Wayne Hachey
Wayne Hachey’s handout. Click to enlarge
Stacy Rush
Stacy Rush’s handout. Click to enlarge
Nelson County Homebuilders’ forum for school board candidates at the Rockfish Valley Community Center was held on Monday night, September 15. About 100 people attended. Candidates answered written questions submitted by the audience before the meeting. There were two sessions, the first for school board candidates and the second for candidates for the board of supervisors.
Wayne Hachey and Stacy Rush are the two candidates for the school board in this area.
In his closing statement, retired physician Wayne Hachey said, “The Nelson school system is not broken,” making it clear he supports the path the professionals now running the school are taking. His answers to the questions were consistent with that point of view.
Educator Stacy Rush pointed to her 45 years of experience, praising the current school administrators, but saying there are resources available that Nelson’s students and teachers should use.
Responding to a question about “expanding community partnerships,” Hachey suggested that more businesses might sponsor extracurricular activities. Rush pointed to programs where trained and vetted citizen volunteers visited elementary schools regularly.
In answering a question about safety at the schools, Hachey said the schools were safe, pointing to metal detectors, cameras, and other technologies that were now in place. Rush noted that student behavior can create an unsafe school. She pointed to “behavior assessment” programs that might be helpful and suggested creating formal behavior standards.
Both candidates saw the job market changing and the need for the school system to work to prepare its students for what’s coming. -Charles Batchelor
