Stokes reflects on time on school board

Steve Stokes has served as Dothan City School Board chairman since 2005. Since becoming chairman, Stokes has helped set the agenda for a number of changes in the city school system, including a uniforms policy, rezoning and the end of a federal desegregation order. Stokes has also seen a few plans fizzle, like the proposed consolidation of the city’s two high schools. Stokes isn’t running for re-election, and his term will expire later this year. Stokes answered a few questions about his experiences in office for the Dothan Eagle.

Q: What do you feel you have achieved as school board chairman?

A: No individual member of the school board can achieve anything.  The board must work together as a collective body to implement policy.  As chairman, my primary goal on taking office was to achieve more harmony on the board.  I always strove to find compromise among the various members of the board and minimize as much as possible controversy and public discord. I was pleased that we were able to regain local control of the board and were released from federal supervision. We’ve improved discipline and implemented a dress code policy for students and employees. The entire board has worked to increase parental involvement and was successful in obtaining much-needed support from the Dothan city government and also the Wiregrass Foundation.  Their support was crucial in allowing us to maintain the programs that we implemented to improve the system during state budget reductions.

Q: What has been your biggest frustration as school board chairman?

A: I was disappointed that we have not improved our graduation rates to over 90%, although this is an ongoing problem not only through the state of Alabama, but the entire nation. Although each year the system has improved, we as of yet have not made AYP at our two high schools. We may achieve this milestone this year. I was also disappointed that I was unable to convince the community as to the need of upgrading our facilities. Enterprise, Eufaula, Ozark, and Russell County are all to be commended for the improved facilities that they have constructed or are currently under construction.

Q: What do you think the next school board chairman needs to focus on?

A: I think there are three main challenges facing public education not only in Dothan, but also throughout Alabama. (1) Stable Funding. Each year our budget has a great deal of variation depending upon state funding. The City of Dothan has 10 mills of ad valorem tax. All the surrounding cities including Enterprise, Auburn and Opelika have funding at the level of 22 to 25 mills. (2) We need to continue to foster and encourage parental involvement in our school system.  “Yes, We Can” is a great start. I would suggest that PTO presidents of each school be allowed to fill out a job evaluation on the principal of their respective school and that this PTO evaluation be a part of the principal’s permanent record and performance evaluation. This would ensure that principals are receptive, cooperative, and acknowledge the importance of parental and PTO involvement in education. It would also encourage the parents to be more actively involved and they would then know that they have input into the leadership of their respective schools. (3) The vast majority of the Dothan City School teachers are motivated, competent and highly professional. Unfortunately there is a small number of teachers that have lost their passion for teaching. Trying to remove a tenured teacher from a classroom is almost impossible. We need a mechanism in place that allows us to identify those teachers that have lost their passion or have not kept pace with needed job skills. We should then provide additional training or other assistance to increase their competency levels. If this is unsuccessful then there needs to be a mechanism where the teacher can be removed from the classroom. However, at present, there is no mechanism to replace a tenured teacher that fails to perform.

Q: Before serving on the city school board, you were a city commissioner. How did that prepare you? Which job do you think you were better at?

A: Having previously served as city commissioner, I learned the importance of compromise and working with your fellow commissioners to carry out policies in a collaborative fashion. Each commissioner or school board member is elected by their constituents. At times there are legitimate differences of opinion as to policy. No commissioner or school board member can achieve anything alone. It’s only by working as a team in a collaborative fashion with your colleagues that you can bring about needed changes to improve the system. The school board is much more difficult than the city commission mainly because of all the restrictions placed upon the school board by federal and state law. It takes a tremendous, prolonged effort to bring about any significant change in the school system, primarily due to the inertia of the multiple state and federal regulations and guidelines under which we operate. I cannot comment on whether I was successful in either position. The citizens of Dothan will have to decide that issue.

Q: Are you done with serving on elected boards?

A: I’ve always believed in term limitations. After two terms as city commissioner, I voluntarily stepped aside. I feel the same for the Dothan Board of Education. I think I’ve done as much as I can at this time. The school system will benefit from someone with new ideas and enthusiasm, and perhaps a different way of looking at our current problems. I may run for elected office at some time in the future, but currently I have no plans.

Q: What are you going to miss as school board chair? What aren’t you going to miss?

A: I will miss having the opportunity to work on problems and improve the system.  I will not miss the executive sessions for student expulsion hearings. The most difficult work for me was sitting in judgment of a student and trying to decide whether they should be expelled from Dothan City Schools. The only time I ever voted to expel a student was when I thought they were a danger to a teacher or fellow student. Our greatest challenge for the future is children who come from dysfunctional families without a stable home life. Once they drop out of school or are expelled from the system then the only way they can survive is by crime. It is much more cost effective for society to spend $7,000 or $7,500 per year to educate a student as compared to $30,000 to $35,000 a year to incarcerate them in prison. The school system is frequently required to serve as a family and provide parental supervision and role models. This will continue to be a difficult challenge; however the alternative is anarchy and collapse of our society.