Meet Savannah-Chatham County's District 3 school board candidates

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series on incumbents and challengers running in the four upcoming Chatham County Board of Education district representative elections. The non-partisan School Board elections will be held on May 21 in conjunction with county primary elections. The advance voting period started April 29 and runs through May 17. The registration deadline was April 22.

Chatham County School Board District 3 - Cornelia Hall, Incumbent

Introduction

“My voice is still strong… I don’t mind speaking up,” said Cornelia Hall who is running once again to serve as Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) District 3 representative. She was initially appointed to the board in 2012 and has successfully campaigned to hold the seat three times, thus far.

She wasted no time in her meeting with Savannah Morning News getting right to key topics of early childhood education and the attendance issues facing the district. The conversation showcased her as a life-long learner who thrives when sharing her knowledge, whether as a teacher, school leader or community servant. Not only does she feel she has a great deal of support among the District 3 community, she recently received an endorsement of her reelection bid from the Savannah Regional Central Labor Council.

Background

Hall’s life journey began in the South across the Savannah River in Hilton Head, South Carolina. As a young child her family moved north where grew up in Westchester, New York. She ultimately attended college at the University of Illinois. She then started a career in education in Chicago but came back to Hilton Head in 1989. Prior to returning, she had already been serving as an assistant principal with the Chicago Public Schools System.

She went on to be a teacher and school principal within Beaufort and Jasper counties’ school systems until 2007. During that time, she served a year as a middle school language arts teacher, rose to assistant principal position again and helped oversee the construction of two middle schools. Post-retirement, she also spent three years working as a Reading Resource Teacher within SCCPSS at Thunderbolt Elementary.

As aboard member she has been instrumental in many discussions and initiatives over the years, but one sticks out to her as a notable achievement: the June 2022 budget meeting. She said that she led the conversation on raising the base level compensation all SCCPSS employees to $15 per hour. She felt the acknowledgment of their value “has gone a long way towards helping us retain their services and maintain their loyalty.”

Student, staff and teacher participation in the school community has been a goal throughout her life in education. She underscored that point with a fond memory of a second-grade student who “opened morning announcements each day with ‘Good Morning, boys and girls, this is Luis, your Ridgeland Elementary weatherman!’

Platform

Hall “envisions the development of young people who, at graduation, are ready to become economically independent, kind adults, able to think critically and act responsibly in the world.” While she feels gains have been made during her time on the board, she is not fully satisfied with the results, which is why she has decided to run again.

“I have unfinished business.”

She would like to see additional pre-K programs supported through the State of Georgia, particularly in early learning centers like the district’s Acorn Academy offerings. Those programs are for children who will be 3 years old prior to Sept. 1 of the upcoming academic year. The district currently offers two Acorn Academy classes at Carrie E. Gould Elementary, 4910 Pineland Dr, Savannah, GA 31405 and the Early Learning Center at Henderson E. Formey School, 400 E Broad St, Savannah, GA 31401.

Hall also advocated for closer examination of the Choice Schools and well-performing schools. Though she acknowledged that not all SCCPSS schools have the same needs, she feels underperforming schools could benefit from the successes of others. Overall she aims to "build lives of significance [her slogan] through policy creation and insightful distribution of resources.”

Early voting has begun: What you need to know ahead of May's state and local primaries

Chatham County School Board District 3 - Tanet Taharka Myers, Challenger

Introduction

Tanet Taharka Myers said that the many comments she has heard from teachers, staff and students in the school district make clear that the "system is in crisis." According to her conversations, parents feel unsupported, students are struggling with little help and teachers are burning out at a fast pace. She said that people feel they can’t speak up. She also feels the board possesses a great deal of talent among its members, but that it lacks cohesiveness. She wants to help foster a more collaborative board and she wants to be a voice for those who feel unheard.

Myers has not run for a school board seat previously. She is a product of SCCPSS schools and has been a parent of a SCCPSS student. She knows firsthand the potential and the pitfalls that exist. She also aims to bring her years of experience as a civil servant to the District 3 board seat.

"A different voice is needed...someone that is going to actually listen and respond to the needs of the public."

Background

Myers graduated second in her class from Savannah High School when it was located at Washington Avenue, before it became Savannah Arts Academy. She then earned her undergraduate degree in marketing from Morris Brown College in Atlanta, and a Masters of Public Administration from Savannah State University (SSU). She has held city government positions in Savannah and Brunswick. She spent more than eight years working at SSU as an executive assistant before moving into her current role as a campus liaison for South University. All of those roles have led her to value clear communication among an organization's stakeholders.

Her professional experience has also highlighted the importance of connecting elected officials with the citizenry. “I believe I have that skill set to make sure that those connections actually occur…at the level that we're actually getting something done,” she said.

Another aspect of her background that she plans to bring to the District 3 board seat is that of a SCCPSS parent. When talking about “wraparound services” and “individual education plans,” Myers feels her opponent may approach them from an educational professional’s perspective and not that of a parent who has navigated the school system.

Platform

Top priorities for Myers are addressing absenteeism, improving literacy rates and empowering families with students who require disabilities or support services. How? A few of the main strategies she shared is to negotiate new opportunities with community partners, look deeply at budgets, advocate for stronger engagement with parents, and assess grants management processes in the district.

Myers also wants to enrich afterschool activities and budget for staff to improve afterschool resources to families. Additionally, she mentioned wanting to take a closer look at the use of smartphones because she is concerned about students’ access to social media throughout the school day.

Regarding teachers, Myers favors limiting the frequency of changes to curriculum and programming. She also would like to see stronger measurements to determine the effectiveness of such changes. She wants educators to be protected from burnout by be being “given the appropriate work-life balance.” Increasing teacher pay was one action she discussed, but she also stressed the need to relieve the amount of demands being placed on teachers each year.

Overall, she aims to be a representative who is known and seen in the community. “We need to get back to advocating for our students, advocating for our parents and advocating for educators,” she said.

District 1 candidates: Get to know the candidates for Savannah-Chatham's district 1 school board seat

District 2 candidate unopposed: Hoskins-Brown pursues fourth term on Savannah school board after 13 years in office

Hear the candidates in person

A candidate forum, hosted by Voices for Schools and Deep Center, will take place Sunday, May 19 at Front Porch Improv, 210 W. Victory Drive, Savannah. District 1 will start at 2:00 p.m. District 3 will start at 3:15 p.m. District 7 will start at 4:30 p.m.

The positions of school board president and district 4, 5, 6 and 8 school board representatives will be up for re-election in 2026.

Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at jschwartzburt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Meet Savannah's District 3 school board candidates