Candidates for County School Board District 5

The Polk County Board of Education District 5 race will be decided between two longtime Polk School District educators — Jeff Hawkins and Greg Teems.

Hawkins has been an agriculture and vocational educator at Rockmart High School and is set to retire at the end of May. Teems served as a music education teacher and director of bands at Rockmart High School before taking on administrative roles with the district prior to his retirement.

School board members are voted on by district, meaning only people that live in a specific district can vote in their board of education district election.

NOTE: The candidates’ answers were taken from the April 23 and April 24 Candidate Forums presented by the Polk County Chamber of Commerce. Answers have been edited for content and length.

Q: What motivated you to run for the school board and what specific experience or skills do you bring to the table that would benefit Polk School District?

Teems: I’m proud to say that I attended school here in Polk County. I’m old enough to have attended Fish Creek Elementary. After graduating high school it was my goal to come back to Rockmart High School and teach and I did that. I taught at every grade level, except for kindergarten. I left the classroom after 23 years and went to the central office, where I was student services director for a number of years then moved into the role of assistant superintendent still overstating services and other facets of the school district.

I’ve sat in the chair. I know what it’s like to be the superintendent. I know what it’s like to be in those executive sessions and the school board meetings. 36 years in education, that is my passion. Notice that’s what I know, that’s what I do. I love Polk County. I’ve got a granddaughter at Eastside Elementary. I’ve got a grandson who is eight months old and I can’t wait to see him go through the school district here. So this is my home. This is where I plan to stay.

Hawkins: I’ve spent my entire career in Polk School District teaching agriculture. I love serving kids and putting students first and I think my record in the agriculture department shows that. I’ve been through all the different positions from department chair to leadership team at the school level. I’ve been involved with funding and how funding operates at the school level. And I just want to continue my service after retirement with Polk School District.

I’ve seen good policies and I’ve seen bad policies affect both students and teachers. And I like to keep the good ones going and work on the bad policies for sure. I spent 29 years in the military. I’ve led troops and peacetime and wartime and strong leadership is what I’ve learned from both working for both the school district and serving the military. Trust, but verify is kind of what I want to bring back to the school board, and I look forward to serving District 5.