School board race mirrors '98 election

Same candidates, same districts, same everything.

The 2002 School Board race is a mirror image of 1988 - the candidates are just a little older.

Andy Ezell will try again to beat Mildred "Mickie" Blackburn for Columbia County's District 4 school board seat.

Both Blackburn and Ezell paid their $72 to file in the race on Tuesday. Qualifying closed Friday at noon.

Unopposed again, Regina Buccafusco filed Monday - the first day of qualifying - for her District 1 seat.

There's are the only two districts up for re-election. Columbia County's five School Board trustees serve four-year staggered terms.

Ezell, 39, of Martinez, has been a resident of Columbia County for the past 14 years. He is a senior construction coordinator at the Savannah River Site. Ezell has been PTO president for Westmont Elementary for the past three years and is on its school council. He challenged Blackburn for her seat in the last election and was defeated.

"I still feel like I felt before," he said. "We need to have somebody in there that has kids in the system now - I have three children in the system and my wife teaches - somebody who's aware of the day to day things that happen," Ezell said.

"It's easy to make decisions without realizing how these decisions affect those within the system. I'll be able to get immediate feedback."

Blackburn has been a resident of Columbia County for 29 years and taught in Columbia County Schools for 22 years at Evans Middle School. She is currently completing her first term in office and is vice-chairman of the school board.

"We have new schools in progress and things going on in other schools that I would like to be a part of, to complete the work that was started while I was on the board," Blackburn said. "I love what I do and I want to continue to be a part of that organization."

Buccafusco is a network systems analyst III for the Medical College of Georgia, supporting and developing on-line curriculum. She's also served three years as a substitute teacher in Columbia County.