Setting the Record Straight in the District 11 School Board Race

By Paul Gable

The District 11 School Board race got interesting last week when challenger Darrell Ricketts made a Facebook post which appears to insinuate that his opponent, incumbent member Shanda Allen, and her husband, county council member Al Allen, have expanded their aviation spraying business because of contracts with the county.

The post, which reads in part, “Yeah, it’s a shame. The way the money is being made is on outside contracts…Al Allen created an LLC with Shanda as head so he could get the contract for mosquito spraying. He had one plane, now he has 3”, appears to be an attempt to make it sound as if the Allens are profiting from their respected elected positions.

Let’s set the record straight. Allen Aviation first received a contract to spray for mosquitoes from Horry County in 2001, a full six years before Al was first elected to county council and 16 years prior to Shanda serving on the school board. Through the years, the contracts have all been sealed bid and Allen Aviation was underbid and lost the contract for approximately four years not long after Al was elected to council There was no favoritism shown in the bidding process and the Allen’s have been successful bidders because they only charge a small percentage above cost to spray for the county. The company that underbid them for the time mentioned above went bankrupt.

Shanda Allen is not just a name on the business letterhead. She is president and has run the office portion of the company, including scheduling, accounting, purchasing and other office duties since its inception. Al does the flying.

Allen Aviation is one of only three commercial aviation spraying businesses certified to spray for mosquitoes in the Southeast. One other is located in South Carolina and the third in Louisiana.

What Ricketts may not know is that Allen Aviation also does a considerable amount of crop spraying out of state, which has necessitated the expansion to three aircraft.

Ricketts has featured his over 30 years as an educator, now retired, as his prime qualification to be elected to school board. However, there are some things he leaves out of his curriculum vitae for election:

Ricketts served as principal of Aynor High School from 1994-2004 until he was removed from that position after an independent investigation, ordered by the school district, concluded in its report that Ricketts improperly altered transcripts and tampered with grades and credits in an attempt to manipulate the school’s state report card rating.

In an initial response to the investigative findings in the report, Ricketts called them one opinion that he disputed.

Later media reports quoted Ricketts as saying his actions were civil disobedience (the refusal to comply with certain laws as an act of protest) to keep marginal students in school.

However, his actions were also apparently taken to get around exit exam requirements established by state law.

A Sun News editorial of November 18, 2004, stated, “Ricketts gave up on the youngsters for whose benefit he manipulated the testing system. In doing so, he effectively denied them their last chance to learn critical skills they need to be successful as adults. For that reason, especially, he deserves the punishment that the Horry County Schools bestowed upon him.”

After being removed as principal, Ricketts was the agricultural education teacher at Socastee High School until retirement.

It is now up to voters to decide if Ricketts’ past actions and explanations (excuses?) are acceptable for someone who is a candidate for the policy making body of Horry County Schools.

When it comes right down to it, the school board does not set standards to be taught in classrooms. The state does that. What the school board does is manage an $800 million budget in a county which is currently averaging approximately 2,000 additional new students each year.

One could posit, the successful managing of a small business by Shanda Allen provides her with better credentials for service on the school board than several decades in the classroom.

Where school board member Shanda Allen really shines is her love of the children, dedication to the families and her bond with the Aynor community. These qualities set her apart as a candidate for reelection.