By Staff
KNIGHT SPEAKS Joey Knight, Republican candidate for Lauderdale County school superintendent, talks to Lauderdale County Republican Women on Thursday. Listening to Knight is the group's vice president, Bobbie Morgan, left; member Ann Hall; and state Sen. Videt Carmichael, R-Meridian. Justin Cobb, the GOP candidate for county attorney, also was a guest. Next month, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck is the scheduled speaker. Photo by Steve Gillespie/The Meridian Star
By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Sept. 19, 2003
Republican school superintendent candidate Joey Knight said Thursday that the Lauderdale County School District needs to provide vocational training for its students who don't plan to attend college.
Knight, principal of Southeast Elementary School, meets incumbent Democrat David Little in the Nov. 4 general election. Knight spoke at a meeting of the Lauderdale County Republic Women at Cafe Latte in Meridian.
Knight said establishing prekindergarten education should be a top priority of the school district. He said the county's 6,605 students deserve the best education that can be provided for them.
Of the approximately 100 children who start kindergarten at Southeast elementary each year, Knight said, about half of them are already a year behind in their learning.
He added that he also would like to see the school district do more to educate parents on how they should educate their children at home.
Little did not attend the Lauderdale County Republican Women meeting. However, in a telephone interview after the meeting, Little said some of Knight's comments were "a day late and a dollar short."
Little said seventh-graders take career discovery classes where they explore different jobs. That is followed by computer discovery in the eighth grade, he said, and technical discovery in the ninth.
Little said some Lauderdale County students attend Ross Collins Technical Training School in Meridian, and that the district is working closely with Ross Collins to give more county students that opportunity.
He also said pre-kindergarten programs are in place at Southeast Elementary and Northeast Elementary as well as a Parents as Teachers program that trains parents how to help their children learn.
Coming Sunday
The Meridian Star looks at the race for Lauderdale County school superintendent, which pits incumbent Democrat David Little against Republican Joey Knight. The job pays $72,000 a year.