on the Board of Governors at Radium Springs Middle School and Northside Elementary School. Those board meetings are public and open to all parents.

“Parents have to become active shareholders,” Mallard said. “We need each other: parents, teachers, administrators. We’ve got to start by holding each other accountable. When we begin to do that, I know we will start to see better results.

“I’m passionate about education, and I’m passionate about learning and teaching and doing everything we can so that children will have a life that’s full and well-rounded.”