"I'm tired of paying my money to Maroa Forsyth district, who just increased my school tax again, and I don't have a voice," says Gina Taylor. She's tired of seeing kids in the apartments behind Walmart, which she says is Maroa Forsyth District, "come into Decatur. Why? Because they feel like they don't belong. There's nobody there that looks like them. There's nobody there that understands them."
Gina Taylor is a candidate for Maroa Forsyth School Board. She's running for diversity and to represent black and brown people, saying "our tax dollars go out to that school district, yet we don't see any of us out there." She wants brown and black kids in the district to take advantage of the resources at Maroa Forsyth Schools, including college prep.
She is concerned about overcrowding of classrooms, preventing teachers from teaching their ideal curriculum, saying she has a Master's Degree in Curriculum Design. She says it can be a challenge to get after-school programs because the school is so far out, and she adds "I'm really there for the community; I'm there for the parents."
She says she sees "plenty of us [brown and black people] in that district, but yet, I don't see any of our children going to that school." She says Maroa Forsyth is a "college prep district" and that children graduating that district are "headed for college," and are "very well equipped." She talks about the importance of belonging, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Gina says her son graduated as the only African American in a class of 35, twenty-plus years ago in Maroa Forsyth. Her next son graduated 3 years later, again as the only African American. "Many years later," her daughter graduated as the only African American. She now has four grandchildren in that district.
"I have four African American families that live on my block. My grandchildren are the only ones in Maroa Forsyth." She says "Let's change that."
"They have just as many problems with their children out there as well. They just have staffing out there." She says "They [had] drug searches every day when my sons were in school."
Note: Gina Taylor is the source for all claims in this article.