Robert Youngblood takes the gavel as new Dougherty County School System board chair
Robert Youngblood has spent more than 30 years with the Dougherty County School System
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — In the more than 30 years Robert Youngblood has been associated with the Dougherty County School system, he has been the district’s version of a Swiss Army knife.
He began his career in education as an assistant football coach and teacher, and moved on the be an assistant principal. He later was the principal at three different campuses, beginning with Lake Park Elementary School and ending with Westover Comprehensive High School. He then moved downtown as a DCSS administrator, and six years ago was elected to the Dougherty County Board of Education.
At the BOE’s first meeting of the new year on Monday evening, he was elected by his peers as the board’s new chairman, replacing the outgoing Velvet Poole, who held the job for four years. He was selected by a 4-2 vote.
Milton “June Bug” Griffin made the motion to name Youngblood board chair.
“Velvet has done a great job, but I just felt it was time for us to make a change,” Griffin said. “It was just time to make a change.”
Youngblood was humble about his selection.
“I’d like to thank the board members for having confidence in me,” Youngblood said after assuming his seat to the right of DCSS Superintendent Ken Dyer. “But there is not one seat on this board that is more important that another. There is not a job I can’t do just as well from over there (referring to his former seat) that I can’t do sitting right here. Velvet did an excellent job and we all worked to support her.”
Dean Phinazee was selected as the board’s vice chair.
“I’d like to thank Mrs. Poole for her admirable service for the past four years, and I’d like to congratulate Mr. Youngblood on his selection as chair,” Dyer said. “As you may remember she came aboard at a very challenging time for the school system. You can see over the past four years the improvements that have been made. When I was the chief financial office she was on the finance committee.
“Mr. Youngblood is also a member of the finance committee and I am looking forward to working even more closely with him in the future.”
Board member James Bush is the chairman of the finance committee and noted the improvement in the board’s financial situation.
“I’d like to point out that the school board has boosted the system’s reserve to $16 or $17 million,” Bush said. “We are probably the only government in this area that has not raised taxes. Mrs. Poole has a lot to do with boosting our surplus, and we’re proud of that.”
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