Two candidates are vying for Jefferson County’s District 3 School Board seat. Both are long-time educators.
Incumbent Brenda Wirick has been a teacher for more than 20 years. Currently, she teaches at Chairs Elementary in Leon County, but she says she spent 12 years teaching in Jefferson County classrooms. First elected after a successful run in 2022, she’s served one four-year term on the Jefferson board, where she is currently chair.
Her opponent, Shirley Washington, held the seat for nearly two decades before Wirick. Washington is a former educator and currently works as a substitute teacher.
Brenda Wirick says Jefferson has some of the “jam up best” teachers. Now the challenge is keeping them
Wirick says she’s committed to Jefferson County’s students and families.
“There’s something about the kids—just the genuineness of the kids. They get into your blood system,” Wirick says. “And the parents are so receptive to the help and the attention that you give their kids.”
Wirick credits the teachers, who she calls “some of the jam up best she’s seen anywhere,” with the district’s recent academic successes. The Jefferson school system received a B for its most recent school grade from the state. That follows years of turmoil over poor academic performance in the district.
In 2017, after a string of F and D grades and significant financial issues, the district was taken over by the state and turned into a charter school. Wirick was teaching there at the time but left in 2019 after “butting heads over a couple of issues with the charter school.” She says that’s when she made her decision to run for school board.
“Like the bible says, you gotta have a firm foundation, Wirick says. “So the foundation, the management at Jefferson County was a wreck. It was chaos, total chaos. I blamed a lot of that on the board in Jefferson County that was elected at that time.”
The district transitioned back to local control in 2022, just as Wirick was entering her first term on the school board. She says the finances were still “a little upside down.”
One of her main goals in the last term has been getting those finances under control and she says the board has gone from having about 2-to-3% in reserves to having more than 30%. She says another goal has been rebuilding trust in the district.
Wirick says one way she’s worked to do that is through community involvement—inviting members of the community to lead the invocation at the school board meeting, attending county commission meetings, and increasing transparency by making meetings available via livestream on Facebook.
Wirick says one of the next challenges she has her eyes on is teacher retention and recruitment.
“We have a group of elementary teachers who are probably all going to retire—I would say in the next 5 years,” Wirick says. “And those teachers have been with us for over 30 years, so replacing them with that same heart of a teacher that is dedicated to Jefferson, and is dedicated to staying here, that’s going to be another obstacle.”
Wirick says it’s a lot more difficult to recruit teachers to Jefferson’s rural community compared to bigger cities, but it’s something she says the district will need to prepare for and that she hopes to work on if elected for another term.
Shirley Washington believes every child is special
Shirley Washington, who served on the Jefferson County school board for decades, says she has a slogan, “every child is special.” And she says that belief has helped steer her decisions from returning to the classroom as a substitute after retiring from teaching to using her school board salary to create scholarships for graduating seniors.
Washington says she relied on the help of others as a young person getting started in her education and career and that’s why she’s devoted to helping the youth of Jefferson County now.
“I’m not a member that can sit to be elected and sit at the table once a month and draw a paycheck. I’ve never been that kind of member, and I’ve never desired to be that kind of member,” Washington says.
Washington was defeated in 2022 by Wirick. She says she’s seeking another term because of encouragement from parents and community members who, she says, often don’t realize she’s no longer on the board or don’t know who their new school board member is.
“They still think I’m their representative and that’s great because I still serve them as though I’m their representative,” Washington says. “The only thing is I could not go to the board and represent them. But I give them suggestions of things to do by going through the proper protocol with the principal, teacher or superintendent.”
Washington says she believes one of the biggest issues facing the district currently is funding. But she says she won’t know much about that until she is elected.
“And when I am elected, I will find out whether that is the biggest issue,” Washington says. “I like to find out myself. I believe in research and evaluation to get facts before I say ‘this is it.’”
Washington says if elected, she also plans to push for more art and music opportunities for students.
“When I’m installed and sit in that seat, then I will know whether all the excuses that are being said are true,” Washington says. “If so, then it’s my responsibility to seek out some of these elected officials in a higher position to see whether there is a grant or something we can get to fulfill our curriculum here in Jefferson County.”
Washington says seeking grants and support to bring programs to Jefferson is nothing new for her. She says she was instrumental in bringing a Junior Army ROTC to the community.
“The JROTC is my baby! Quote! I am downright devoted to it.”
Washington and Wirick are on the primary ballot. Early voting is open in Jefferson County now. Primary Election Day is August 18.
