001Um, good evening and welcome to the seventh meet the school board candidates night hosted by the Rome NAACP. Thank you to the candidates um, for being here. Thank you to our community members for taking the time to participate in this important conversation. Tonight is an opportunity to listen, to learn, and better understand the ideas and perspectives of those seeking to serve our schools. As we begin, I encourage everyone to keep the focus on what unites us. Our shared commitment to students, families, teachers, and the future of our district. We may not all agree on every issue, but we can speak with respect, listen with open minds, and work together in a positive way. I also want to remind everyone that this event is intended to be constructive and courteous. So, we ask that the com-
002comments and questions remain respectful and free of personal attacks or negative remarks. Um, I somehow feel I didn't need to say that tonight. Um, by working together in that spirit, we can have a meaningful discussion that reflects the very beat of our community. I would also like to thank the Rome City School District and the staff who helped us put this together. Um, thank you all again for being here. As you can see, um, from the stage, we've had a couple of our candidates, um, that canceled and couldn't be here. Um, one of them did send a statement that I will read as soon as I can get it up here. Maybe I won't read it. Let's see. Okay. Okay. Um, good evening. I sincerely apologize for not being able to attend the meet the
003candidate event tonight. I have a prior commitment which prevents me from attending in person. As I stated in my bio, I have been on the Board of Education since 2022. During my time on the board, I have gained an appreciation for the responsibility entrusted to the board by the community. I have worked alongside a great team focused on making thoughtful decisions that support students, staff, families, and the future of our district. I am proud of the progress our district has made over the last several years, and I remain excited about the direction we are heading. Thank you for your vote next week. And that was from Jeff De Manasses. Um Rocky Caponigro sent me a text today that said he had to realign his priorities, of which I guess we weren't one. So, he will
004not be here tonight. I want to take the time to um introduce um these amazing women who have um volunteered to be our monitors our moderators tonight. Um our lead moderator, um who will keep us on time and in step, is Maya Nelson. Maya is a community advocate, writer, and organizer based in Rome. She currently serves as the NAACP social media and technology chair. She is an accomplished writer, a native of Rome. She's also lived in Albany and London's Oxbridge neighborhood. She currently works for Connected Community Schools as a site coordinator. Through storytelling and community leadership, she remains dedicated to fostering connection, resilience, and meaningful change. My moderator, Jacquelyn Hawkins, do you want to Um Jacquelyn was born and raised in Rome. Jacqueline left the area after graduating college, but moved back to central New
005York in 2016 to be near her family. Thank you for coming back. Jackie currently works as the director of organize organ- organizational culture at the Neighborhood Center. She is a licensed mental health clinician and runs a private practice called Still I Rise Counseling Service. Thank you, Jackie. Moderator, Adrienne Smith Lavatuno. Adrienne is the director of media relations at Nascentia Health, a television journalist by trade. She previously previously worked as an anchor and reporter at WSYR NewsChannel 9 in Syracuse and currently serves as a freelance anchor and reporter at WKTV NewsChannel 2 in Utica. Thank you, ladies, so much. Let's hear for the I'm just going to say it out loud. Let's hear for the girl power that showed up tonight. Okay? Let's be real. All right, thank you. So, with that, um, I would like
006to say let's get started. Um, Maya, do you want to >> Um, so each question will be Well, your introduction will be 4 minutes and then for each question you will have 3 minutes to answer and then you will get a closing remark. There will be two questions from the audience tonight as well that will be question number nine and number 10. >> Okay. Sorry about that. So, each, um, so your introduction will be 4 minutes long. Your questions that you um, we have already preselected will be for 3 minutes each. Um, for each question No, it's not. Yes, it is. Hello. Anything else? Okay, good. All right. So, anyways, um so, when it gets to 10 seconds, I will hold up the yellow card. When it the time is out, you will be the
007red, and we will have to, unfortunately, cut you in the middle of your sentence. There are two uh there are two questions from the audience that will be question nine and number 10, and then you will also get 4 minutes for your closing remark. Does anybody have any questions? All right. You may begin. >> Hello, Sue. We will start with you tonight. Please share your background and what experiences you would bring to the school board. >> I This is my third time Well, I've been on the board two separate times. I served as a school board member 20 years ago, and for six um two separate terms, 3 years each. Um two the last 2 years of my term in 2005 and six, I was president of the board at that point in time. Um
008I decided 3 years ago to run again as I just felt that education wasn't headed in Rome the way I felt we were needing it to be. So, I have a great respect for teachers. I have a great respect for um the school system. I'm very involved in a lot of youth activities around our area. I serve on numerous volunteer boards. Um some of which I am the Rome City School District's representative on our BOCES board. I've been held that position for 16 years. I also serve served on the Cornell Cooperative Extension Board for Oneida County uh for 3 years, and I was president of that board. I serve on the Salvation Army, and I also help run the foundation of the Rome College Foundation. So, I've always felt a need to be engaged within
009our community and try and keep us centered and focused on our youth because they are our future. I have three sons. Um unfortunately, none of which live currently reside here in Rome. Um my husband and I have been married for a long number of years. And we're both very involved within our community. So, that's my background and I'm very much looking forward to trying to continue on with the board and bring what expertise and strengths that I have forward. >> Say your name again. I didn't >> Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Sue Carvelli. >> Thank you, Sue. Felicia will ask you the same question. Please share your background and what experiences you would bring to the school board. >> Felicia, say your full name >> My name is Felicia James Williams. I currently work
010for um New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities, OPWDD. Um Central New York DDSO. Where I serve as a program administrator. Or supervisor of a day hab. Which I um day habilitation program supporting 52 adults with various varying degrees of developmental disabilities. In this role I lead a dedicated team of 25 staff members who work daily to provide quality care, meaningful engagement, and individualized support. I'm responsible for the overall function and operation of the day hab program including financial oversight, um facility management, and implementation of goals and procedures to ensure compliance and high standards of care which is actually what the school board does but on a broader level. On a broader but it's it's actually the sort of the sort of the same thing. So um I just feel like I can
011make a difference. I can help. I I have a daughter who's in um she's she goes to RFA. She is a junior. And she she it's it's been rough. It's there's been a lot of ups and downs and but at the end of the day I can probably help. That's it. >> Okay Felicia, this question is going to be for you. What do you believe are the greatest strengths of our district and what challenges do you think the board should prioritize? >> These children are future. Um so the quality of education, support um opportunities kids that the children receive now it will shape society it will shape um what society looks like later. Um the idea is that today's students are tomorrow's um teachers, they're tomorrow's parents, um leaders. And so voters they have they
012have you know so investing in them benefits from the the whole community in the long run because the end of the day they are our future. >> Okay, can I ask what do you think are the greatest of our district right now? >> Well, the strengths is having Well, from go from some of the meetings I've been to the board the the people on the board they're they're working they're they're they're working with each other and it's making a difference. It's their their the budget the it's making a difference. They're concentrating on what these children need. And it it is making a difference. >> Okay, thank you. Sue, this question same question. What do you believe are the greatest strengths of our district and what challenges do you think the board should prioritize? >> I
013think the strengths of our district right now are the the breath of our teaching staff. We have so many dedicated individuals that bring their expertise every single day to our classrooms. The excitement the energy. And again, right now there are right as in any school district there's some challenges. Our students after going through COVID it's still a time of change for them. They really needed they needed the structure that they lacked and they're trying to get back into that and I believe one of the strengths right now is the cohesiveness of our our administrative team. I think they have brought a breath of new programming to every aspect of the district from every grade level. I think we've reached out to try and understand from a student's perspective by setting up the student leadership team
014that includes students from grades two all the way through 12. I think we've taken the time to listen to what their needs are and they bring that to us. Which is a great asset. I think having two board two students from RFA on our board as student representatives has been a tremendous help to us. We hear at each board meeting from them and they are very open with us and not afraid to explain to us what they feel. And I think some of the things that we need to work on going forward obviously is the overcrowding in our elementary school still exists. And with the capital projects that we're putting into place starting with the sixth grade academy, I think that is going to be a huge asset to us helping to define better define
015that grade level as bringing all the students together in one place and it definitely will help alleviate some of the issues that we've had with our elementary schools overcrowding. >> Thank you, Sue. We are going to stick with you for the next question as well. How do you plan to engage with the community including parents, students, and staff to ensure their voices are heard in board discussions? >> At each board meeting any parent community member is able to there's a public comment section where they can bring forward any concerns that they have. Um we at that board meeting do not respond directly to the individual at that point in time, but we always have a place on that questionnaire if they would like us to respond to them, we get back to them. So, I
016do believe that there has been a lot more interaction between parents and the community members with the board. Um I can tell you as a board member we receive emails all of our emails are out on our board website. We are always open to listening to ideas and thoughts. Um and some negativity which they bring forward also. Um but you also have to understand there's things that we can't say. If there's an issue that comes up, there's legal reasons, there's student privacy reasons that we can't respond to certain things that they ask us to respond to. So, that's part of the reason, but I think being transparent with all the community as open board meetings, I don't think there's any one of us on the board that isn't willing to talk to anyone who brings
017something forward. >> Thank you, Sue. Felicia, we'll ask you the same question. How do you plan to engage with the community including parents, students, and staff to ensure their voices are heard in board discussions? >> Communication is key. We have to communicate with the with the community. Now, I'm not on the board yet, but I have heard some things that people they're getting their information from social media. Which a lot of it is misinformation. So, I think that like like you said, Sue, come to the they they should come to the board meetings. There is a public session for them to speak. Speak what's going find talk. But also, we need to get that information out there. Um a lot of people don't attend the board meetings. I don't even do they even know there
018are board meetings? You know, you have to get that information out there. So, that's communication. >> Thank you, Felicia. So, we're going to start with you with this question. What does diversity, equity, inclusion mean to you? >> Bringing everything together. I mean, you you you have to have a um a diverse student student You have You have a diverse student body. You have to have a diverse um um teachers. It's bringing everything together. Bringing including everything and including everybody. It's just you're including everybody in there in in what happens. And just That That That's it. Just including everyone. >> Thank you. Sue, same question. What does diversity, equity, inclusion mean to you? >> Uh within the school district, I have to say it absolutely means not not that everything has to be equal in the
019sense of the same exact thing in every school, but we have to be able to offer courses that cover all different um races, all different ideas. You have to be able to be open to those kinds of things, and those are some of the coursework that our superintendent is putting in place right now are addressing those. Um the other idea would probably be People talk all the time and say that we don't have field trips within our schools anymore. Yes, we do. We do offer, but what we have tried to make sure in fact it's included in the budget right now is it's the same field trip for every school for all of our elementary schools because some schools have more active PTG um organizations that are able to raise more money in the ways
020that they do it. And then they have special things that they do for their students. But as far as school sponsored field trips our intent is to always offer the same thing to each school. I think that what we need to do is bring in more speakers. We're trying to bring in more individuals of all races to speak to children um to read to them. So I think you also have to have all of that. And as long as each one of our schools has the same level of budgetary and fine of needs for their students we're providing that. >> I believe that's exactly what that means. >> Thank you Sue. While we're on that same topic, how do you plan to address issues of equity and inclusion for all students? >> Again, um equity
021would mean making sure that each student is offered the same thing. So by saying that what I'm referring to as far as an educational objective we make sure each one of our students be it a special ed student, be it a regular ed student, be an advanced placement student that they all have something offered to them to increase their educational experience within our school. Um I believe like at the high school we offer great number of AP classes. We offer a great number of BOCES courses that they can take. We're trying more and more to bring a greater variety to meet all different interests of our students. Um at the middle school, I believe we're working very diligently to try and bring new programs. And we're always evaluating what doesn't work anymore because you have
022to look back even though something has been there forever, maybe it doesn't need to go forward any longer. You have to look at the interest of students and try and make sure that what we're offering meets what their needs are going forward because ultimately as students graduate from our high school as this June, you want to see them either go on to their career choice, be it college, be it military, be it a job in the open market. And we have to be the ones that are there helping guide them to that level. >> Felicia, we'll ask you the same question. How do you plan to address issues of equity and inclusion for all students? >> Well, first of all, you have to talk to the students. You really have to talk to them and
023find out exactly what to what they want to do. Um you can you can say, you know, we're going to try to um what interests them, what but we won't know unless we actually talk to them. Because a lot of a lot of um things that are offered to them, they don't they don't like. They they're and I'm and I'm actually from experience thinking about my daughter. She doesn't want this. She doesn't like that. This is boring. That teacher is this. You know, it's you have to talk to them. And that's how I would address it. I would start with the students. >> Okay. Thank you, Felicia. We're going to start with you on this question. How do you view the relationship between the Board of Education and district leadership. This is including the superintendent,
024administration, and staff. And how would you work to strengthen that relationship? >> Well, from what I can see, there's a great relationship. Everybody they they um communicate well with each other and speak to each other. I do know the board is um the board hires the superintendent. You know, so they the the superintendent actually works for the board. If I'm if I'm right, the superintendent actually works for the board. So, um and from like I said, from what I see, it's a they they work well together. And I mean, you agree to disagree. Sometimes, I mean, you're not going to always agree on everything, but you agree to disagree. That's it. >> Okay, thank you. Sue, same question. How do you view the relationships between the board of education and district leadership, which includes the
025superintendent, administration, and staff? And how would you work to strengthen that relationship? >> Well, as Felicia mentioned, the board's one of our three objectives one of our three roles is to hire the superintendent and evaluator. So, we have to every year do an evaluation to meet she sets goals with the board, um and then we make sure we analyze and make sure that she's accomplished or what she said she was going to do. Um I have to say that the relationship with her with the administrative staff is very high level. Um we're not we are there to listen. We're there to advise. And we're also there, if there's something that comes up that we don't agree on, to speak up and say that. Um I have to say our board right now is not afraid
026in any way, shape, or form. If we see something that we don't agree with, and I will give an instance this past year, there was a couple times that there was a couple calls on school closures during snow events that we probably felt it could have been handled differently. And I have to honestly say there wasn't one board member that wasn't afraid to say that. So, you have to have an open level of trust between each other. And the trust definitely exists in this relationship that we have right now. And I have to say the way you keep building on that is respect for each other, understanding when things aren't going exactly 100%. You have to be able to speak up if you hear something and say that. And she has the administration team has
027to be willing to hear those because again, there's always change. Change is what makes everything better. >> Thank you, Sue. You can keep your microphone on for this next question. What would you say your top three priorities are for improving our schools? >> Right now, number one would be addressing the overcrowding that still exists in our elementary schools. Number two would probably be looking to see how we can help the transition from elementary school to middle school, make it a little smoother. Um and number three would definitely be making sure that what we are offering students here at RFA as they look to continue on into their next field, be it, like I said, college, be it military, be it going right into the workforce, that we are here to help find what it is
028we can do to help facilitate that. And I would say that part of the ways we are working on that is to be recently we had a sixth grade dance. That sixth grade dance came together from the vision of some teachers from the elementary from principals from the elementary school and from Strough, and they put together a great event last Friday night, I believe it was, at Strough, so that all the sixth graders from all the school from all the elementary schools got together. And we need to do more of that, so that the transition once they get to Strough isn't as overwhelming. And I also would think that going forward here at RFA as we're looking at BOCES programs, there's certain things that we need to start instituting that are more aligned to maybe
029some of the industries in our local area. Um many years ago we put in a manufacturing technology program because it came to us, businesses came to us and asked us for that. Right now we're looking at trying to put together a food production course working with BOCES. And those are the kinds of things as businesses come to us and tell us some of the things that they might need going forward, we can help them um so that they have a workforce going forward. >> Thank you, Sue. Felicia, same question for you. What are your top three priorities for improving our schools? >> Well, um maybe it improving the curriculum a little bit. Um uh um maybe more educational programs. Um communication with the community. Communication with the students especially. I just have a thing about
030communicating with those students because those students will will really tell you what they want. They have no problem with telling you what they want. And um maybe just eliminating the overcrowding. I know um they're supposed to I don't know. Back when I was in school, we had um kindergarten to sixth grade, then seventh, eighth, and ninth middle school, and then 10th, 11th, 12th. It should go back to that, but I don't even know. You know, I'm just saying. I'm I'm This is a learning thing for me. This is a learning thing cuz I've never been on the board. But those are my three things. >> Okay, thank you, Felicia, and we're going to start the next question with you. What have you done to prepare yourself for this role? >> Talk to people. Watch the
031school board meetings. Um but really talk to people. Talk to to talk to the superintendent. And just, you know, what what do you expect? What what what is what's happening? What do I do? Because like I said, this whole thing is a learning experience. And I will be continuing to learn. Even if if I do get I will be learning. They did They did tell me that there's um these two I think it's two trainings that you go through when you first get on the board. So, I would do that and then just learn. Just just learn. >> Okay, thank you. Sue, same question. What have you done to prepare yourself for this role? >> Part of what I've done to prepare myself for this role is growing up in a family of seven, six
032brothers and sisters in a house with three bedrooms and one bathroom because it's a very difficult Being on a school board is not easy. Um people think you know, you run for the office, you get voted on, and it's just a walk in the park, and it isn't. There's a lot of You you can never please everyone. So, as a school board member, you have to be the person who's willing to read read the information you're given, study exactly what it is you're talking about. You have to depend on our administrative's team who comes to us because they provide us statistics, they provide us learning opportunities. So, you have to be able to be willing to try and understand all those elements before you make your own decision, and that decision is something that you've
033actually work through understanding, researching yourself, and asking questions. But on top of that, you also have to be able to work with other people because you're only one individual with six other board members. And you have to be able to work within that environment because you're only one voice. And everybody on that school board has the same voice as you do. So, the same vote that you do. So, you have to trust them, and you You to be able to work with people. And again, as Felicia stated, communication is key. You have to be able to listen to the community, but you also have to understand that sometimes they have the community in certain instances is only looking for one thing because it's something that happened to them specifically, and they want resolution to that.
034And we can't always provide the resolution that they're looking for. >> Thank you both. Just a reminder that these next two questions are questions coming from the audience, and you will have a limit of 2 minutes to answer. So, the first question is, and we'll Sue, we'll start with you. As a board member, you are expected to follow all rules and guidelines, especially regarding confidential matters. Sharing confidential information publicly can expose the school district to legal risk. How would you balance protecting confidentiality with the public's expectation of transparency? >> Student privacy and staff privacy, confidentiality are ex- they're what drives the district in the respect that as I said, you can't answer all the questions that come up. All you can do is talk to the community, and always understand there's two sides to everything.
035There's the side that people see because it's out there on social media. It's what they've experienced. But there's also things that come through that have legal requirements. And I'll give a perfect example. If there's a fight in the school and people want to know the circumstances behind it, there's so many things we can't talk about because those are privacy, student privacy. They're protected. It's no different than a HIPAA law. Student privacy has just as much strength against that. So, we can talk and listen and explain what it is that we would like to be able to do in the future to circumvent having that happen again, but we can't go back to the specifics of certain thing. You have to There's every executive session we have that we're discussing private materials be You're in an
036executive session for a for a certain reason, and you have to respect that, and you cannot go out into the public with that. >> Thank you, Sue. Felicia, same question. As a board member, you are expected to follow all rules and guidelines, especially regarding confidential matters. Sharing confidential information publicly can expose the school district to legal risk. How would you balance protecting confidentiality with the public's expectation of transparency? >> So, So, I will tell you I'm I'm going to tell you from where I work. It's the same thing. We cannot We can have We have and we have multiple incidents where I work. And we cannot talk about it. We can call the justice center. We can and we have to you know, we tell them what it's about, but when we call those parents
037when we call the family, we cannot tell them We'll tell them that your your person is okay, but we can't tell them exactly everything. We can't tell them about the other person because that's confidentiality. That's We can't even tell them their name. We can tell them about their person, but we can't tell them about the other one. And a lot of people, they will ask, "Well, what happened with this other person? What happened to that person?" Well, we can't tell you that. So, I guess it's basically sort of like the same thing here. You cannot You People will hear what they hear. People will hear what they hear on social media, but they don't know, like you said. There are two sides to every story. So. >> Thank you, Felicia. Again, this is another question
038from the audience, and you have 2 minutes. Um How are the schools working with children that are beginning to have problems before they do something wrong? In the news, so many people have dangerous behaviors or are on drugs. Can we prevent these problems? >> Yes. >> How are the schools working with children that are beginning to have problems before they do something wrong? In the news, so many people have dangerous behaviors or are on drugs. Can we prevent these problems? >> I don't know if it can be prevented, but from experience, because like I said, I have a daughter, and she's a teenager, and when when she's Teachers have called me to tell me, um "She's doing this this this. Could you please talk to her?" You know, more before it gets worse, before it
039gets any worse. So, they reach out. They reach out to me, and I'll talk to her. Now, it And And I And I actually think it all depends on the person. It all depends on the student. If you have some students who might benefit from redirection, but some students just might not. So, you I don't know. I I don't know. Like I said, this is a learning experience. So, I'm not sure. I'm absolutely not sure. But I guess I can figure it out. >> Thank you. Sue, same question. You are No, I'm sorry. How are the schools working with children that are beginning to have behavior to have problems before they do something wrong? In the news, so many people have dangerous behaviors or are on drugs. Can we prevent these problems? >> I think
040the first line of defense with a is a our teachers. Our teachers are trained to look at and they know their students. They see their students every single day. And teacher a lot of times can notice just a a something different about a student. Maybe they're quieter. Maybe they're not expressing themselves as much. Maybe they're being a little more angry. And honestly, we we try. We have school psychologists. We have counselors. Um we have connected community schools, which we work with diligently. We try very very hard to reach a child before they get to that situation where they have really blown up for themselves. And they engage parents. I mean, I have to say our teachers would go to their administrator, who then would call the parent and explain there seems to be an issue.
041So, I mean I think you have to do more and more and parents need to be very cognizant of what's going on and let the s- schools know if they are aware of something. If something's going on at home, you need to be able to express that. If they notice a change in their child, they have to be able to bring that forward to say there could be something going on. Could you let me know if you see something? Because that's the only way we're going to keep stemming some of those issues going forward. >> There is a third question from an audience member and if there is time I would like to ask it if possible. Okay, so we will stick with one more audience question. Just a reminder to keep it to 2
042minutes if you can. Sue, we will start with you. This audience member writes, "There seems to be a crisis in education, emotional and mental health issues with boys. Girls are thriving. How can we support How can support be made for our boys or do you not agree and why?" >> I don't know that there's any more I mean, honestly, there's as many fights among girls as there are fights among boys in our schools. Um I don't know. I think I had three sons. They express themselves, I think, differently for me, what I observed, differently than my nieces that I've noticed. So, I guess partly it's just encouraging both boys and girls, if they have an issue, they need to come forward with that. They need not to be afraid to talk about it because there's
043always somebody around that can help. And they need to reach out, especially before it gets to the situation where it becomes overwhelming for them and they try to do something either to themselves to another person. So, I personally don't see that it's any difference between the two. Um I do think social media has affected a lot of things in a very negative sense. I think now that we have banned the phones in school, I'm hoping that helps to stem what goes on during the day a little better as far as kids not being able to text something out. So, I'm hoping that's part of the fix to some of it. And again, the schools can only do so much. We actually have to engage our parents more and more. >> Thank you, Sue. Felicia, same
044question. There seems to be a crisis in education, emotional and mental health issues with boys. Girls seem to be thriving. How can support be made for our boys, or do you not agree, and why? >> I do not agree with what girls thriving boys. They It's It's the same. If you um if there's an issue, I would I I and I and I'm just telling what I would tell my daughter. If you have a problem in school, if you see talk to a teacher, go to a teacher, go to your counselor, go to somebody who you trust, who you think can can help you. Don't fight. You know, I really stress the fact don't fight. But, if she ends up in a fight, she just ends up in a fight. But, don't fight. Try not
045to. Try to talk it out. If you need to talk to somebody, let me know. I will get you somebody to talk to, or you tell me who you want to talk to. So, um it's it's again about it's it's not just boys uh uh uh having trouble more than girls. They all are having trouble. And and and that's it. >> Thank you both. Before we wrap up tonight, we want to give you each the opportunity to share a closing statement. Um just a reminder that each candidate will be given only 1 minute for a closing remark. Sue, we will start with you. >> I really have enjoyed serving on the board the last 3 years. Uh it's been a very rewarding experience seeing our district for when I ran 3 years ago, as I
046said, I felt the educational process was kind of slow slowing down a bit. And I have to say I've seen many, many upgrades and increases within our school system. I think students are doing better. I think our staff is working to make our district the best that it can possibly be. And I think we're trying as a school board to be the positive force behind all that. And I would definitely enjoy continuing on with the next 3 years. >> Thank you, Sue. Felicia, your closing statement? >> Again, again, these children are our future. We have to protect them. We have to support them. We have to just s- support give the opportunities. We have to help them. They are our future. And they are we have to just invest in them. And in the long
047run it might be okay. It I think it will be okay. That's I'm done with that. >> I'm all set. Okay, I'm going to need the microphone. Thank you. Thank you, ladies. >> I'm I'm I just want to close with I want to um thank you all for coming again and I hope you learned a little something about the candidates. Um encourage as always we encourage everyone to go out and vote. We certainly do not endorse any candidates. I want to make that clear. Um the other day um I attended the um county executive's state of the county and one of the things that he said kind of resonated with me. He said communities change, they grow, and stagnation is intolerable. Um recently and I I want to say that Rome has so many opportunities
048now. So many great things are happening. So many businesses are coming into Rome. And we can't do this without the school district because the school district has an opportunity to help these kids grow and become part of the positive change in Rome. And we want our youth We do. We want our youth to stay and we want to prosper and for our community to grow. So I am I'm reaching out to everyone to stop the negativity, the the Facebook blow ups, the I don't know what's called places and things of Rome or whatever that is and really start to get involved with the community. I'm going to just shame everybody by saying this. Um recently the school district held three sessions where folks could go and learn about the budget. Everybody's budget buzzing about the
049budget. Nobody likes the budget. The budget this, the budget that, they're wasting that, they're doing this. But, the first one, and correct me Sue if I'm wrong, seven people showed up. The second one, five people showed up. And the final one, one person showed up. And thank you Tommy Nelson for representing us. Um so, how can you criticize and ridicule a district if you're not even in the game? If you're not at the table, if you're not attending things and listening and paying attention. Make it clear, I'm not endorsing anyone. But, what I'm saying is that in order for us to grow, in order for these kids coming up now to have a shot at the American dream, we all have to work together to do that. We could disagree, right Sue? We could always
050disagree, but you have to disagree with with a motive to get somewhere to make it positive. So, thank you all again. That's my soapbox. I'm probably going to take some hits, so stay tuned to Facebook. Um I'm not afraid, but I I really want to thank you two ladies for taking the time to show up. And I want to thank everyone and our great moderators who are these wonderful women, um our young women and me and Jackie. Thank you so much for being involved in your community. So, everyone have a good night. Grab a cookie on the way out. Thank you.