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2024 Candidate Info

On this page, I'll coalesce the available information about the 2024 candidates for the Williamson County School Board.

First, I'll recount my experience at the only in-person forum for this campaign.

Then I'll link to a bunch of resources where candidates have shared information about themselves.

League of Women Voters candidate event

I attended the The League of Women Voters candidate event (link). All 13 candidates were invited. Here is a brief summary of what I heard from the candidates who showed up.

FSSD - Kevin Townsel (Independent)

Kevin Townsel has been here since 2004 and wants to work hard to do all he can for this school system.

District 1 - Elmer Mobley (Democrat)

Elmer Mobley is a product of WCS and FFSD. Raised 2 daughters in WCS. Wife is a board certified teacher who taught in WCS. Priority is to hire and retain teachers.

District 3 - Diane Cochran (Democrat)

Diane Cochran is running because she cares about the kids and is tired of them getting caught in the crossfire of partisan politics. She has 3 kids. 2 graduated from WCS. She's been here since 2008. MTSU grad '22. Veteran of the US Navy.

She would love to make school board meetings boring again. And to continue the school district's excellence. Teacher recruitment and retention is the biggest issue. She doesn't want to arm teachers. She wants to keep as many books in the libraries as we can. She's anti-vouchers

District 5 - Jennifer Aprea (Independent)

Jennifer Aprea is the only incumbent running. It'll be important to have a smooth transition to the new board. She and her kids are reaping the benefits of our great school system. She wants to keep politics out, so she's independent. She's a former teacher, and business owner.

Teacher retention and recruitment are the biggest issue. She wants to continue to work in advocating at the state and local level to properly fund education.

District 7 - Melissa Wyatt (Independent)

Melissa Wyatt says that retaining and recruiting teachers is the biggest issue. Also keeping public dollars in public school. She's anti-vouchers.

District 9 - Shandus Parish (Democrat)

Shandus Parish is running because of what public school did for her. School was a safe place for her. There's a lot of divisiveness entering our education conversation and the kids are picking up on that and feeling less safe

She wants to stand up for the kids. She has a background in HR and higher education. This combo will help her in this role. Teacher recruitment and retention is the biggest issue. Wants to keep our schools great.

District 11 - Laura Granere (Democrat)

Laura Granere has seen the extremism that is taking hold in school boards across the nation. From Moms For Liberty to the 1776 Project, outside influences are trying to influence Williamson County. We don't need those orgs.

Her 4 kids went to Williamson County Schools. 2 grandkids are WCS. She has a long history, a strong present, and a long future in this county. She is the chair of the Criminal Justice committee with the NAACP in Nashville

She is passionately anti-vouchers.

Candidates who did not show up

OneWillco

Here is a link to the survey that OneWillco sent out. https://onewillco.org/school-board-questionnaire

SOCM

Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment hosted a virtual forum. You can see archived video here: https://www.facebook.com/SOCMTN/videos/1674407056661959.

Wilco Iris

Wilco Iris published their candidate survey. You can find it at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bwVm62hYOeFqwggx3oYFw_h-I6fRxK2IoqBQLApC1Xc/mobilebasic

Our Voices Aligned

Our Voices Aligned produced a summary instagram post for each district's race:

Williamson County Chamber of Commerce

The Williamson County Chamber of Commerce interviewed the candidates. You can find those interviews here: https://williamsonchamber.com/vote/

Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia.org has a survey called "Candidate Connection." Some candidates have filled out that survey.

The News TN

The News TN had a Q&A with the candidates and you can find those here: https://www.thenewstn.com/schools/williamson-county-school-board-election-ramping-up-with-start-of-early-voting/article_7c14cd10-406f-11ef-869d-a786868d5e4d.html

If you know of more publicly available surveys or forums, please let me know and I'll update the list.

Also, if you want to know which district you're in, go to https://tncot.cc/tndistrict and type in your address. Your "County Commission District" is the same as your School Board District.