Allegheny Mountain Radio hosted Candidate Forums for the county and state election. Board of Education candidates Norman Alderman, Sam Gibson, Lynn Jordan, Michael Vance and Joe Walker answered five questions asked by AMR Pocahontas County reporter Tim Walker and The Pocahontas Times reporter Suzanne Stewart.
Candidates opened the forum with a statement:
Candidate Vance arrived late and gave his opening statement after the other candidates:
Question #1: What do you believe should be the number one priority to improve the County’s schools?
Candidate Vance arrived late and gave his answer to Question 1 after the other candidates:
Question #2: Given that Pocahontas County schools are in need of major repairs and renovations to keep operating, and that the state School Building Authority has said it will not provide the money needed without a monetary commitment from the county, what is your opinion on the proposed school levy?
Question #3: If the levy fails to pass, resulting in the School Building Authority denying any funding, what would you offer as an alternative solution to fixing the school buildings?
Question #4: The math scores for county schools are now among the best in the state. Do you have any ideas about how the schools can expand this success to reading?
Question #5: The dropout and failure to graduate rates in the Pocahontas County Schools are very poor. Do you have any suggestion on how to improve on them?
Closing Statements
Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to capture video of the closing statements. The audio is provided below with a photo.