Originally appeared in the LaFayette Sun newspaper October 23rd, 2024
Democrat candidate for CCSD Superintendent Dr. Winford Lee Ashmore
Political candidates running for Chambers County School District offices in the upcoming November 5th general election were given the opportunity to address voters at a public forum hosted by Gator Media and BeeTV in the Chambers County Farmers Federation Agricultural Center at the ALFA building in LaFayette during the early evening hours of Tuesday, October 15th of 2024. Gator Kincaid took on emcee duties by welcoming attendees to the live streamed event with an introduction where he remarked "Tonight is a very important night for Chambers County. Coming up, in I believe twenty-one days, there is going to be two important choices to be made. One for superintendent and the other one for Chambers County School Board District One. This will be critical for the growth of Chambers County, that is why we decided to do this forum." He went on to continue "I am very happy and proud to have to have two amazing gentlemen that will be the moderators for tonight. Wayne Clark from the Valley Times-News, John Brice from the LaFayette Sun. They will be asking five questions for each candidate."
In the first question and answer session, Republican candidate for School Board District One Carolyn Peters was asked where she saw the district in four years from now to which she responded "If elected, I hope to see the quality of education increase over the next four years. I think that will be the main focus. However, the way that we can do this is by hiring more certified teachers, focusing on education and increasing that community involvement throughout Chambers County. Further, the teachers will need more resources than they already have and so do those students in Chambers County. Over the next four years, I think that we can truly increase the quality of the education system here and make people proud to be part of Chambers County."
Answering the same question, Democrat candidate for School Board District One Frederick “Reco” Newton noted "I see the Chambers County school system as one of the number one school systems in the state. A lot of you all will say 'oh, you are just saying that now just because you are running for office'. The reason I say that is because we have to have a leadership type of mindset when dealing with our school system. The reason I say that is because we are the gateway to Alabama. We are the first thing that you see when you come in, we are the first county you see when you leave out. We have to set the standards for the State of Alabama. We need to be sure we leave a good impression of Alabama school systems."
Starting off the next round of candidates, Republican nominee for CCSD Superintendent Dr. Sharon Weldon began by stating "I think in the next four years I see us moving forward with improved student achievement, improved unity, improved athletics and arts and improved planning for our teachers. I see the satisfaction of our parents, our students, our teachers and all of our community stakeholders improving as we all move forward together. I see a newfound confidence in our school system that is going to bring some of these students back that we have lost to private schools, to homeschool as they see the good things that are going on and they want to come back. I see us working to continue celebrating a lot of our good old traditions and forging ahead and celebrating and making some new traditions too."
Providing further context, Weldon continued "I think that we have to understand and we have to know and I think all of us understand that we will have to be moving forward with the order of consolidation. But, I want to do it in a way that all of our communities in our county know that they have been heard and that things have been taken into consideration that they said. I think we have to be focused on what we should have focused on the whole time. The thing that we should have focused on the absolute whole time, y'all, it's our babies. It's about our students. We have got to focus on our students and knowing that what we do that is best for our students is best for our community as well."
Democrat candidate for CCSD Superintendent Dr. Winford Lee Ashmore began his remarks by stating "I want to be very direct. I want everyone to understand that when we talk about the school system, make sure that we first of all understand what we are speaking of. Are we talking about the Chambers County School District or the schools in Chambers County? Those are two different things. I think it has been intentionally stated different ways to try to fool the citizens of the county or to pull wools over their head." He went on to continue "Unlike my opponent, I did not grow up here in Chambers County. There is nothing wrong with that. The state intentionally has it that you do not have to live in the county to run for superintendent of school. Why did the state do that? That is very important. The state did that so that I don't have to do personal favors for people who have done things for me."
Dr. Ashmore is not a "buck dancer"
While objecting to the perceived manner in which moderator Wayne Clark asked the next question, Ashmore retorted "Before I address that, I want to make sure that you know that I am Dr. Ashmore. I just want to make sure that I clarify that with you. I take that as an attempt to demean." Gathering his thoughts, Ashmore continued "As it relates to a consolidated high school, it is a thought. Yes, it is a thought. But it is not urgent. We have to understand that it is not urgent. This has been on the books for over fifty years and it has not been cleared up yet. What will make us think that it has to be cleared up overnight now? That is foolish. That seems to be insanity." Contrasting his own leadership style as opposed to how he perceives that of his opponent, Ashmore declared "I call that buck dancing. That is what that is called. Where you get behind closed doors, you start buck dancing. Dr. Ashmore not a buck dancer."
During his blistering final response of the evening which drew intense heckling from the crowd, Ashmore asserted "I am being transparent and while I am being transparent I am putting the facts out there. Again, I will use the cliche called 'I don't know how this works, but they will tell me a hit dog will holler'. I have always heard that and believed that. I am not yelling. I am passionate about what I am saying. So being passionate about it may come off as being angry." Striving for a final clarification of his demeanor, Ashmore declared "I am not rambling, I am speaking facts."
Note: Full video of the forum below
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