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Braswell, Wieland vie in Spotsy

October 20, 2009 12:35 am

By PAMELA GOULD

Spotsylvania County's Battlefield District School Board race pits veteran educator and incumbent Linda Wieland against Army veteran and volunteer coach Baron P. Braswell.

Wieland offers an insider's perspective into the school system, having spent her 30-year career as an elementary school teacher. Braswell's vantage point is that of a parent and volunteer.

The Battlefield race is the only School Board race on the Spotsylvania ballot Nov. 3. Current School Board chairman J. Gilbert Seaux is being challenged by write-in candidate John K. Lewis for the Berkeley District seat, while Amanda Blalock is running unopposed in the Lee Hill District.

Spotsylvania is shifting to staggered terms for its elected boards, so the three board members up for election are completing two-year terms. Terms usually are for four years.

Braswell's interest was spurred by the slaying of his older son in 2006. After 16-year-old Baron "Deuce" Braswell's death, the elder Braswell began offering character education to Courtland football players. The insurance agent also started volunteering as an assistant football coach at Spotsylvania Middle School, when his younger son played there. He has continued even though Zachary is now in high school.

Braswell entered the race as the School Board was crafting a policy for extra-curricular activities prompted by the arrest of some Courtland athletes for an off-campus beating that was recorded on a cell phone. He said the incident demonstrates the need for his character-education sessions.

He largely supports the policy finalized last spring and now is focused on restoring activity buses and returning daily recess to 30 minutes for third- through fifth-graders. He criticized the current board and administration for not exploring options for the after-school buses.

"Only two courses of action were given: keep or get rid of. I think we could have problem-solved a lot better," he said.

Braswell said he would ask the Board of Supervisors to add stops to the FRED bus routes in more-populated areas of the county so students could use them at their parents' expense. But he acknowledged that he hadn't considered whether that was a safe option for middle-schoolers.

He also suggested providing activity buses in only the Berkeley and Livingston districts, the areas hit hardest by their removal. Finally, he suggested investigating whether high schools could charge spectators an extra dollar to attend varsity games and then put that money toward the buses.

Wieland said the three toughest decisions she's faced during her two-year tenure on the board have all been budget-driven.

The toughest call was being unable to give teachers a pay raise, especially because they are called on to do more and more, she said. She said she only grudgingly agreed to increase average class size by one pupil at elementary schools because she knows "one or two [children] can make a huge difference."

And she said she agreed to end activity buses as one of the last cuts from the current budget because that saved four to five teaching jobs. But she hopes one day to bring back the buses with expanded service. Several board members were concerned about the safety of children because they were dropped far from home in the dark.

"When the time comes we can reinstate them, it's going to cost more because I personally would want more stops," she said.

With the expectation of losing at least 50 positions in the next budget, Wieland and Braswell both said they would target central-office posts and preserve teaching slots.

"Leave the classroom alone first," Wieland said, acknowledging that would mean more duties for fewer administrators.

"I don't want to task our teachers with anything else," she said. "Their plates are full."

Braswell said his strengths are his passion about issues that matter to people and his willingness to listen.

"I'm an advocate not only for our children, but our teachers and I'm willing to stand up at meetings and behind the scenes," he said.

He said that's what distinguished him from the incumbent: "I'm not a vote-along to get-along guy."

Wieland dismissed the idea that she "rubber-stamps" what administrators propose. She said it's her job to research issues before making decisions and she does that homework, listening to teachers and administrators.

"I can bring the teachers' side to the board. I understand what's happening in the classrooms--the joys and the frustrations.

"Kids succeed because the teachers teach, and that's where our energies should go," she said.

Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com