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Micaattim Cente Box Texa Dallas, BY MARTY PRIMEAU BURNET—In announcing her candidacy for the Burnet School Board election Tuesday after noon, incumbent trustee Sally Williams said the major issue in her race against challenger Joy Taylor will be the support of Superintendent Robert Wilkin. ‘I feel Burnet could do better when it comes to hiring a super intendent. The school board should make policies and the superintendent should administer them but right now Wilkin is making and administering the po licies,’’ said Williams, who has voted against Wilkin each year she has been on the board. “I think Joy and I both want better schools and the superin tendent is the only issue we will disagree on,’’ she added. Williams said Taylor was put up as a candidate by supporters of Supt. Wilkin ‘‘to get me off the school board.” Taylor reacted by saying ‘friends and people I respect have asked me to run but a group of people have not approached me about running as a supporter of the super intendent.” However, Taylor said she ‘definitely supports Wilkin as superintendent of the school system. From what I know and have seen, I admire him as an educator and an administrator.’ In her written statement, Wil liams said she does not intend to be a “rubber stamp board mem ber. “If every board member is go ing to rubber stamp everything the administration says--then there is no need to have a school board,’ ' she added. Citing her complaints against the superintendent, Williams said “People have come to me and complained that they could not get on the agenda for the board meeting. She also said that when she approached Wilkin last April a bout establishing a written dis cipline policy, he said it “was not a good idea’’ and did not pre sent it to the board. “Personally, I feel he doesn’t have a genuine feeling for the kids,''’ Williams said. “I think he his values are more on the dollar than on the children. Williams added her opposition to Wilkin as superintendent is not “’personal”’ I worked for the school tax office under Wilkin before my election to the board and there were some problems in the tax office at that time,’’ she said. Responding to her charges, Wilkin said “She's entitled to her opinion,’’ and he pointed out that she has been the only trustee to vote against renewing his con tract in the last two years. “I have never held anyone back from going before the school board. The only problem has been if they make their request too late because the agenda must be posted 72 hours in advance of the meeting “Originally my beef was only with Wilkin but now ‘‘I'm concerned with the board too, Williams said. “We should stand up and say ‘this is the school board’ instead of letting the su perintendent direct all the poli cies Explaining that her reason for running for re-election is “be cause so many kids and teachers have asked me to file,’ Mrs. Williams named several things she would like to see accom plished by the board such as adopting a written school board policy on discipline. “The teachers need to know where they stand with the admi nistration,’’ she said. “Certain offenses require corporal punish ment and the board should back teachers on any disciplinary ac tion they deem necessary. She added, ‘‘The teachers should feel they are being sup ported by the board.’' “If we don't have confidence in the teachers we need to replace them One of the most immediate problems facing the school dis trict this year, Williams explained will be the construction of two additional rooms in the elemen tary school. ‘Right now we have five first grades and three second grades and next fall we will have five first grades and five second grades, she said. Williams does not favor calling a bond election but she admitted that a bond issue is probably unavoidable. “We may be forced into a bond election on the elementary con struction. If we'd been building two rooms every year we wouldn't be in this situation,’ she said., _ Williams does not approve of the “million dollar bond issue’ proposed by Wilkin last January which would combine the costs of the elementary school remod eling ($410,000), building a voca tional school ($500,000) and con structing a new stadium ($300,000). She proposed that construction be done yearly instead of all at once using available funds. ‘Monies which would have been applied to ‘interest only’ on the bond could be used to build the buildings without the debt of the principal,’ she explained. “The people of this district cannot afford additional taxes, Williams said. Williams said she would like the board to look into the feasi bility of building a vocational school on the old intermediate campus where the unused slab can be used for the auto mechan ics building. She also suggested that the trades classes help with the construction to keep the cost at a minimum. As for the proposed new stad ium, Williams said “The Booster Club can get the stadium built with the support of the school board but we will have to work together. Williams added “If a bond issue is necessary, I think three sepa rate elections will have to be called because one large com bined issue will not pass. She said she intends to poll residents on their opinion of the three building programs as she campaigns door to door. Williams, 35, is married with two children in Burnet schools and is an active member of the PTA. In her three years on the board, she said two things she fought strongly against were the renewal of contracts for former high school principal Harry Heickman n and ag teacher Darrell Montgom ery, “You can tell the difference this year--we have an excellent princi pal in the high school and the ag department is much better than last years,'' she said. Williams said she supported the all-day Kindergarten program for Burnet children, helped estab lish the Highlandette’ s drill team and worked with parents to bring Special Education Plan A_ for severely and profoundly handi capped students to Burnet. She also described her “one woman ' war for hot meals in the elementary lunchroom after eat ing cold food in the cafeteria every day for six weeks. As for the academic situation, Williams said, “I think we need to teach our kids to read and write. There are kids in the intermediate school who can not spell or read. She added however that they are making progress this year with a new reading program. Burnet Trustee Sally Williams
Newspaper Details
Burnet County Bulletin
Burnet, Texas, US
Thu, Feb 03, 1977
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Dana H.
USA 19 Aug 2025
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