Dave Williams would bring passion to Ashland school board

Most of the candidates for the Ashland School Board are familiar names to the community and that is not usual for these races. While my vote does not count in Ashland anymore, I still have an opinion and still care very much about the future of Ashland’s schools and students.

With that in mind, let me introduce you to the least known candidate. His name is Dave Williams, and his agenda is vocational education. His agenda also includes Ashland students who are being limited in their vocational opportunities. The children matter to him.

You may not know his name but please do not mistake that for the passion he carries into this race. I have known Dave casually for several years but became much closer friends the last year I was living in Ashland. We have stayed close for the past two years despite the distance between Ashland and Florence, where I live now.

If you do not know his name, then you have not been to many school board meetings in the past 2-3 years. He has been to more meetings than some board members if that gives you an indication of his insatiable drive. He is like the dog who will not let go of the bone no matter how hard you try to get it from him.

He has researched and studied vocational education opportunities for Ashland, visited and talked with leaders of superior vocational programs in the area, pitched ideas including how to fund, visited Frankfort on multiple occasions to speak with lawmakers and gather information about Ashland and its history with vocational education from more than 50 years ago. He uncovered the original agreement from the State School Board to the Ashland Board of Education concerning vocational education in the early 1970s. The document assured Paul G. Blazer High School students access to the Roberts Drive vocational campus and is potentially still binding if the current BOE works to enforce it. He was relentless in his search for the document, finding it after going through a countless number of boxes. He felt an urge to look in one more box and – Viola! – there it was.

Dave is passionate about the vocational school issue and understands some Ashland students are missing out because of not having the kind of vocational opportunities they need and deserve. Not every student at Ashland, or any school for that matter, is made for college. Some very bright students are made to excel in the trades and need that preparation during middle school and high school. They can take those skills into deeper vocational training after high school and turn it into lucrative jobs, the kind of jobs Ashland needs now and later.

Vocational school gives them a choice and Williams understands that and wants that for Ashland students. He has been a bulldog in school board meetings, speaking as much as the time will allot. Many of his ideas and thoughts have fallen on deaf ears. But his passion remains for the Ashland students who he feels are being forgotten or disadvantaged in their vocational options.

Ashland has an outstanding school system with tremendous teachers at all levels but there’s room for more with vocational training for welders, plumbers, electricians and other trade skills that are not only a necessity but careers.

Wiliams has done a lot of groundwork with his research and has been in one-on-one meetings with lawmakers who hold the purse strings that could make improving the vocational landscape more affordable. It is out there if you look and he will look.

Here is something else noteworthy about Dave Williams. He is a man of integrity and Christian values. If he becomes a board member, your question or request will be heard and considered.

Vote for Dave Williams on Nov. 5. He will serve with passion on every issue that comes in front of the board.