David Patrick Terry, Lexington One

Name: David Patrick Terry District: Lexington School District One

Contact Information:
Email: dterry4lex1@gmail.com
Phone number: 803-727-9088
Website:
Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564025580059

School Board Trustee Duties

1. Why are you running for School Board Trustee?

I believe we need a change in our current school board. I do not believe the incumbents are representative of all stakeholders in our community. We need to be fiscally responsible and transparent with the taxpayer funds we are entrusted to spend. We need to attract and retain qualified professional teachers to ensure that our kids are getting the education they deserve. We need to meet all of the diverse needs of all learners within our school district population.

2. What is the most important issue facing your school district today or a key problem you want to address?

Fiscal responsibility and proper allocation of taxpayer funding. The board is entrusted to spend millions of taxpayer dollars each year to provide a quality public education to all students in our district. Currently I believe our funding priorities are misplaced.

3. If you could make only one change, what would you advocate?

If I could only make one change I would advocate for increased transparency in how funds are allocated each year. Currently the board funds whatever pet projects and studies they are interested in rather than putting that funding into classroom resources that directly impact student outcomes.

4. What knowledge and skills are currently lacking that you will bring to your School Board of Trustees?

Teamwork. Our current school board operates in a top down, fall inline approach. Our board should be collaborative and all working to improve education in our area for all stakeholders.

5. What does the word “stakeholder” mean to you?

Our stakeholders are all taxpayers, students, teachers, and parents within our district. We must respect them all and be good stewards of the resources they provide.

6. How do you plan to communicate with constituents and how accessible will you be?

I plan to communicate via facebook page primarily. I think it is the most broadly accessible to the most folks. I am accessible all the time. My phone doesn’t turn off, I have my email and facebook on my phone.

7. Have you supported millage increases in the past and what are the circumstances where you would support them in the future?

I supported the 2018 Bond referendum that created a millage increase. I do not support another at this time. The current board has not been good stewards of the previous millage increase and cannot be trusted to be given another blank check.

8. What should be the top funding priorities?

Our top funding priorities should be teacher salaries, student resources, and school safety for students and staff.

9. It is difficult to get an IEP or 504 for Special Education. How would you address this and how would you support Special Education?

As a parent of a child in special education this topic is uniquely close to me. We have to honor parent and doctor requests for evaluations for IEPs and 504s. This is an underserved and vulnerable population as a whole that the district needs to pay more attention to. There are too many working parents within our district that do not have the time or finances to continually attend multiple meetings and go back and forth with the district just to have their child provided the education we are legally required to provide.

10. What are your thoughts on the budget proviso requiring use of restrooms and changing facilities based on birth sex?

There are gender neutral bathrooms in almost all of our schools. The student population that would need to use those restrooms or changing rooms based on how they identify is small. Just let the kids go to that bathroom and get back to class.

11. Would you make any changes to your district's policy on challenging instructional materials, and if so, what would those changes be?

With the vagueness of the overall state law I believe the current policy on challenging instructional materials is adequate.

12. Teachers often complain about the lack of discipline in the classroom, stating that many times students are sent to the principal’s office and promptly returned to the classroom, where the student continues to disrupt the class. As a board member, how would you address student discipline through policy?

I would consult educational policy specialists to determine an adequate and appropriate discipline plan to be put into place within our district schools. We need to make sure that any district level discipline policy is functional for teachers, administrators, and other staff while also making sure the consequences are developmentally appropriate for the infractions.

Experience

13. What has been your involvement at a school level and at a Board of Trustee or district level?

My entire public education was completed with Lexington School District One. K-5 at Redbank Elementary, 6-8 at White Knoll Middle School, and 9-12 at White Knoll High School. I currently have one child enrolled in second grade at Lexington Elementary School with another child that will start Kindergarten at Lexington Elementary School next year. I was also a 6th and 8th grade ELA teacher at Lexington Middle School 2017-2019.

14. How many board meetings have you attended in person and over how long?

I have not attended board meetings in person previously. I have been reading the minutes post meeting for the last year as well as watching the video minutes of the meetings and will continue to do so along with attending meetings in person.

15. Have you spoken during citizens’ participation? If so, how often and what topics did you address?

I have not.

16. Have you made SC FOIA records requests for information? If so, what information were you seeking?

I have not.

17. Have you served on any district boards or committees? If so, which ones?

I have not.

Get to Know You

18. Do you have kids currently enrolled in Lexington One? If so, which schools do they attend? If they have graduated, what schools did they attend?

My oldest son is in 2nd grade at Lexington Elementary. My younger son will be in Kindergarten at Lexington Elementary next year.

19. What is your current occupation and are your hours flexible?

I am a Project Manager for a local sitework General Contractor. My hours and vacation days are flexible to provide time to serve not just at scheduled board meetings but in schools on a regular basis.

20. What other occupations have you held, if any?

Prior to entering the construction industry I was the Director of Tennis Operations for The University of South Carolina’s Varsity tennis teams 2019-2023. I created and managed yearly budgets for two teams, booked and managed all travel for groups of 10-15, marketed, managed, and staffed our summer camps each year.

Before the University I was a 6th and 8th grade teacher at Lexington Middle School. I taught reading, writing and critical thinking to students in our community.

Before teaching I worked for different eye doctors offices as an optometric and ophthalmic assistant as well as an office manager. I processed paperwork, insurance, payments, and prepared patients to be seen by the doctor.

21. How much time do you plan to invest each week in board-related activities?

As much time as it takes.

22. Please list your community involvement – previous and current.

I am a local small business owner and donate to our local teachers, classrooms and schools independently.

Politics

23. In an age where partisan politics have crept into K-12 classrooms and boards, how would you describe your position on partisan politics?

Partisan politics should not be a topic of discussion in our classrooms. Partisan politics do not belong in public education as a whole. Public education is public good for all in the community regardless of political affiliation. When I was a teacher I did my best to avoid topics that would give away political affiliation or could possibly influence students one way or another.

Other

24. Please include any other relevant information not mentioned above.

Lexington One - Specific

1. Do you support districted board seats? Why or why not?

Districted board seats within our district that covers such a large and socioeconomically diverse area may not be a bad idea. I do not think it is necessary to district them, but our existing board members need to do a better job of being representative of all constituents and stakeholders, not just those most immediate to them.

2. Do you support the planned 2025 bond referendum?

Based on the allocation of funds from our previous 2018 Bond referendum I do not support a new referendum that would increase millage for our tax base at this time.

3. If the referendum passes in 2025, how would you ensure that projects stay on track both financially and within the scheduled time frame?

We would need to write our contracts with escalation clauses so that prices stay relatively the same and also include liquidated damages for missed time frames. We would also need to do a better job of not just selecting the lowest bidder but also a bidder that is most qualified and able to direct the time and resources to getting the jobs done on time and on budget.

4. What are your thoughts on reporting teachers to the SC Department of Education for breach of contract when teachers do not know how much they will be paid prior to signing their employment contract?

I believe that while it puts us in a bad spot for teachers to leave after signing contracts to make more money elsewhere, it puts all of public education in an even worse spot by suspending qualified educators because they did what was best for their families and their ability to pay their own bills. If we were fiscally competitive this would be a non-issue. We MUST be fiscally competitive with the districts around us and not punish teachers for doing what is best for their families.

5. Do you believe Lexington One would benefit from a forensic audit of financial records?

Absolutely.

6. Are you in favor of electing officers by secret ballot? If not, will you go on the record prior to the vote, per policy, to announce that you want a voice vote?

I believe in transparency in government. Secret ballot does not provide transparency and creates back office politics and deal making. It should be a public voice vote.

7. How do you plan to communicate with your constituents, including providing nonconfidential information prior to and after meetings since all documents are not made available online?

I plan to remain active on my campaign Facebook page and to provide updates to the public.

8. Citizens' participation has been a big topic of discussion, with the board limiting the time of speakers and who is allowed to speak. Currently business owners who pay taxes but do not live in Lexington One are not allowed to speak. In addition, there are several restrictions on the topics speakers are allowed to discuss. What are your thoughts?

As of now the policy says, “the board chair has the right to terminate any public comment presentation which does not adhere to the guidelines set forth in this policy.” It goes on to say, “the chair also reserves the right to limit time for individual speakers.” That is an awful lot of unrestricted power for one person. I believe in the case of the chair stopping a speaker, a quick informal show of hands should be made to agree to end their speaking or to allow them to continue. The vote should be made on a simple majority to vote for stoppage. We cannot allow a single representative to stop a stakeholder from speaking. It may contribute to the length of meetings but would relieve the appearance of bias on the part of the chair if they stop someone from speaking for a violation of the prescribed guidelines.

9. Currently the public has no way of tracking new positions that have been created or promotions from within. Would you support announcing the positions of the new hires and not just the number of new hires?

Absolutely. Salary disclosures for school and district administrators over $50,000 should also be public information not requiring a FOIA request. This is standard practice for state employees, it should be standard practice within our district. It should be fairly easy for the district office to compile a list and make it searchable.

10. Currently this board has no policy regarding censuring a fellow board member. Are you in support of censuring? How would you address violations of the Ethics Act by a fellow board member, a rogue board member, chronic absenteeism, or a board member that withholds information from other members?

I am in support of censure. Especially in light of recent statements made by current board members to the public.

Board members sign an ethics contract yearly currently. When they willfully violate the ethics act they should voluntarily vacate their seat creating a special election. Similarly, if a board member is chronically absent and misses more than 10% of yearly scheduled meetings without exceptional circumstances they should voluntarily vacate their seat creating a special election.

11. Would you support standing committees? If so, what would those committees be?

I would support standing committees. Safety committee, Development committee, Finance committee, Policy committee

12. Lexington One does not have an internal auditor and they do not review monthly budget statements with the Chief Financial Officer during board meetings. Would you support the hiring of an internal auditor? Do you support being briefed on district finances during monthly meetings?

I do not believe we need an internal auditor. We don’t need to create another district office position with large overhead and little impact in our schools. We certainly need an external auditor.

The board should be briefed during monthly meetings. How can we be expected to be good stewards of the money we are entrusted with if we are not aware of spending and available funds?

13. Currently, all schools in the district are eligible for the federal Community Eligibility Program. The board signed a resolution in June 2024 choosing not to participate in the program, citing a “financial hardship”. Do you support participating in the district-wide no-cost meal program?

We should have continued the district wide no cost meal program. We had a 10 million dollar surplus in 2023 and I have been told they believe we have another 6.5-7.5 million dollar surplus coming. Those funds should have been used to feed our students regardless of parents financial status. We should never

have students going hungry within our community. If students are hungry they can’t focus on school, if they can’t focus on school then they aren’t getting the best education we can provide them.