Keith Padgett seeks District 6 seat on Savannah-Chatham school board

Keith Padgett has announced his candidacy to represent District 6 on the Savannah-Chatham County school board.

Padgett said he is running because he has concerns about what children are learning in the classroom such as inappropriate literature and students not having skills in trade industries.

"What stands out about me is I'm the only person that's speaking out about this," he said. "I'm 35 years old, I don't have any kids, but you don't see any parents outraged about the stuff that's going on."

Background

The Savannah native graduated from Windsor Forest High School in 2004 and from Savannah Technical College in 2007.

For 10 years, he taught in the auto collision repair and refinishing program at Savannah Technical College. He has experience working in the automotive, construction equipment and aviation industries.

He has also worked at Gulfstream, Boeing and JCB Construction Equipment. Currently, he has his own painting business called Padgett and Harris LLC.

Platform

• Wants students to learn trades and make them available at all schools, not just a specific one
• Get more funding for students
• Wants accountability ,communication and transparency (ACT) between the school board and the community.

Opponents

Padgett is running against current board member David Bringman for the seat on the May 24 ballot.

"So if we're not preparing our kids for industry and for those jobs that can help our community, then what are we doing."

Bianca Moorman is the education reporter. Reach her at BMoorman@gannett.com or 912-239-7706. Find her on Twitter @biancarmoorman.