Three Submit Applications for WJCC Jamestown Seat

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, January 14, 2012

Three residents of the Jamestown District have submitted applications to represent their neighbors on the Williamsburg-James City County School Board.

Jim Kelly, Tinsley Goad and Jennifer Taylor will have chances to speak before the board at a public hearing at 7 p.m. in Building F of the County Complex on Tuesday. All applicants will be interviewed for the seat, left vacant when Board Chair Ruth Larson resigned earlier this month.

Larson ran for the Berkeley District seat in November after she and Kelly were affected by the redistricting of the county. Kelly, whose term as Berkeley representative ended Dec. 31, 2011, now lives in the Jamestown District.

Kelly joined the board in January 2010, filling in after the resignation of former member Mary Ann Maimone. He served until November, then was elected to finish the rest of her term. The same process will follow for the appointee to the Jamestown seat; the new member will serve until November, then can run for election to finish the term, which expires Dec. 31, 2013.

Kelly works as an engineer with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Marine Engineering Systems from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and holds a master’s degree in Engineering Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. His wife, Kelly Ann, is a teacher in the division. They have three children, all of whom have attended WJCC schools.

Tinsley Goad is the chief financial officer for AdvancePath Academics, Inc., a Williamsburg-based company that provides alternative education solutions geared toward students who are disengaged or at-risk of dropping out of high school. The company partners with school districts to operate in-school academies.

Prior to joining AdvancePath, Goad served as senior vice president of finance and administration for GuideStar, an organization that runs a national database of nonprofit information, and worked as vice president and CFO of College and University Computers, Inc., a company that sold PCs to school divisions.

Goad, a Nelson County native, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Virginia and a Master’s of Business in Finance from the College of William and Mary. With his wife Mary, he has three children; one in college, and a son and daughter both attending Lafayette High School.

Goad said the combination of less work-related travel and the application process motivated him to seek the Jamestown seat. He also believes his expertise in finance could be useful as the division prepares to meet a potential $7.5 million shortfall.

“I just want to see us maintain the very excellent system that we have, and not let this significant bump in the road set us back,” Goad said.

Jennifer Taylor is the current chair of the German section in Modern Languages and Literatures at the College of William and Mary, where she’s worked for more than 21 years. Taylor earned her bachelor’s degree in German from Grinnell College, her Master’s degree in German from Cornell University and finished her Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1995.

Taylor is a longtime education advocate who is a founding member of Citizens for Education, a group that has organized community conversations on educational issues. She is the current president of the PTA Council, and has mentored at-risk students, helping them fill out college applications and make college choices, since 2007. She and her husband, Tim Schulte, have three children: a junior at Lafayette High School, a senior in college and a college graduate.

Taylor said she’s always been active in education in the community, but is particularly interested in possibly working with Superintendent Steve Constantino, who joined the WJCC school division last February. “Especially because of the looming budget crisis, I think this is a time we have to be really careful about the priorities we set and how we decide what to cut and what not to cut,” she said. “My biggest concern is that all children can continue to do well, or better, and that we don’t take the safety net away from at-risk kids.”

The deadline to submit applications for the school board seat was Jan. 12. The board will host the public hearing on Jan. 17, then interview applicants on Feb. 1. An appointment must be made by Feb. 14.