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LANETT — A new radio station in Lanett was set to host a joint appearance by the two candidates whose names will be on the ballot in the Nov. 4 general election. Dr. Sharon Weldon and Winford Lee Ashmore are seeking the office of superintendent of Chambers County Schools. Weldon is the Republican Party nominee, and Ashmore is running as a Democrat.

WVEQ (a.k.a. Sunny 98.7) is in a building on North Lanier Avenue next to Superior Gas. Owner/operator Ben Jordan retired in 2018 as the systems director of engineering for the Muscogee County School District, Columbus. He now owns stations in Newnan and LaGrange in Georgia and in Lanett, Lineville and in Andalusia/Troy in Alabama.

As a means of informing the voters about what was at stake in the superintendent’s race, which is only 26 days away, Jordan invited the two candidates, local party leaders Lisa Burdette of the Republican Party and Johnnie Mae Sutton of the Democratic Party to be at the station for the program. Local broadcast and print media was there for an event that was sponsored by the Alabama Democratic Conference, which is locally chaired by Tony Malone.

Ashmore was late to arrive for the 7 p.m. EDT event. As the 7 p.m. hour neared, Malone contacted him by phone to direct him to the site. When he arrived, Ashmore told those there that his campaign manager had told him not to come, that it wouldn’t be fair to him. He walked out of the building to speak to someone on his cell phone for a few minutes, then returned and once again complained of it being unfair.

Jordan explained to him that the campaign appearance would not have the format of being a debate, that both candidates would be given a two-minute period to state why they were seeking the office and would then be asked the same questions.

Ashmore said that he was not comfortable with the set-up. With that, Malone pointed to the door and asked him to leave.

Ashmore then walked out of the station, got into his car and drove away, leaving Weldon alone to make an opening statement and answer questions.

Winford Ashmore contacted The Valley Times-News on Friday to give his side of the story of why he walked out of the radio program he was scheduled to be interviewed for.

He claims to have been treated unfairly by Tony Malone and had been ordered to leave. His walking out, Ashmore contends, was not his choice.

Ashmore said he felt let down by both Malone and Johnnie Mae Sutton. Malone is the local representative of the Alabama Democratic Conference and Sutton is on the executive committee of the Chambers County Democratic Party. “The support for the Democratic candidate in this race was just not there from them,” he said.

Ashmore said he had planned to be at an event at Huguley Elementary School when Malone called him and asked him to come to WVEQ, Sunny 98.7, in Lanett. He’d never been there before and had a hard time finding it.

“Tony Malone told me the only people who would be there would be him and me, my opponent, the man from the radio station and one party official from the Democrat and Republican parties,” Ashmore said. “When I got there there were more people than that in the room. It was something I was unprepared for. There were people there I had never seen. Had I known there would be more people there than I had been led to believe I could have brought some people to support me and what I would have said. The whole thing just seemed to me to be a set up to help my opponent win. It told Mr. Malone that if it got to the point where I felt uncomfortable in being there I might just leave. He then just pointed to the door and told me to get out. I want it understood that I didn’t leave on my own. I was told to leave. I believe the whole thing was a set up to make me look uncooperative and combative. It just seems to be that this whole picture was painted a certain way, and I want people to understand the truth. The whole situation could have been handled better than the way it was.”

In her opening statement, Weldon made the case that she is as much about Chambers County as a person can be. She was born and grew up in the Langdale community, went to kindergarten in the Cotton Duck and elementary school in the nearby Lafayette Lanier School, Valley Junior High and Valley High. She later went on to earn degrees in education at Auburn University and Troy State University. She has a Ph.D. in education from Auburn.

She has extensive experience as a classroom teacher, and administrator and has worked in the central office in LaFayette for more than ten years.

When asked what she saw as the critical issues for the next superintendent, Dr. Weldon said it starts with the students. 

“We have to get a handle on student achievement,” she said. “A big concern for me is student achievement as measured by the state. We are not excelling in some areas, and we need to fix that.”

Weldon said she’s also concerned about some overcrowding caused by some recent consolidations. Some modular units that are now at Fairfax Elementary School are an example of that.

Some of the questions asked by Jordan noted the local system has an exceptionally high retention rate for teachers despite the fact the county consistently has low test scores.

Jordan asked her why the system’s math scores were so low in the early grades. Weldon said she thought a factor in this was some of the students were so far behind by the time they reached first grade. “Some of the children have to be taught how to hold a pencil,” she said.

Not funding local teacher units could also be a factor, she said.

Jordan pointed out that math scores weren’t the only problem, and that reading scores were low, too.

Weldon said she’s aware of that and it’s being addressed with summer reading camps. She also sees a need for more planning time. 

“Teachers are always telling me that they feel like they are flying by the seat of their pants, that they need more planning time,” she said.

When asked about the status of a consolidated high school, Weldon said that wasn’t up to the superintendent; it was for the school board to decide. Right now, a new high school is set to be built in Valley. The board decided that in a 4-2 vote and a federal judge has backed that. Two of those four votes would have to flip to change the school site, and Weldon does not anticipate that.

Jordan said the Valley site would pose many difficulties for students who live in remote areas of the county such as Milltown, Abanda and Waverly. He asked if it might be a better option for them to go out of county to a school if it was closer to where they lived.

“With some of them having to get up very, very early in the morning to catch a school bus and then getting back home very late in the day,” Jordan said, “You wonder about them wanting to drop out of school. You have to give them reasons to remain in school. Making them get up earlier in the morning and getting home later in the day is giving them reasons to quit school.”

Weldon said she had pledged to be honest and truthful to everyone when she decided to run for office. She advocates having a five-year plan to address all issues and to have reasonable, attainable solutions. 

“Transparency is something we have to do,” she said. “We have got to do something about student achievement.”

Jordan asked her if there was such a thing as teacher burnout. She said it does happen not just in teaching but in almost any profession.

Weldon was asked if the school system was doing enough in the way of school safety. A problem here, she said, is that every campus in the system has multiple buildings, but the system must do all it can to protect students, teachers and staff. She said that school resource officers do great work in helping keep everyone safe.

“What do you think about employees bringing guns to class?” Jordan asked.

“I know there are some people out there who would say ‘Lord have mercy, not with that teacher in a room with 25 students!’ What we have now that’s great are the school resource officers. They build great relationships with the kids. They trust them and see them as friends.”

Jordan asked if there is a role for those who want to volunteer their time f0r schools.

“Absolutely,” Weldon replied. “That’s already taking place at many of our schools, and it’s a good thing. Volunteers have been great at Eastside in LaFayette and at Fairfax Elementary in Valley. Kia has been phenomenal for our schools. They flew some of our students to Detroit for a competitive meet there, and they have been helpful with programs we have at Career Tech.”

In looking to the future, Weldon said that today’s school administrators are facing the challenge of preparing today’s students for a global economy that does not yet exist. 

“We don’t know what it will look like, but we have to get them ready for it,” she said. “We need to teach them to be responsible and to not be on TikTok at the time.”

Weldon said that no one person alone can fix the problems that need to be fixed. “I can’t do it alone, but we can do it together,” she said. “We need to have the best people doing the best jobs they can for our students. Over the years I have found that the students who are involved in sports, band and the arts are more likely to graduate than those who are not. We need to get the students involved in things that keep them in school.”

Weldon closed by saying, “I am a proud product of the Chambers County School System,” she said. “I married my high school sweetheart. We decided early on that this is where we wanted to live and raise a family. Our children were educated here, and our grandchildren are now coming along.”