Grant resident Vince Edmonds is running for the Marshall County
School Board Place 2.

Edmonds attended Snead State Community College and Athens State
University, earned a masters in clinical psychology from Alabama
AM University and earned a doctorate in educational leadership
from the University of Alabama.

He worked in mental health for several years before entering the
world of education 12 years ago. He has since filled many different
roles in the education field including teacher, counselor,
assistant principal, truancy officer and principal in Madison
County.

Although he says he’s “a Marshall County boy” who loves this
county, his K-12 experience is in Madison County because he was
related to a former Marshall County Schools superintendent.

“I didn’t want to apply for political reasons or the appearance of
politics to be involved,” he said. “It is and always has been my
desire to keep politics out of education.”

Although Edmonds said he is “encouraged” by “recent efforts to push
politics more out of the process,” he still believes the current
school board has made some decisions for political reasons.

“I’m concerned that decisions have not always been guided by what’s
best for the kids,” he said. “Every decision made needs to be made
with kids interest first. It’s not about me. It’s not about the
adults. It’s about the kids. Too often we see elected officials
being oppositional just to be oppositional because of politics or
personal agendas. Simply put, our children are too important and
deserve more. I would try to bring the focus on what is best for
the kids to guide the decisions.”

He also said he believes some of the current board members have
been too involved with the day-to-day operations of the
schools.

“I do believe there have been imes the board members have operated
outside the scope of a board member,” he said. “Principals need to
run the schools and the superintendents need to be in charge of the
system.

“It’s imperative the board works with the superintendents and is
accessible to the community, but they need to avoid getting
involved in the day-to-day operations of the school. It hurts moral
and interrupts the process of the schools.”

Despite some changes Edmonds believes needs to be made, he said the
“current board has done some great things.”

“I believe they’ve done some courageous things, thinking outside
the box, trying to make hard decisions,” he said. “All the board
members have brought some positives to the table and done some good
things.”

Edmonds believes his background in K-12 education as well as his
work as an adjunct professor for Snead State Community College in
Boaz, Athens State University in Athens and Samford University in
Birmingham would help him do the best job possible as a member of
the Marshall County school board.

“I believe my experience has kept me well-informed about what kids
need from education as they prepare for the work force or higher
education,” he said.

“As an adjunct professor for four different institutions for higher
learning, I’ve researched the best practices of education as well
as dealing with issues that face today’s adolescents.

“I have a strong understanding of what education should look like
that prepares our students for college and other forms of higher
education. Also, I have a strong understanding of what approaches
and interventions best assist at-risk students so that students
remain in school and progress toward higher education and the work
force.”

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