Oran School Board: James Watkins

Age: 46

Place of Birth: Sikeston, MO

Spouse, children's names:

Wife-Robin Watkins. Daughter's Ashley (18 yrs old) and Amber (16 yrs old). Son Connor(11 yrs old).

Occupation: Captain (Firefighter/Paramedic)

Employer: Fenton Fire Protection District

Business owned, all or part:

N/A

Previous offices held or sought:

2013-Current Oran R-III School Board Member.

1998-2010 Various offices within the Oran Fire Protection District. Appointed as Chief again in December of 2015.

Do you currently hold the office for which you are running? Yes

What in your background or education makes you qualified for this office?

Over the past twenty two years I have been involved in multiple government entities allowing me to see the inner workings of such. I also have an educational background in administration that has allowed me to gain experience in all aspects of business, from budgeting, compliance with local, state, and federal regulations, and dealing with personnel.

I am continually learning and have learned from my first term and hope to continue for another term.

What do you believe is the greatest challenge facing your school district?

Finances are the greatest challenge. We all know it takes money to operate our district and unfortunately we must rely on state aid for some of these monies. The state is continually changing the formula that determines the amount of aid the school will receive and when you are a financially responsible school that has remained consistent on student enrollment the formula always seems to reduce our aid making local monies more important.

If elected, do you have any plans for improving the school district?

It is essential that we continue to fund regular maintenance on our buildings as well as adhere to our long range capital improvement plans.

In regards to any academic improvements it is going to be very difficult to improve when you are already at the forefront. It's my hope that the board will continue to ensure the finances are in place to meet all of the needs of the students, staff, faculty, and administration.