Published: July 02, 2008 10:30 pm            

Murray school board candidate profile: Greg Shoemaker

Greg Shoemaker says Murray County Schools has taken some big steps to reduce its dropout rate. He points to programs such as Dream Catcher and NovaNet, which allow students to make up missed credits, as making a big difference.

That improvement is one reason, he says, why he’d give the school system a grade of B.

“An A would mean everything is perfect,” he said.

Things are good and getting better, but they aren’t perfect, says Shoemaker, who served in the District 7 at-large seat on the Board of Education from 2003-2006 and who is now running in the July 15 Republican primary for the board’s District 4 seat. Shoemaker faces incumbent Jonathan “Billy” Webb in the GOP primary. The winner will face Democrat Raymond Keener in November.

The dropout rate is still too high, for instance, says Shoemaker.

“What else can we do? I’d just have to get in there and see what is the best opportunities,” he said.

Shoemaker, 39, graduated from Murray County High School in 1986. He earned an associate’s degree from Dalton Junior College and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia. He now works in sales at Beaulieu of America.

Shoemaker and his wife Leigh Ann have been married seven years. He has a stepdaughter, Hannah, and two children: Emiliegh and Kyle. He says having children is one reason he takes an interest in the school system.

“I want to help make it the best it can be. I want to give back to the community again,” he said.

Shoemaker says he isn’t sure whether the board has been meeting too often.

“I don’t know all the issues. With the new high school of course you are going to have more meetings. That’s just a given. Now, does it require as many as they have had, I don’t know,” he said. “If there’s a way to combine issues, not have three or four separate meetings, you need to do that. I’m not saying they haven’t done that.”

School board members make $50 per meeting.

Shoemaker says school security is another issue of concern to him. He says he’d like to review the security systems at each school as well as the number of school resource officers available at each school to make sure they are still adequate. He notes that the new high school, scheduled to open in 2010, will probably require at least one new school resource officer.

        

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