Retired firefighter Gary Ball brings decades of community service as candidate for Dougherty School Board

EDITOR’S NOTE: Third in a series of articles on the candidates seeking the District 2 School Board seat called after the death of long-time board member Milton Griffin.

ALBANY — As a graduate of Monroe Comprehensive High School, husband of a retired educator and grandfather of students now in school, Gary Ball has a significant investment in the Dougherty County School System.

Ball, a firefighter of 40 years who retired as an Albany Fire Department captain and also worked with the MCLB-Albany Fire & Emergency Services, is one of six candidates seeking to fill the unexpired Dougherty County School Board term of Milton “June Bug” Griffin, who died in February.

“I’m a lifelong resident of Albany, attended schools here,” Ball said. “All of my siblings — 10 siblings — attended the Dougherty County School System. My three children attended the Dougherty County School System. Now my three grandchildren attend the Dougherty County School System. I have a genuine interest in the success of the Dougherty County School System as well as the city of Albany and Dougherty County.”

Through working as a substitute teacher, Ball, a graduate of Albany State University with bachelor of arts and masters degrees in public administration, estimated that he’s worked on pretty much every campus in the system. Virginia, his wife of more than 40 years, also provides insight in education for him.

He also was a founding member of the Albany Firefighters League Inc., a community service group, and chairman of the Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church Board.

Two of the key issues the candidate identified are the need to recruit and retain exceptional educators and to address the system’s dropout rate.

“It’s concentrating on the students,” he said. “We can’t just stop there. We have to concentrate on our staff, on the school board and all of our stakeholders working together for all our students to excel in school and beyond into their secondary education.”

The school system also needs to ensure a smooth transition back to on-campus classes for the next school year, Ball said. Currently, some students are back in the classroom while others are still at home as part of a hybrid educational model, but a full return is planned for the fall.

“It’s going to take an effort,” the candidate said. “It starts with the parents working along with the educators to get them to transition back. (It’s) the instructors relaying to the students an agenda, explaining to parents and guardians that this is what we’re doing to get back to some kind of normalcy.

“It has to come from the educators to the parents and the parents passing the agenda to the students to make a smooth transition going back.”

Listening and communicating, both with parents and fellow school board members, would be a priority for Ball.

“I will promote transparency and present information regarding the Dougherty County School System in an accurate and detailed manner,” he said. “I would ensure that all challenges are being properly addressed while keeping students at the forefront of every decision and be open to suggestions from students and their families who are impacted by the school system.”

If elected, Ball said he would recognize Griffin’s legacy in filling out the long-time board member’s unexpired term in office.

“I’ll go and work in peace and harmony with the board members trying to better our system,” he said. “First and foremost I’m a servant of God, and I’ve been a servant of 40 years in the fire service and the community.”

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