The two men seeking the vacant sixth district school board seat were interviewed by members of the county commission Thursday night.
The all-committees meeting was held at the UT Extension office in the new complex on South Congress Boulevard.
Last month, the county commission voted to accept applications through February 6 from anyone in the sixth district wishing to fill a vacancy on the school board created with the recent resignation Bruce Parsley.
Doug Stephens and Boyd Trapp applied for the position. One of them is expected to be appointed Monday night by the county commission to serve out Parsley’s unexpired term through August 31.
Stephens said he believes the school board and county commission should work together and develop a five and ten year plan for the betterment of the school system. “We’ve got a lot of issues at hand. I think that I am a good negotiator. I think I can bring some values to the table. I think the school board members need to be able to get along and communicate their issues better with the county commissioners. Just from what I’ve read and have knowledge, there’s a lot of issues there. I know how to look at finances. I deal with lots of money. I am extremely conservative in my view and values. I know some of the things that we need. We have a fifty year old school. We’ve got a forty year old school. They’re both in need of a new school. I know that. But we’ve got to have a way to pay for it. We’ve got to figure it out. We’ve got to have a plan. We don’t that I know of. We all agree that we need some new stuff. What are we going to do without a plan?. I want to have a five year plan and a ten year plan. In my work life, I have monthly goals and yearly goals. I have five year plans,” said Stephens.
A resident of Bethel Road, Stephens said he has lived here for twenty years and is active in the community. “We moved here in the county in 1991. I sell construction equipment and have since 1984. I went to high school in Sparta and graduated there. I am a club scout master here in DeKalb County and have been for four years. I am heavily involved in that. I have two kids, Emily and Will. Emily is in the ninth grade and Will is in fifth grade. I have a vested interest in the school system here. I go to Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church and have for eleven or twelve years. I am involved there. My wife, Mary Beth is from Smith County. She is a pharmacist here in town. I have a vested interest in seeing that the school system becomes better,” said Stephens.
Trapp, a lifelong resident of DeKalb County, said he would like the opportunity to serve. “The reason I am interested in it is that I would like to see DeKalb County have the best schools there are in the State of Tennessee. I think we’ve got some good schools already. We’ve got some good teachers but I just thought I’d give it a try (run for the school board) to try and help the school system as much as I can. I’d like to put a little input in it,” said Trapp.
Trapp and his wife Linda are residents of L. Hendixson Road in the Blue Springs community. “I have lived there forty six years ever since me and Linda married. I went to Liberty High School for three years and came up here in 1964 and was a member of the first graduating class at the high school (DCHS). I’ve got two grand kids, Jayrah and Jamison. Jamison is in the second grade and Jayrah is in the seventh grade. My daughter-in-law, Janet is a teacher. I have two sons. One of them, Dwane, has passed away. The other, Darrel works at Star Manufacturing. I have been involved a lot with the kids in Little League baseball. I was president of the Quarterback Club,” said Trapp.
Both Stephens and Trapp say they will run for a full four year term on the school board in the August 2 DeKalb County General Election.
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