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District 4 is east of Interstate 65 and includes Cool Springs as well as McKay’s Mill and the Clovercroft and Trinity areas. If you vote at Prairie Life, Millview Church of Christ or Franklin Christian, you’re in District 4. Confirm your district by entering your address here.
Incumbent Anne McGraw
Facebook page: Liked by District 3 WCSB candidate Christy Coleman, District 5 WCSB chair Gary Anderson, District 6 WCSB member Jay Galbreath, District 7 WCSB member Bobby Hullett, District 7 WCSB candidate Jennifer Luteran, District 9 WCSB member Rick Wimberly, District 11 WCSB candidate KC Haugh
Current school engagement: Mother of two Trinity Elementary daughters, Trinity PTO website manager, Coding Club instructor in the SACC after school program at Trinity; WCSB school board member appointed in September 2015, serves on the Policy and Legislative Committees and the WCS CTE (Career & Technical Education) Advisory Council
Professional: Senior manager in Global Digital Marketing at Nissan North America; bachelor’s degree from Georgia Tech
History: Moved to the Nashville area in 2007 and relocated to Franklin four years ago for her job and the public school system
Politics: Appointed to the WCSB by the County Commission after Paul Bartholomew’s summer 2015 resignation; “self-described as not having a political bone in her body”
Other groups and associations: Make-A-Wish volunteer and Wish Granter, Nissan’s Women’s Business Synergy Team Advisory Council and STEM Community Outreach committee
Endorsements: WillCo Rising PAC, Williamson Business PAC, Mayor Rogers Anderson, received a $150 campaign contribution from former D12 WCSB member Vicki Vogt, 13 Williamson County Commissioners
Public social media posts: N/A
“Being on the school board is such a privilege and one I take very seriously on behalf of my two young daughters and all the kids in WCS. District 4 is already on its second board member in as many years, and I strongly believe providing stability and consistency with an informed and engaged board member is in the best interest of our students, parents, teachers and administrators. I’m running because our kids deserve someone who fosters open dialogue and is personally invested in the success of our public schools.”
Joey Czarneski
joey4wcsb@gmail.com, (615) 308-9497
Facebook page: Liked by J. Lee Douglas (founder and president of 912 TN) who endorsed Burgos, Cash, Curlee and Emerson in 2014, County Commissioner Kathy Danner who endorsed Burgos, Curlee and Emerson ($150) in 2014 and Laurie Cardoza-Moore in 2015, 2014 County Commission candidate and 912 leader Cyndi Miller who endorsed Burgos ($500) and Curlee ($1000) in 2014, anti-WCS activist Julie West, Raymond Baker, WCRP Executive Director Jean Barwick who endorsed Burgos, Cash, Curlee and Emerson in 2014, District 6 WCSB member Jay Galbreath, District 5 WCSB candidate Julie Mauck; Facebook friends with Glen Casada, Steve Gill, Stuart Cooper
Website: N/A
Twitter: N/A
Current school engagement: Wife is a Reading Specialist/Literacy Coach at Scales Elementary, rising 6th grade son; school volunteer; did not attend the 5/16 WCSB Candidate Panel on Special Education
Professional: Application development manager at health services company Optum; Human Ecology degree from Tennessee Tech
History: Has lived in Franklin for the past 10 years
Politics: Says he has “no political agenda to plug,” self-identifies as “fiscally conservative,” ran for a Franklin at-large aldermanic seat in 2011 and was supported by Kathy Danner, Bev Burger, and Laurie Cardoza-Moore
Other groups and associations: N/A
Endorsements: Williamson County Homeschool Coalition, 912 TN, WCRP Executive Committee, J. Lee Douglas (founder and president of 912 TN) who endorsed Burgos, Cash, Curlee and Emerson in 2014, County Commissioners Kathy Danner and Gregg Lawrence, Franklin Alderman and 2014 WCSB recruiter and campaign consultant Bev Burger who endorsed Bartholomew, Burgos, Cash, Curlee, and Emerson; self-described “fierce opponent of the Looney status quo” (per June 2014 Kent Davis email) Lona Heins, 2015 Franklin alderman candidate Steven Undercoffer (supported by Susan Curlee and County Commissioners Barb Sturgeon and Kathy Danner)
2011 endorsements: County Commissioners Kathy Danner and Brandon Ryan, Franklin Alderman Bev Burger, Laurie Cardoza-Moore
Public social media posts:
9/9/2015 Facebook Post – Czarneski, who had run for the interim D4 WCSB seat, put his support behind Laurie Cardoza-Moore
“I’m working with my constituents in District 4 — talking to them, meeting with them.”
District 4 Home Page Candidate Survey Responses
Anne McGraw…what’s your philosophy on school rezoning, grandfathering and the anticipation of future growth for rezoning?This will be an issue with Williamson County Schools for years to come with our current anticipated growth rate. I support the approach that the superintendent has taken in the past to limit large county-wide rezoning to minimum five-year periods. My goal is to keep communities together whenever possible and a goal of no more than 25 percent splinter feeders at the high school level. I fully support grandfathering at this time and believe we should continue this practice.Rezoning is always a hot topic, and it is important the board work closely with our county and city leaders to project and plan for growth 10, 15 even 20 years out. I am committed to researching and studying ways to build expandable campuses that will accommodate our growth without displacing students unnecessarily or requiring more dollars to purchase ever increasing land.Rezonings and school size decisions are going to happen in early fall, and we will need a board member who’s completely up to speed on the multiple dynamics and complexities involved to best represent our district’s unique needs.Many of our District Four schools are near or even over capacity, and we need to be thinking strategically about things like feeder patterns, grandfathering and where and how to build new schools in order to minimize the impact on our families and taxpayers.We are really feeling the burn with the new home construction in the southern portion of the county. So rezoning is going to happen, and we are already out of space. We need to build new schools, and as soon as we build a school, it’s full.What might seem obvious and easy never is, as I’ve quickly come to learn in this role. Open communication and intense focus on this pressing issue is critical during this time.What is your position on standardized testing – is there too much, too little?Public education as a whole does too much standardized testing. I want our teachers – so do they – to be able to spend their limited time in the classrooms focused on educating our students.This quality time should be used to prefect the students’ critical thinking, writing, reading and math skills, so they are prepared for the next step in their life’s journey. The more time focusing on testing is less time focusing on the overall education of our students.State testing has been a nightmare for our students and teachers this year. To say everyone is frustrated is an understatement.Testing certainly has a place in public schools, but the high stakes environment and instructional time spent preparing for them needs to be reined in immediately for everyone’s sake. I think we’re at a tipping point right now, and districts across Tennessee need to stand firm with what we will and won’t accept while working with the state to find common sense solutions.I think there needs to be healthy conversation about what is reasonable. I think most people involved don’t think it’s the way it should be. It’s a state issue, and we don’t have much control. If school boards stood united across the state, that could become a unified voice. The momentum is swinging for a reduction in testing.What is your position on Common Core?Common Core is touted as a set of standards, right? Every school system needs and must have a set of standards that the kids are expected to achieve, but it should not come for the federal government.Williamson County Schools will continue to meet the standards set by the state, but even more importantly, I support Williamson County Schools exceeding those standards and setting our own above and beyond.I appreciate state Rep. Glen Casada’s stance on giving our state and local systems more control over our education and not have the power at the federal level.I’m glad that our legislators just voted to phase it out here in Tennessee so it’s no longer an issue we need to worry about at a district level. I don’t know anyone that was a fan of Common Core.What do you think of current state education standards?The standards Williamson County Schools have set for themselves are higher than the state standards. Dr. [Mike] Looney has stated this himself, and I support him in assuring that we always have the ability to set additional or higher standards at the local level.The new standards have certainly had a great deal of public involvement and scrutiny, and I believe they’re appropriately rigorous and will thereby prepare our students for their next stage of life, whatever that might look like for them after graduating from Williamson County Schools.Do you think world religions should be part of history or social studies curricula?The accurate and balanced inclusion of the impact and contributions that world religions have had on western civilization is acceptable as part of our students’ studies.What is not acceptable is spending unbalanced time on the history of one religion over another or the teaching of particular beliefs and theologies or making judgments in the classroom about the merits of those religions.Those discussions are for religion class and not social studies. I also believe that there needs to be a discussion if six and seventh grade is the best time to include these discussions. Ninth and 10th grade may be a much better time for this.Absolutely. There is no way to learn about world history without knowledge of the many religions that influenced events throughout the centuries.Our children will be living and working in a global community and need to have academic, contextual knowledge of past and current cultures and societies in order to be successful. I live this firsthand in my job at a global corporation where cultural diversity is the norm, not the exception.The fear of indoctrination from religious awareness is unjustified and baffling to me. When I was in school, I was part of a role-playing project where we reenacted the Nuremberg trial over a few weeks, and I can promise you that having to comprehend and even play-act the words and arguments of Nazi leaders didn’t turn me into a Neo-Nazi.Rational people understand the difference between exposing or explaining belief systems versus imposing or promoting them. We need to give our kids – and our teachers – more credit than that.What is your opinion of the current state of WCS and the current leadership?The state of Williamson County Schools system is very strong.Our current leadership has demonstrated a strong ability to set the vision of our education system at a high level. If I sit on the board, I will encourage the other members to look more at the details of the implementation of that vision to ensure its success.Current leadership is exceptional, and I believe we have the right team to see us through this time of growth. Working in public education right now isn’t for the weak of heart. The team we have in our schools and running the district is truly excellent, and I believe they truly have our children’s best interest in mind with everything they do.There is always more when it comes to underfunded schools, but I am confident that’s what we will figure out how to do together.We need to trust our teachers and administrators to do their jobs and speak their minds. When we all work cooperatively as an educational ecosystem, everyone benefits.What is the best thing about WCS?The motivated students and the interest our parents take in the education of the children. Other standouts, of course, are the excellent quality of the faculty and staff in the local schools and a superintendent who desires the best education available for children of the community.First, we have amazing kids. But we have amazing kids because we have amazing parents. Seeing it through the PTO events and the level of parent involvement is off the charts – both the time and financial commitment. They are keeping our schools the best in the state and the country. I don’t think a lot of people have any idea how lucky we are to have the level of parent involvement that we do here. I think that makes a huge difference.The teachers, really, they go above and beyond. Their passion and energy is contagious. I hope they know how valued they are.What needs attention and what aspect of it could need adjustment?Fiscal transparency – as a board we need to be more transparent with our finances so that when we approach the county commission with our needs, they trust that we have been good stewards with the money and we are not being wasteful. This would provide a smoother budget process and help us get the money we need.Relationships with faculty and staff – the survey indicates that everyone is afraid to talk to the board or super. We need to work very hard to remove that impediment. Being afraid does not only quiet those that may dissent, but it also quiets those that may have the innovative solutions that we need to solve issues.Relationship with board members – I am committed to being a strong but reasonable voice on the board and building a team that can work together in a professional and respectful manner for the good of our students, parents, teachers and community.Our schools are underfunded in general here in Tennessee, and we’re having to make really tough choices when it comes to maintaining buildings, adequate staffing levels and even academic programming and school service offerings – choices that I don’t think we should be forced to make at the expense of our children’s educational experiences.We’re incredibly smart with every dollar we have to spend, but there’s only so much magic you can pull out of a hat that isn’t growing along with our student population.
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