Raymond Smith to run for BOE seat
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 1, 2016 1:46 PM
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Raymond Smith
Raymond Smith Jr., 54, of the Rosewood community, said he is running for the at-large seat on the Wayne County Board of Education because he wants to represent every school and every child in the school system.
Smith, who formerly served as the school system's transportation director, is the son of the late Thelma Smith who served on the school board for 18 years representing District 3.
There is no March primary for the at-large seat, but Smith will face Ven Faulk of Dudley in the November general election.
"I know these are nonpartisan seats, but I am not affiliated with a political party," Smith said. "I want to be able to work to improve the school system for everybody. I am familiar with the school system from an intrinsic perspective. I have very intimate knowledge and understanding of how the school system works. Therefore, I am very well versed on what some of the needs are.
"Having been an unofficial advisor with my mom all of those years, and having been a top-level administrator in the school system as a central office administrator, I am very comfortable and knowledgeable about the inner workings of the school system."
Smith said he is "very pleased" with what he is seeing in the leadership of new Superintendent Dr. Michael Dunsmore and some of the changes he is making.
It remains to be seen what the results of those changes will be, he said.
"It is imperative that we be open to innovative and creative ideas," Smith said. "I am the type of person who is certainly interested in new ideas and interested in new directions, and I am certainly interested in making Wayne County the best school system in the state of North Carolina.
"I am a very open-minded person. I want to be a catalyst for furtherance of the school system. I am not coming to change anybody. I am not coming to change anything. I am coming to ensure we give the school system the best opportunity to be successful, and I want to be a part of that."
Smith said that while he was the transportation director he conducted several studies to look at ways to improve the system's transportation program. The suggestions were not implemented, but Smith said he would like to revisit them since transportation is such a vital part of the system.
One study looked at how buses are staged. For example, in the northern part of the county, buses are located at several schools. Staging them all at one location would make it easier for mechanics to find and work on them, he said.
A second study looked at fuel needs. The county has only a few fuel trucks, he said. That means in some cases buses have to be brought to Goldsboro to be fueled. A solution would be to have above-ground tanks at different locations in the county, he said.
The final study addressed salaries and found that mechanics and other employees were not paid as much as in other counties or private sector, he said.
Smith said he would like to see the school board look at possible salary increases.
But while his background is transportation, Smith said he has many other concerns including finding ways to close the achievement gap between one child to the next, or one school to the next.
Smith said he likes the strategic planning meetings that have been held in the county and that it is important for the school board, Wayne County commissioners and Goldsboro City Council to maintain good lines of communications.
"One of the things that comes to mind when I think about that is the local supplement for teachers and for staff," he said. "I think local expenditures need to increase so that we can look at some of these things."
Smith said that he wants to ensure that the school system not only prepares students for college, but also for career paths for those students who do not attend college.
Smith is a 1979 graduate of Goldsboro High School.
He served an eight-year stint in the Army as a military policeman including two tours in the Philippines and service in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Smith received his bachelor's degree from N.C. A&T University in Greensboro in supply chain management at the time called transportation.
At the time was working with the state Department of Correction as a corrections officer before returning to Goldsboro as a teacher, one of the first at the then new Belfast Academy alternative school.
He left there to work with the state Department of Transportation for four years before returning to Goldsboro to become the first executive director of GATEWAY.
He left GATEWAY to work in other areas of transportation before becoming director of transportation of Wayne County Public Schools in 2004, remaining for 10 years.
Smith currently is an instructor with Guilford Community College, but is moving to teach human resources development at Johnston Community College.
He has a master's degree in public administration from North Carolina Central University. He has completed all of his coursework and is writing his dissertation for a Ph.D. in education leadership from Fayetteville State University.
His wife, Cortrina Smith, is principal at School Street Elementary School. They have four children. Their eldest son is in the U.S. Army, two daughters are in high school and a son in elementary school.
Smith is member of St. James AME Zion Church where he is on the board of trustees. He is president of Dillard Goldsboro Alumni and Friends Inc. and a member of the Epicurean civic club, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and Men Who Care Global.
He is a college and high school football official and a high school baseball official.