Three Vying for Easley School Board Seat

Filing for school board has closed and the only contested race is for the Easley seat.

Incumbent Judy Edwards will face challengers Dr. Valerie Ramsey and David Whittemore in November.

A school teacher for 30 years, Edwards retired from East End Elementary in 1999. Her husband Bob Edwards co-owned and operated Alexander Drug Co.

Edwards has 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren. One of her daughters and her husband teach in Pickens County Schools. Her other daughter and her husband are pharmacists in Easley. All 4 of her grandchildren attend the Easley schools.

She is active in her church, First Baptist Church in Easley and has served as deacon and chairman of deacons. She is also an active member of the Easley Women's Club.

She said her priorities include making sure teachers receive their STEP increases, planning for future growth and ensuring all sports receive equal treatment and support from the district.

She said this year marked the first time in three years teachers received STEP increases.

“Really it was four years, because four years ago, we gave STEP increases than we did furloughs, which was essentially taking the STEP increases back,” Edwards said. “This is the first year in four years that they've gotten a raise or STEP increase at all.”

Ensuring increases in STEP is critical in retaining teachers in the district, she said.

“Districts all around us have been given STEP increases,” Edwards said. “It makes our teachers look elsewhere.”

Edwards says she would like the district when renovating Gettys Middle School and converting the old Easley school, to have one school devoted to fifth and sixth grades and the other school devoted to seventh and eigth grades.  

“It'd be great to build it large enough for future growth,” Edwards said. “Doing that isn't something you can do overnight, it's something that has to be planned, but it would be easier if we already had the buildings." 

“We're famous for building just what we need, rather than planning for the future,” she said.

She said she wants to see that all district facilities are taken care of, and advocates selling excess property in order to help maintenance on facilities.

Another priority is seeing that sports are treated equitably.

“That our non-revenue sports are able to function as well as our revenue sports,” Edwards said. “I want to be sure they have the equipment to be able to do that.”

She says she wants to ensure teacher layoffs are avoided and that class sizes remain the same, but says that's largely on what happens in Columbia regarding the state budget.

Ramsey is a retired Chief Business Officer, who worked for Clemson University for 33 years.

She currently chairs the United Way of Pickens County Board of Directors and is an adjunct professor at Southern Wesleyan University.

Ramsey has a Ph.D and a Master's degree from Clemson, as well as degrees from Southern Wesleyan and Tri-County Technical College.

Born and raised in Easley, Ramsey says she knows first hand the power of education.

“I was a PHD at 16, - a pregnant high school dropout,” she said. “So to go from that PHD to have earned a Ph.D from Clemson University, shows you the power of education to change a life. I have seen a huge change in my life because of education.

Ramsey says she's passionate about the drop out rate and the graduation rate.

“Just because you drop out of high school, doesn't mean you have to drop out of life,” Ramsey said. “I want to see that when our students graduate, they are college ready and not just college eligible. I want to be a strong advocate in the community for teachers and for learners.”

A lifelong resident of Easley, Whittemore has been active in the United Way, Easley Rotary Club and Easley Chamber of Commerce for more than 30 years and involved with Pickens County Meals on Wheels for more than 20.

He served on Easley City Council for 19 years.

“I've got quite a footprint in the community,” Whittemore said.

He attended Easley schools and graduated from Clemson.

He said he thought his political career was over but people encouraged him to consider running.

“It wasn't a quick decision,” Whittemore said.

Whittemore currently serves on the Education Oversight Committee, but says he will give up that seat if elected to the Pickens County School Board.

He said one of his goals is to ensure that the district's new facilities “look ten years from now like they look today.”

“To have a maintenance program that keeps those schools spotless, that keeps everything in working order, keeps the grounds manicured,” he said.

He said he wants to do his part to ensure the school board has a better relationship with the community.

“I want to do my best to be a team player and unite the school board,” Whittemore said. “Compromise would be the word I'd use. My goal would be to have a friendly group that all disagree at times but work it out – work it out in the meeting rooms like they're supposed to.”

Incumbents Alex Saitta, who holds the Pickens Seat, and Dr. Herbert Cooper, who holds the Clemson seat, face no opposition in the November election.