'Sanctity Of Female Athletics' Is Concern For School Board Candidate Chuck Yocum

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Patch invited every candidate running for the Anne Arundel County Board of Education to complete a questionnaire on their campaign priorities. We are posting stories with their unedited, verbatim responses.

Get to know District 3 candidate Chuck Yocum below.

Voters can check what district they live in at this link. Early voting runs from Oct. 24 through Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 5. More information on voting locations, registration, mail-in ballots and dropbox ballots is posted here.

Name: Chuck Yocum (Newcomer)

District: District 3

Hometown: Pasadena, MD

Age On General Election Day: 61

Profession: Retired

Campaign Website: chuckyocum4boe.com

Campaign Facebook: www.facebook.com/chuckyocum4boe

1. What are your three biggest policy priorities?

My first policy priority is bringing back Academic Excellence to our students. Getting back to the DRAWINGboard. Next, to protect parent's rights. To ensure through unambiguous policy, the right of parents to hold their children from curriculum units that are ideologically based and may go against their beliefs, religious or otherwise. Finally, to protect the sanctity of female athletics and facilities from the encroaching changes of Title IX. The latter is of extreme importance when providing for the safety of our athletes.

2. What is the biggest educational issue in Anne Arundel County?

The biggest educational issue are the low achievement scores in both Math (27.6% proficiency,) and English-Language Arts (53.9% proficiency.)

3. What is the biggest educational issue in your district specifically?

District 3 reflects the county in general. The biggest issue is the lack of academic achievement based on state standards.

4. How will you address the teacher shortage?

The teacher shortage is a national issue. It's made tougher in Anne Arundel County due to the high cost of living. Recent decisions were made that prevented newly minted Nationally Board Certifies teachers from receiving their bonuses because of the reclassification of "lower performing schools." Promises must be kept to any teacher who takes it upon themselves to achieve this amazing certification. Furthermore, we need to work with community partners to provide low or no cost opportunities. This was something I developed during my time as Senior Manager of Partnerships and Development with AACPS.

5. How will you approach balancing the budget?

The budget is already balanced. The question is how to maximize the budget. Maximization of current dollars will be of the utmost importance if the Blueprint program remains as it is. This multi-billion-dollar program is going to put a strain on every budget in the state. The big picture is funding will be needed from the state and county. For our part, the Board of Education will have to work with the Superintendent and Budget Office to look at every expenditure to ensure dollars are going to appropriate needs.

6. How will the end of pandemic-era funding affect your budgetary decisions?

It will have no impact on my decision making. Those dollars are already gone and current monies have been spent.

7. How will you approach school redistricting? If your district is part of this redistricting, what are some of your priorities?

During my 17 years in the AACPS Planning Office, I was responsible for running the Redistricting Program. First, I would return redistricting to the hands of the parents. During my tenure, committees were established consisting of two parents from each school that could be redistricted. Those parents held weekly meetings during October and November to develop recommendations for the Superintendent. Parental input was first and foremost during these meetings. Unfortunately, AACPS has turned to consultants who have all but limited input to a website and online comments.

For District 3, the concerns will be, as always with redistricting, ensuring a distribution of students to keep schools from overcrowding and class sizes optimal for learning. Keeping in mind, providing an Academic Excellent program is why we are here.

8. If you are an incumbent, why do you deserve another term? If you are a challenger, why are you the best candidate?

Having recently retired from AACPS after a 36-year career which spanned both the Instructional and Operational sides of the organization, I have a 35,000-foot view of our system and how it functions. During those years, I have watched AACPS go from one of the top four systems in state down to 10th, today. (According to the new state scores released on 8-27-24.) I have the background and knowledge to initiate impactful changes.

I also have the interest of parents and students at heart. As mentioned in Question 1, I will focus on protecting parent's rights and the sanctity of girl's athletics and facilities.

9. How will you handle LGBTQ+ and racial issues brought before the school board?

I am not certain as to what is meant by this question. I am unfamiliar with any situation in which these students are not provided the same academic opportunities as other students. ALL students deserve an Academically Excellent education, regardless of any identifying characteristic one chooses to place upon them. I will handle policies that provide for fairness for ALL students.

10. How will you handle book-banning issues brought before the school board?

There is no such thing as book banning in our schools. The focus is on providing age-appropriate reading materials that do not include sexually graphic language or depictions. The bigger question should be, why are people so wrapped up in keeping those materials in our schools?

11. Please tell us about yourself.

I am a 61-year-old father of three and grandfather of one. Two of my three children are graduates of an AACPS school. My third, a senior, will graduate in 2025. My granddaughter will start her career in the fall of 2025. I have been involved in the community, serving as a youth athletic coach for the Buccaneers Youth Athletic Program, the Pasadena Chargers and Riviera Beach Softball. I have also served on numerous non-profit boards including the Community Leadership Board of the Y of Central Maryland and am the co-founder of the Caring Cupboard, a non-profit food pantry first created to fight food insecurity among the 84,000 students of AACPS. Covid caused a change in mission. Along with serving in-school pantries, we also serve the entire community through our stand-alone facility in Pasadena, as well as Little Free Pantries located at most Anne Arundel County Libraries.

12. Is there anything else we should know?

It is time to get back to the DRAWINGboard. To focus on Discipline, Reading (phonics based,) Arithmetic (getting away from common core,) Writing (including cursive,) Innovation (in our classrooms,) Nurturing (providing services via public-private partnerships for those students facing trauma outside of the school,) all taking us back to Greatness.