PICKENS COUNTY — With the filing opened for seats up for election on the School District of Pickens County school board, Shannon Haskett tossed his hat into the ring for District 3.
A lifelong resident of Pickens County and a 1990 graduate of Pickens High School, Haskett is employed as the sales manager of Graceland Portable Buildings.
His ties to local education include membership of Parent Teacher Association of Ambler Elementary School where his two children will attend during the 2016-2017 school year.
According to Haskett’s announcement, he believes a unified effort on the parts of all the leaders and representatives of Pickens County is necessary for success within SDPC.
“I plan to devote my time and talents to work on behalf of the people of Pickens,” Haskett said. “There is an opportunity for the District 3 school board member to truly collaborate with our appointed and elected officials throughout Pickens County so that working together, we can make the School District of Pickens County the most financially stable and educationally advanced school district in South Carolina.”
Haskett stated he has a five point plan for the county’s schools, beginning with putting children first through individual accountability and less government intervention.
Fiscal responsibility by long-term budgeting, private/public partnerships with industry and non-profits to help alleviate property tax burden, investment in students through keeping classes sizes small and retention of successful teachers, and an increase in transparency through the use of technology to broaden the availability of board deliberations to the public were included in Haskett’s plan.
Haskett has been involved in local district issues such as during the hotly debated closing of schools issue. Haskett served as chairman for a committee of stakeholders concerned with the school closings, which he sees as a strength in his campaign.
“I invested time and energy to understand the issues facing our school district and then I worked on behalf of our teachers and parents on ways to invest in our schools while reducing our property tax burden on businesses and homeowners,” Haskett said. “There is now an opportunity to work on solutions like these and others in a more formal capacity with the benefit of longer-term planning as a member of the school board. So at the urging of friends, family, and members of the education and business community in Pickens, I am seeking the District 3 seat.”
