David Maschke hopes to return to Dougherty County School Board to address student achievement, school safety, fiscal responsibility
ALBANY – Nearly 12 years after he ended his three-term run with the Dougherty County School Board, David Maschke has decided to run to serve District 1 again.
Maschke said he originally left the position due to burnout. He works full-time running his own architecture firm. Still, his passion for the school system crept in once again, and he said he started attending School Board meetings as a member of the public three years ago.
Since that time, Maschke said he's attended nearly every meeting, and what he witnessed at these meetings pushed him to get involved again. He said the school system has a major impact on the community and its future, and he wants to help make necessary changes.
"While there are some things that have certainly improved ... there's a long way to go, and there are some areas where little or no improvement has occurred that I feel need to be addressed quickly," he said.
Maschke has three thick, three-ring binders filled with records requests, school board meeting notes and school district data that he's gathered over the last three years. The contents of these binders, he said, raise multiple concerns regarding the school district.
No. 1 on Maschke's priority list is student achievement. He said the school system boasts an 88% high school graduation rate – higher than the state average — but this statistic is overshadowed by looming concerns.
Maschke pointed to data that showed schools within the district being ranked at the bottom for performance in the state. Four out of five third-graders in Dougherty County can't read at their grade level. He said locally, employers are struggling to hire DCSS graduates who can't read at a proficient level, complete basic math functions or properly fill out a resume.
"They may have an 88% graduation rate, but what is the quality of the students that are being graduated and ... what have they learned?" he said. "I don't think the school system is successful with graduating educated, career- or college-ready students."
Maschke said he believes the board needs to sit down with school district leaders and host lengthy, multimeeting assessments of the realities in the school system. He said board members need to ask questions and set achievement goals.
"The first thing they need to do is admit that there's a problem, and then they need to have open, honest discussions," he said. "They need to demand accurate information from the administration. They need to invite public participation so that the issues can be identified ... and addressed."
Another red flag within the school board that Maschke said he wants to correct is transparency.
Mashcke said regular board meetings, discussing matters as important as the school district's $278 million budget, sometimes last as little as three to six minutes. He said no questions are asked and no discussions are held among board members. He is often the only member of the public in attendance. There are no attachments to the meeting agenda that is released prior to the school board meeting, so he said the public can't see what is being looked at.
Maschke said he's in communication with school administrators and a couple of board members who claimed all the board business is worked out in advance.
"They either have meetings or talk to each other on the phone; so when they come to the board meeting, everything's already predetermined. That's why they move through it so quickly," he said. "It's all kind of out of public sight and lacking accountability. That's a big problem."
Maschke said when he was a board member from 2000 to 2012, he and a few other board members made sure agendas with attachments were published 72 hours in advance and that discussion happened during the meeting.
"I think the public should be made aware of the meetings – should be invited to the meetings," he said. "Board members are there to represent the public and to represent the district. They work for the voters, for the taxpayers. The superintendent works for the board, not vice versa."
His emphasis on school board transparency also combines with fiscal responsibility. Maschke said with the large amount of money being spent on resources for the schools, students should be performing at a higher level.
He said money needs to be "driven down into the classroom" so teachers have access to funding and are able to buy the resources and supplies they need. Maschke said right now, too much money is being spent on upper- and mid-level administration and social services within the schools. He said he understands the need for these services within the community, but that the school has lost its focus on academics.
"If you go through all those social programs, and then when they graduate, as I said earlier, from 12th grade, they can't adequately read or write, what good have you done them?" he said.
Within his binders, Maschke has records he requested regarding arrests made within the school system's police department. These records show that in the 2023-24 school year, school system police made 372 arrests.
He said this data was shocking to him and emphasized a need to address school safety.
"Parents are concerned about safety," Maschke said. "Now, in 2024, it's a much bigger deal."
Maschke said records show arrests made from in-school fights, gun possession in school, shootings and gang-related issues.
"It's not only about the children, it's also about the safety of the staff," he said. "Staff members are afraid to intervene because they feel threatened. Some of these students have no respect for the teachers and authority. That's another one of my concerns. There needs to be a level of civility and respect in this school system."
Maschke also is keeping up with the county's property value reassessment process, which is set to be completed by 2026. Maschke said this process hasn't happened for 11 years, meaning property values are going to be much higher. Because of this, he said he wants to ensure new millage rates are fair to District 1, which he said is seeing the most commercial property and housing growth in the county.
He also supports a tax exemption for senior citizens, who, he said, are often on a fixed income.
Maschke said he has a real passion for the school district and education. Although he's not a native, he calls Albany and Dougherty County his home.
"We're in a slow downward spiral ... and education is a key to the success of the community," he said. "We're not going to attract any business if we don't have a competent work force. We're not going to retain students that graduate, that are above average ... or really smart. They're not going to want to stay here. They're going to leave. We've got to turn this around."
Maschke said he's not afraid to vote no and raise important questions in school board meetings. As a board member, he said he was active in visiting the district's schools and always knew his facts before he entered the board meeting room.
"How will I work with the board? The same way I did before," he said. "I will present facts and figures and demand answers."
