Background: Huckabee is 73, married and has three children. He is retired and holds four academic degrees — B.A., M.A., B.D. and Ph.D. He has lived in Danville for more than 36 years.

1). Why are you running for a seat on the Danville School Board?

I want to help the Board and administration continue developing the Danville Public School System along the directions which have been set in the past three years. I would like to be a part of helping achieve the many goals for our schools and students which have been developed in the planning process.

2). Are Danville’s schools getting enough money from Danville City Council?

I have never been involved in any organization that could not effectively use more funds. The City Council has for several years exceeded the mandated local funding. I understand that they, like the schools, have suffered from unfunded mandates from state and federal bodies which impact their revenues. While their support for Danville’s children has been good, even in tough economic times, the schools could always use more funding to improve programs, attract faculty and staff, upgrade facilities and enhance the quality of life in our community.

3). What are your views on the SOLs and the No Child Left Behind Act? Have they helped or harmed public education in Danville?

Since SOLs and NCLB are facts of life and law they largely determine the priorities of public schools, regardless of the opinions of Board members, teachers or administrators. When I interviewed for appointment to the School Board four years ago I expressed my basically negative views about the overemphasis on testing and the underemphasis on learning, thinking, creativity, character development, citizenship preparation and many of the other qualitative aspects of education that are not reflected in standardized tests. Both the SOLs and NCLB stem from laudable motives – assuring accountability. However, the mechanisms and assumptions which drive the regulations for implementing these programs are often counterproductive and misleading.

4). Is the school system adequately preparing its
students for the work force?

Adequately? Yes. Is improvement needed? Yes.

5). Are their programs within Danville Public Schools that deserve more funding? What are they and why are they important?

What I said about the overall budget in response to the second question above also holds for all the programs in the Danville Public Schools. Some programs are more equipment heavy and they must have greater per student expenditures just to keep them up to date.

6). How would you grade Superintendent Sue Davis on her job performance?

Dr. Davis and her administrative team have earned top marks for the many improvements which have been evidenced in the past three years.

7). How serious is the gang problem in particular, and the crime problem in general, in Danville Public Schools?

The close cooperation between the Danville Police Department and Danville Public Schools has been successful with early interventions to minimize the presence of gangs in the schools. Judging from the discipline cases which work their way to the attention of the School Board, criminal activity per se is not a problem in the schools. Many of the more disruptive disciplinary cases are the result of students bringing to campus unresolved conflicts (which do not appear to be gang related) from their home neighborhoods.

8). How would you cope with declining enrollment and the state and federal budget cuts that would come with that?

We have been dealing with declining enrollments in Danville Public Schools for several years. Within the past three years we (being the Board, the Superintendent and her administrative team) have looked very carefully at every possibility for savings through more efficient operation without sacrificing quality.