Meet: Holt Floyd

Hello, my name is Holt Floyd and I am seeking a seat on the Jackson County School Board in District 5. As the voters of District 5 begin to make their decisions in the next few weeks, I feel my candidacy offers them a unique choice on August 24th. I believe that my career and community service has helped prepare me to be a productive member of the Jackson County School Board and my election will bring a diversity of experiences which will pay dividends for years to come.

My 24-year career with the Southern Company at the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant has allowed me to see the importance of establishing goals and priorities to help my company be successful. However, just establishing those goals and priorities is not enough. Every part of an organization has to be accountable to each other and work together to ensure we reach our goals. If elected, I will work to ensure your board is accountable to the parents that entrust us with their children’s safety and education. Our children deserve a safe drug free environment and as your representative I would consider that as our first priority.

I will work to ensure that your board is accountable to the taxpayers of Jackson County for the resources you provide. I was raised on a family farm and own property of my own. I know how every dollar that comes out of a family budget is important. I want to have confidence my tax dollars are being invested wisely. My experience with youth baseball in Jackson County has shown me that there is no limit to what our communities are willing to do to support our children. I have seen small communities’ give thousands of dollars to allow our children to participate in tournaments all over the state. I believe this is especially true when it comes to our children’s education. Taxpayers are willing but they also want to have confidence that our board is a good steward of those resources and that all of our students have equal access to those resources. As your representative, I will work to make sure that we establish our priorities based on need and not politics.

I will also work to ensure that your board is accountable to the teachers and support staffs at our schools. I believe that every part of the Jackson County School Board should ultimately support the classroom teacher. Our business is the education of children and our teachers are on the front line. The administrative body in each school and at our county office has to find a way to relieve and eliminate unnecessary burdens from our teachers so they can do the job we are expecting them to do. The state continues to change the method success is measured in our classrooms but the expectation that our students receive a good solid foundation to enter the work force or higher education remains the same. We certainly expect average performance from our teachers and we should be willing to compensate our staff accordingly. As your representative, I will work to develop a plan to bring our teachers compensation in line with the state average and immediately begin working so our employees can obtain quality health care at an affordable price in line with other state employees.

The most important thing that I have learned while serving on the Jackson Hospital Board of Trustees over the past couple of years is that boards are stronger when they have members with a wide diversity of experiences. I hope that once the voters have looked at the qualifications and experiences of both of the candidates that they will decide to give me a chance to bring a new and different prospective to the issues that will face our school board today and in the future. The one promise that I am willing to make is that if elected, I will serve the voters of District 5 with honesty, integrity, and accountability. I would greatly appreciate your prayers, support and vote on August 24th.