While incumbents for seats on Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4's Board of Trustees do not face any challengers in Tuesday's election, they acknowledge facing many challenges in the coming years of service.

Paul Bidwell, Mary Brant and board Vice Chairwoman Peggy Tyler say the district will have to tackle pressing issues such as school financing and mandates from the federal and state levels.

"I don't think it's one thing, it is a culmination of things," said trustee Mary Brant, who holds Seat 6, about what the district needs to accomplish in the near future.

Seat 2 board member Tyler sees federal and state mandates on standards as one challenge. "They demand so much of us with the standards so set so high, it's hard to reach them," she said.

With the property tax relief law, Act 388, capping the millage rates that local governments and school boards can set, the future of school financing is not clear, Bidwell said.

"We don't understand what Act 388 will do. We're going to have to keep our eye on the ball with that," he said.

Here is a look at the candidates for OCSD 4:

Peggy Tyler

Tyler believes many demands have been placed on today's teachers. She wants to create incentives for teachers in the district to excel and to help retain highly qualified teachers.

"I would love to see our teachers get more money," she said.

She also wants to encourage more college students to look into the field of education to ensure students in the district are taught by the absolute best.

Tyler also thinks principals and other administrators should be hired within their respective schools because they already know the school they would lead.

During the next four years, Tyler plans to do everything in her power to ensure students in the district receive quality education.

Tyler was born in Springfield and graduated from Northfield High School. Following that, she attended Benedict College and obtained a degree in science, health and physical education. She also has a master's degree in secondary guidance and guidance counseling from SCSU and an elementary and secondary principal ce.jpgicate from USC Salkehatchie.

She spent 33 years serving in what is now Bamberg School District 2 and retired as a middle school principal in 1999. Tyler emerged from retirement to serve in her current job as director of alternative schools in Allendale County.

She was married to the late Norris Tyler, and they have two children. Tyler enjoys being a people person, singing, playing basketball and working with children.

Paul Bidwell

Bidwell says he felt the calling to become a board member because he saw deficiencies in the schools. He feels he brings a business perspective to the table, and is thankful more discussion is now being given to student performance.

"Our superintendent Dr. Johnson has been strong in that area. I want to be above the state average," Bidwell said about the district's testing scores.

In his first term, Bidwell says many things have been done to push the district in a positive direction: assessment testing, data-driven decision-making, more cameras to improve security, and improved curriculum. He also likes the staff development days on Tuesdays, when students are released early for teachers to prepare lessons and instruction techniques.

"That's what we do in the business world," Bidwell said about the professional development days.

He believes the district must be more accountable in improving test performance.

"You're never going to be allowed this kind of performance forever. We've got to escalate it," he said.

Bidwell has 30 years of experience in the power industry. He grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and graduated from Ohio State University in mechanical engineering. He also received a master's in business administration from the University of Dayton. Bidwell currently works at South Carolina Electric and Gas.

Bidwell and his wife Andrea have two children, one attending Carver-Edisto Middle School. He likes racing, including NASCAR and Formula 1 and continuing to work on building his home.

Mary Brant

Brant thinks the next four years on her long tenure on the board will be the toughest because of financing and the mandates.

"The main thing is going to be continuing to improve test scores. That will be a challenge for us," Brant said.

She sees the district gaining ground in decreasing the drop-out rates and believes the template is in place for the district to succeed with the current administrators and teachers.

A board member since 1993, she credits the diversity of the board as a whole with making sound policies for the future of the district. She came to the board because of her love for children and wanting to do right by teachers.

"We have great teachers here," she said.

Brant grew up in Orangeburg and attended Edisto High School, where she graduated in 1968. From there, she went to Palmer College in Columbia, obtaining an associate's degree in business. She worked for 20 years at Belk's and currently works as a legal secretary at the Horger, Barnwell and Reid law firm in Orangeburg.

She is married to Roger Brant and they have two children. Their daughter, Amy, is a second-grade teacher at Edisto Primary School.

In her spare time, Brant enjoys making crafts, cooking, family activities and going to the beach.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-534-1060.

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