Brian Habing, Lexington Two
Name: Brian Habing
District: Lexington 2
Contact Information
Email: habingforlex2@gmail.com
Phone number: 803-739-2686
Website: habingforlex2.com
Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564429647952
https://www.instagram.com/habing.for.lex2
https://x.com/HabingForLex2/
School Board Trustee Duties
1. Why are you running for School Board Trustee?
I have been impressed by how seriously the current Lexington 2 School Board takes their responsibility to continually improve the district and its schools. Even when they disagree, the members have seemed to offer constructive advice and to try and make what will pass better. Media reports suggest this isn't the case in some nearby districts, where the focus might be more on hot-button issues that won’t improve many students’ educations–or on personal battles with fellow board members. I am running for a BOT seat this cycle because we can’t afford for that to happen in Lex 2.
2. What is the most important issue facing your school district today or a key problem you want to address?
Lexington Two has an incredibly varied student body, and the students and their parents need an appropriately wide array of programs and assistance. For the 2024 Algebra end of course exam results, our percent of Limited English Proficient students was 23.6% vs. under 5% for Lex 1 and Lex-Rich 5; and our percent of Pupils in Poverty was 77.2% vs. under 46% for Lex 1 and Lex-Rich 5. As such, our district needs to have a much greater focus on what is needed to assist the students (and their guardians) in these groups–providing all allowed resources to help parents and guardians determine if a 504/IEP is needed, and if so to obtain it; providing the additional needed translation services and translated materials; and making the school information and information systems easier to navigate for all parents. Importantly, this must be done while also continuing to expand and improve our regular courseofferings, building on the great programs at the Innovation Center, and expanding our AP and dual-credit offerings.
3. If you could make only one change, what would you advocate?
Individual Education Plans (IEP and 504) have become omnipresent for teachers, and vital for many students and parents. The district needs to devote even more resources to helping educate parents on how to understand and obtain these plans, and how to ensure that their student’s special education rights are being protected. I’d work to provide significant support to schools for smoothing the interchange between parents and students with the school and teachers, and providing the support teachers need to make sure the many plans they have in each class of students are implemented.
4. What knowledge and skills are currently lacking that you will bring to your School Board of Trustees?
My training is in statistics and educational measurement–on examining numbers for things that are important or inconsistent, and for figuring out what is behind those numbers. For example, I can help ask questions about our school report cards and help determine where we are succeeding and failing. This is impossible to do by merely looking at the final grade the state gives and comparing it to the scores of other districts, whose students differ greatly from ours.
From my work on various committees at USC, one of the skills I bring is looking for unintended consequences of actions, and trying to find ways to avoid them and still achieve the goal. It’s also given me practice in trying to find compromises between those with competing interests, and to keep an eye on the underlying rules we can’t break.
5. What does the word “stakeholder” mean to you?
The stakeholders for a school district include the students, parents, teachers, staff, and administrators, residents and other taxpayers, and future employers of our graduates.
6. How do you plan to communicate with constituents and how accessible will you be?
I currently have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerlyTwitter) and would put out information there and take questions. In addition to regularly checking my social media accounts, I am also available by phone, text, and email. In any event, my goal would be to always keep them honestly informed about the district.
7. Have you supported millage increases in the past and what are the circumstances where you would support them in the future?
As background, the Tax Year 2023 millage rates for Lexington Two were 162.9 for School Operations and 79.5 for School bonds. This is by far the lowest in Lexington County for Operations (next was 263.670 for Lexington Three) and second lowest for bonds (Lexington Richland 5 is 69.5, Lexington One is 90.0).
[See https://lexco.sc.gov/sites/lexco/files/Documents/Lexington%20County/Departments/Auditor/Mileage%20Information/TY2023_Millage_Schedule.pdf]
I strongly supported the 2014 bond referendum that passed with over 65% of the vote. Current board member Kevin Key was a member of a committee pushing for passage of the referendum.
As I think trustee Bray noted at the June 20 BOT meeting, we also want to regularly claim the available look back mills, so that we don’t fall behind. I imagine I would support further increases, if we had a specific need that we could present to our voters as something that is emphatically worth the extra tax dollars. I think this is what was done very well in 2014.
Tangentially, I think it is vital for all local governments to remind their constituents that the county-wide reassessment coming up will not increase the money taken in by the districts–the millage rate is rolled back to keep the total taken in the same and on average across the district, everyone is paying the same (even if some individuals are higher or lower). It is also important that the public and county officials are informed in
detail of the impact of Fee in Lieu of Tax (FILOT) agreements on our district.
8. What should be the top funding priorities?
In recent years, Lex2 has had a strong focus on making our teacher salaries competitive with or better than those in surrounding districts, and in keeping up with maintenance and upkeep issues. It has also worked to improve programs like those at the Innovation Center and its AP and dual enrollment programs. We need to continue those efforts!
After ensuring that those gains are maintained, my top funding priorities would be:
● Translators or translation services needed for non- or limited English speaking parents to easily communicate with the teachers and administration, and the supplies needed for the ML programs for students
● Recruitment of additional special education teachers to help reduce class size, and of assistants to support them
● Find out what additional support teachers need and fund it (ways to streamline and reduce paperwork? assistance managing IEPs/504 plans? More immediate response with student discipline?)I think it is necessary in the budget process to keep track of the fact that some things that don’t show up as instructional are vital to quality instruction, and their funding shouldn’t be viewed as of lesser importance simply because of the column it goes in.
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?
These are among the most important issues facing our district and its students and parents.
In terms of IEP and 504 plans, we need to
● Provide all approved resources to help parents and guardians navigate the system for finding the medical and psychological resources to determine the best way to help their students, and to develop an individualized plan if needed
● Ensure the schools have the staff and teacher support to hold timely and effective IEP and 504 meetings
● Deliver the support that teachers in the regular classrooms need for keeping track of the various accommodations in the IEPs and 504 plans For special education, we need to improve recruiting to reduce class size and ensure the needed number of classroom assistants and shadows.
One area of concern is also being sure that no teacher has to worry about being physically unsafe in their own classroom, and that the students are never put in situations where they aren’t either.
10. What are your thoughts on the budget proviso requiring use of restrooms and changing facilities based on birth sex?
When my wife and I were in the special care nursery with our son, there was a very premature infant a few beds over with a group of doctors attempting to figure out the sex. In the past, the doctors may have guessed and performed surgery to make the child match their best guess, hoping the hormones down the road aligned with their decision.
Many of these surgeries are now viewed as risky, unnecessary, and harmful unless needed to address some basic functional need. In terms of birth certificates, Germany–whose companies employ more than 40,000 South Carolinians–allows the parents to choose indeterminate (“divers”) instead of forcing a choice of male or female. Similar options are now available in several US states as well. By the current budget proviso, a BMW executive’s child with one of these conditions would have to be told to use the private bathroom at the other end of the building–if one even exists–and that there is no shower for them.In regards to “determined by anatomy and genetics existing at time of birth”, a child with Swyer Syndrome (aka 46, XY complete gonadal dysgenesis) may have female genitalia, uterus, and fallopian tubes. But they have XY chromosomes. This is often not noticed until they fail to go through puberty because they lack ovaries. If given hormone replacement therapy, some may be able to become pregnant through IVF; if not, they will not go through puberty. Upon diagnosis, does one suddenly switch one’s preteen child with this condition from the softball team to baseball team and tell them they can’t use either boys’ or girls’ bathrooms? Does it depend on the appearance, the genes, or the testosterone level? Similar questions arise for those with conditions such as 46, XY complete androgen insensitivity; and 46, XX male syndrome (aka de la Chapelle syndrome). And, there are many other conditions where one may have only a single sex chromosome, more than two, or different pairs in different parts of the body.
While transgender issues are contentious, just by looking at the vast array of intersex conditions, it seems clear that gender and sex are infinitely more complicated than are generally allowed for in political discourse. This is obviously not the answer some people would like to hear, but I am incensed by the way some of God’s children have seemingly been written off as mistakes in the name of political expediency. I can understand the general public not knowing about them - but for lawmakers and their staffs doing any sort of due diligence on this proviso, I can see no other explanation given that the conditions I discuss above have been well-studied for decades, have no scientific debate, and were even part of another bill put into law last session.
In terms of bathrooms and showers, one of the issues generally raised is sexual assault. It is estimated that around 1 in 6 women are raped at at least once in their lives, there are many more experiencing other sexual assaults, and these crimes are also committed against men and boys. I emphatically wish that policies that worked against sexual assaults got more attention - including ones that would prevent the many sexual assaults reportedly committed in recent years in SC by those such as multiple school resource officers, teachers, youth leaders, pastors, and high school sports teams. For bathrooms and showers, some institutions are turning towards using single-person bathrooms and shower stalls. More generally, some institutions also ban youth and non-guardian adults ever being alone one-on-one; discourage youth with large age differences being alone one-on-one; have mandated anti-hazing training for youth and adults and strictly enforce their zero-tolerance policies; and continually refine their required educational programs for mandated reporters, the youth; and the custodial adults.
For more:
● Memo on Budget Proviso 1.120 from the South Carolina Department of Education
https://ed.sc.gov/newsroom/school-district-memoranda-archive/guidance-on-budget-proviso-1120/guidance-on-budget-proviso-1120-memo/● On Swyer’s syndrome: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/swyer-syndrome
● On Intersex conditions in general: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001669.htm
● Scouting’s Barriers to Abuse - https://www.scouting.org/health-and-safety/gss/gss01/#a
11. Would you make any changes to your district's policy on challenging instructional materials, and if so, what would those changes be?
Lexington Two is currently changing its policy to match that recently put in place by the SC Department of Education.
For any changes following the implementation of these new regulations, it is important that any decisions about materials be transparent and leave a paper trail (even if it is merely the “weeding” of books that haven’t been checked out in years by the librarian); that any volunteer committees reviewing materials be representative of the community as a whole; that discussions of materials at board meetings continue to provide the relevant summary of previous reports and be recorded and made available as all meetings are; and that the implications of objectively enforcing any standards be honestly explored in terms of unintended consequences in what books they would affect.
Any policy must avoid the ridiculous situation of having it be possible for literally every instructional material in the school being challenged and taken out of use for review. Or where things like Shakespeare or the Bible, books for dual credit English courses or anatomy classes, or standard encyclopedia sets would be banned if the rules were followed.
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 am not sure that the issue is policy, so much as making sure the current policies are enforced consistently. Parents and students need to know teachers will enforce the policies consistently. Teachers need to know that administrators will back them up when they enforce the policies as intended, and that they as teachers are expected to enforce them. And administrators need to know the district and board will back them up. There should almost never be a time where a teacher or substitute calls for administrative support, and are told no one is immediately (or almost immediately) available.
Substitute teacher training should include instruction on discipline expectations, and substitute teachers should be expected to enforce the teachers’ classroom policies.Beyond simply maintaining discipline, the schools and district need to have plans and mechanisms in place to help find the root cause of repeated problems and to provide any allowable assistance to the parents and students for resolving the issues.
Experience
13. What has been your involvement at a school level and at a Board of Trustee or district level?
At the school level, I have participated in several opportunities to read to my son’s class and chaperone field trips. On a District level, I keep abreast of the board meetings through live attendance and/or livestream.
14. How many board meetings have you attended in person and over how long?
Three this year. I have greatly appreciated that Lexington Two has led the way by providing a livestream of the meetings, and was pleased to see they’ve added workshop livestreams as well. It’s very helpful for going back to look up a particular issue, and increases access for those that are invested in their school district, but can’t attend.
15. Have you spoken during citizens’ participation? If so, how often and what topics did you address?
I spoke at a meeting this year about how one proposal on giving raises would have the unintended and demoralizing consequence of more senior employees making less than their more junior colleagues; and about the importance of considering the effects of inflation and expenses on all employees.
16. Have you made SC FOIA records requests for information? If so, what information were you seeking?
No
17. Have you served on any district boards or committees? If so, which ones?
No
Get to Know You
18. Do you have kids currently enrolled in public schools? If so, which schools do they attend? If they have graduated, what schools did they attend?
My son is currently at Brookland-Cayce High School. He previously attended Saluda River Academy for the Arts Elementary School, Lexington Two Virtual Academy and South Carolina Connections Academy (during COVID), and Northside Middle School (after COVID).
19. What is your current occupation and are your hours flexible?
I am an Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of South Carolina and Director of the University’s Undergraduate Data Science and Data Analytics Programs. I have some flexibility outside the times I am scheduled to teach. I also work with the non-profit National Institute of Statistical Sciences as an Associate Director.
20. What other occupations have you held, if any?
In high school, I worked stock at a retail store, as a busser at a family restaurant, a groundskeeper at a water theme park, and as a kitchen aide and quartermaster at a scout summer camp. As an undergraduate student in college, I shift-managed a pizza restaurant and worked as a program commissioner and commissary director at scout summer camp. As a graduate student, I was a teaching assistant in Mathematics and in Statistics, and a Research Assistant in Statistics.
21. How much time do you plan to invest each week in board-related activities?
Up to ten hours a week on a regular basis, with more on some occasions.
22. Please list your community involvement – previous and current.
I am a past president of the Westover Acres HOA (a neighborhood association); past den leader and cubmaster, and current committee chair of Cub Scout Pack 308; and current committee member of Scout Troop 1.
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?
It feels like America has always had sharp partisan politics during election season. Maybe it is rose-colored glasses, but it feels like in the late 70s through the 80s and into the early 90s that once the election was over, the politicians transformed into statesmen and got down to the job of governing. Since the mid-90s, it feels like the focus once the election is over has shifted to still playing politics like sports fandom, instead of trying to govern. I think this is a cancer on the American body politic. I think local politics - at least in West Columbia and the Lexington 2 school board - has mostly avoided this and that it would be a horrible mistake for the state house to make our local races partisan.
Other
24. Please include any other relevant information not mentioned above.
One wouldn’t judge the player effort and the quality of training of someone who had picked up golf last year versus someone who had practiced for a decade, by simply seeing what their scores are on the same course - but some of the numbers on our school report card do exactly this in regards to English language proficiency. Similar analogies could be done with regard to a golfer with a disability to one without, or to judging a pair of golfers and their golf trainers where one golfer also had a professional dietician and personal fitness trainer and the other didn’t.
Trying to judge how our district performs relative to other districts, and what our district needs to do to improve, must take the demographics of our students into account. Students who also have to battle against the effects of poverty, the barriers due to disability, and/or learning a new language have much more to overcome to achieve high standardized test scores than those who don’t. Similarly, looking only at overall scores and not the separate parts of the tests and failing to adjust for where the students were the year before provides very limited actionable information. By looking at the data appropriately, we can better see where we are succeeding and where we need to put more effort to improve.
