Maiya Dowell is running for the district seven seat of the Troup County Board of Education. She has been a resident of LaGrange for more than 30 years and is a graduate of LaGrange High School and former student of LaGrange College.

Dowell said she will attempt to hold both the school board and parents accountable, request open communication with teachers and parents and explore alternative learning options to accommodate all learning abilities. As a parent of a student actively attending a local school in Troup County, Dowell said she wants to see positive growth.

She believes the school board needs a voice for parent and student input. Dowell has years of experience working with children labeled as “at risk” — children she said have been included in unfair statistics and have had critical decisions made for them without their own input. Dowell wants the Troup County School System to be the model for all counties in Georgia.

She believes Troup County should lead breakthroughs in education and said the county should strive for an 80 percent or better graduation rate. Troup County School System’s graduation rate is 78 percent, which is up by 1.1 percent from 2016.

She said the school system should work with parents and students from Pre-K to twelfth grade by keeping the lines of communication strong and consistent throughout a child’s educational career.  Dowell said she wants to see all students succeed, graduate and return to Troup County ready to pump our county with innovation and forward-thinking ideas.