David Morgan is looking to voters to give him a chance to serve the community as a member of the Canton City School Board – 1^st Sub District.

The 66-year-old Texas native married his wife in Michigan before moving to Canton in 1984.

He holds a B.A. in Psychology, Lamar University; M.Div. Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is a Retired Presbyterian Pastor after 26 years of service in Canton.

While he and his wife have no children of their own, Morgan explained he has shared a love of education, which has surrounded him throughout his life.

Morgan comes from a family that includes generations of public educators and his wife was a public-school teacher when they met.

“I’m pretty much independent and looking at the demographics and the trends it appears we have some issues to face and I want to be part of the solution,” said Morgan.

The issues that Morgan cited as his inspiration and motivation to run for the position include:

-A lack of transparency from the current board members and the school administration.

“We didn’t have much participation in the administration and the school system and the comprehensive plan for the city of Canton,” he explained.

-An opportunity to work better together.

“It matters in the little things like when we change the way we do things at the elementary schools and it results in increased traffic around our buildings, both from parents and from buses and we don’t work with the city traffic department,” described Morgan. “We end up with what we’ve got now, which is neighborhoods that are just plagued by traffic and people who line up for blocks in their cars, blocking driveways, causing safety issues and neighbors are upset.”

He added that there are bigger issues that also have caused him to want a voice in the district.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of plans going on in this comprehensive plan and we have seen a lot of work on part of the city in supporting and forwarding both the HOF Village concept and the renewal of housing in the downtown area, but it appears that the housing that’s being promoted in downtown is basically for young professional people,” said Morgan. “Which, is a good thing, except that doesn’t give us students in our school system and if you look at the trends we’re losing, not just the population as a whole, but student population as well.”

“I’d like to be the person on the board that lends the board to more transparency, that encourages and engages the voters, not just the ones that have a natural connection to the school system (such as parents and teachers that live here) but the whole of the community to be supportive and engaging and promoting public education.”

Morgan added, “If we are a community that values and has input into public school education, I believe that we could become a more attractive community for people who want to come here and live and work and share what my wife and I believe is a really great place to live.”

Morgan suggested he would be someone who would promote community, openness and the idea that teamwork is key to making the entire community a better place to live and to provide a better education to children.

“I want kids,” he explained. “I want us to be the kind of community that encourages children to hope toward those opportunities that they can’t even imagine today that will be there when they grow up.”

If elected, Morgan said he would work to re-engage the Canton City School District with the entire community and outside entities.

Michaela Madison Reporting

 

Opponent: 

Richard Milligan