Garland "Skip" Parsons
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Garland "Skip" Parsons is an at-large representative on the Cabell County School Board in West Virginia. He was first elected to the board in 2010.[1]
Parsons sought another term in the general election on May 10, 2016.[2] He successfully won re-election to his seat.[3]
All five candidates running in the 2016 school board race discussed the issues facing the district with The Herald-Dispatch. To see what they said, check out the "Issues in the election" section below.
Biography
Parsons retired in January 2005 as an asbestos supervisor. Before he earned his credentials to be an asbestos supervisor, he worked for Cabell County Schools as a maintenance worker, plumber, supervisor and coordinator. Parsons earned a total of 120 credit hours in trade school.[1] Parsons and his wife have six children and eight grandchildren.[4]
Elections
2016
- See also: Cabell County Schools elections (2016)
Two of the five seats on the Cabell County Schools School Board were up for general election on May 10, 2016. In his bid for re-election, incumbent Garland "Skip" Parsons ran against four challengers—Scott Caserta, Gordon Ramey II, Austin Sanders and Denis Chapman.[2][5] Parsons won re-election, and Ramey won the open seat.[3]
Though the election was held at large, only two members from the same geographical district could be on the board during a given term. Parsons and Caserta were from District 4. Chapman and Ramey were from District 2, and Sanders was from District 1.[2][6] The three members of the board not up for election in 2016 were from Districts 1, 2 and 4. That meant that only one candidate from each of those districts could win election to the board, which pinned Parsons and Caserta against each other and Chapman and Ramey against each other.[5] Though Caserta received more votes than Ramey, he did not receive enough to defeat Parsons, which gave Ramey the chance to take the seat.[3][7]
Results
| Cabell County Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Garland "Skip" Parsons Incumbent |
31.03% | 8,924 |
| Scott Caserta | 24.02% | 6,907 |
| Gordon Ramey II |
17.70% | 5,089 |
| Denis Chapman | 16.79% | 4,827 |
| Austin Sanders | 10.35% | 2,976 |
| Write-in votes | 0.11% | 33 |
| Total Votes | 28,756 | |
| Source: Cabell County Clerk, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed May 27, 2016 | ||
Funding
The Cabell County Clerk's Office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. Ballotpedia requested this information, but the county did not provide it.
Endorsements
Parsons was endorsed by The Herald-Dispatch and the Cabell County Education Association Political Action Committee.[8][9]
2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Suzanne Oxley (District 2) Incumbent |
34.6% | 6,662 | |
| Nonpartisan | Garland "Skip" Parsons (District 4) Incumbent |
25.9% | 4,986 | |
| Nonpartisan | Karen Nance (District 1) | 22.2% | 4,285 | |
| Nonpartisan | Greg Borowski (District 4) | 17.3% | 3,343 | |
| Total Votes | 19,276 | |||
| Source: Huntington News, "Partial Cabell County Election Returns," accessed February 18, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2016
The Herald-Dispatch asked the candidates in this race the following four bolded questions. Parsons' responses are shown below.
| “ | What do you see your role should be as a member of the Board of Education?
Hire and dismiss Superintendent. Approve or reject new hires and transfers of existing employees. Formulate budget. Work with LSIC and PTO, State Board of Education on curriculum and civic organizations for the betterment of the school system. Work with Superintendent for Levies and Bonds Construction. How would you address the dropout issue? Re-entry Coaches, Graduation Coaches, before and after school tutoring and work with the parents to provide the necessary environment. Provide nutritious meals and clean safe environment. Encourage extracurricular activities for social interaction. How would you encourage more parental involvement? Work with LSIC, PTO and Civic Organizations to encourage Board Meeting attendance. Work with staff to get parents interested in improving the childrens school system rather than feeling it is out of their hands. How would you increase the rigor of the curriculum to benefit students? I believe all children can learn if they have nutritious meals, and a clean safe environment with a caring staff and teachers. We must all work together to see that this is achieved.[10] |
” |
| —Garland "Skip" Parsons (March 13, 2016)[4] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Garland 'Skip' Parsons' 'Cabell County Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Herald Dispatch, "Election candidate profile: Garland "Skip" Parsons," March 5, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cabell County Clerk, "2016 Candidate Filings," accessed February 1, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cabell County Clerk, "2016 Primary Election Results," accessed May 10, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Herald-Dispatch, "Cabell Board of Education candidate: Garland "Skip" Parsons," March 13, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cabell County Schools, "Board," accessed February 1, 2016
- ↑ West Virginia Legislature, "Chapter 18. Education: Article 5. County Board Of Education," accessed February 1, 2016
- ↑ The Herald-Dispatch, "Live Election Night Results," accessed May 10, 2016
- ↑ The Herald-Dispatch, "Editorial: Chapman, Parsons merit election to school board," April 25, 2016
- ↑ The Herald-Dispatch, "Campaign Trails: Groups announce endorsements for W.Va. candidates," April 19, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Cabell County Schools Elections | |
| Cabell County, West Virginia | |
| Election date: | May 10, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Garland "Skip" Parsons • Scott Caserta • Denis Chapman • Gordon Ramey II • Austin Sanders |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
