Fox plans to put students first
♦ Christie Owens Fox faced no opposition Tuesday for a seat on the Gordon County school board.
Christie Owens Fox will be the newest member of the Gordon County Schools Board of Education after winning the seat without opposition in Tuesday’s election.
She won the Republican primary in June to fill the Post 6 seat being vacated by Chris Johnson, who did not seek reelection.
Fox, who works as an accountant and assistant controller/co-CSO at Cartersville Medical Center, said previously that she wants to thank voters for trusting her to make the right decisions and advance education in Gordon County. She said she intends to do everything in her power to show that trust was justified.
“When you win a vote like this, you feel like the community trusts you. They’ve given you a great responsibility, so I definitely want to thank everyone for having that faith in me,” Fox said. “I don’t go onto the board thinking I have all the answers because I know I don’t, but I want people to know I will do my best to serve with integrity and put the students first in every decision I make.”
Fox noted that there are a few areas in which she believes she can be a big help. The first is finance. As an accountant, she believes her expertise could be useful in developing annual budgets.
“As a board member, you have a responsibility to the
taxpayers. You are making decisions with the investment they’ve made, so you want to make sure they are getting the best out of their dollar,” Fox said. “It’s not one sided. Some people just want to talk about the mileage rate and focus on that, but for me, my focus is on the students and doing what’s best for them while also being mindful of the cost. I’ll weigh the cost versus the return on investment for every decision to be sure we’re using taxpayer dollars wisely.”
The second area is advocating for low income and disadvantaged students. Fox said she believes the board does a good job of this already; she only hopes to continue that legacy and make sure those students are considered when plans are made.
“Where I live, there are kids and families in the community who really need someone to be a voice for them. I know a family who doesn’t have the internet and they don’t have computers at home, and when students were working from home this year, it was really a struggle for them,” she said. “They used paper tools provided by the school but they didn’t have the same access to communication with teachers that other students did. I want to make sure we don’t forget families like that.”