A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
Candace has been an administrator for over twenty years. She has worked in elementary, middle and high schools. Her own life has been a movement from a middle class childhood to a strong understanding of the very mixed population that she works with now. In a host of ways, she has been at the forefront of her county�s efforts to reach out beyond the educational elite to those who have been underserved. With every contingent of the population she works with, Candace has made a legitimate effort to be fair, honest and upfront.
There is currently a large, growing Spanish speaking population in her high school. This has proven a challenge to the school and the district in a number of ways. There is the simple matter of staffing the school with qualified ESOL instructors. Candace has cast a wide net, making contacts throughout the state to draw the best possible instructors to her program. In addition, she has been a strong advocate for fair testing provisions that currently have a strong hindering effect on Hispanic students� ability to complete their high school diploma. The current iteration of the Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) requirements mandate that students must pass five different tests in addition to completing their coursework if they wish to receive a diploma in Georgia. For students who do not speak English as a native language, the Language Arts test and the writing test are particularly problematic. It is possible for students to have solid computation and communication skills, and a good grasp of social studies and science concepts, but still remain unable to receive a diploma in Georgia because of the test requirements.
Candice has worked in a variety of capacities to soften the blow of these testing requirements on students. She has collaborated with members of the state Department of Education to develop a variance procedure that will allow students to pass all but one test. In addition, she has appealed to members of the Georgia General Assembly to tighten the testing requirements to two or three test to come into alignment with most other states. In her direct school-based work, as well as in her political advocacy, Candace has been a model of understanding for students who might easily be overlooked.
In another facet of her fairness, Candace has ensured that students of privilege face the same strictures and requirements as other students in the school. It was not unusual under her predecessor for students who had influential or wealthy parents to receive a �pass� when their behavior would have been sanctioned if they were from a poor background or had uninvolved parents. In one specific case of this dynamic, a bus full of cheerleaders who were drinking alcohol on the school bus on the way back from a game. When these students were caught, they were written-up according to the official school district disciplinary procedure. The students received time at the alternative school for their actions, despite the fact that many of the girls were children of well-known members of the community.
It is significant that there had been several opportunities when it would have been easy for Candace to overlook her full responsibilities to fairness. Some would say this path-of-least-resistance approach would have been preferable. However, Candace believed that it is critical that students be treated fairly as individuals and that the institution of the school district took the same approach.