Lee County Board of Education Candidate: Shawn Williams

Law enforcement officer has students’ safety in mind

By GORDON ANDERSON
anderson@sanfordherald.com

SANFORD — Shawn Wil­liams’ path in life has taken him from high school dropout to a leader in the local education community.
Williams, a native of Brook­lyn, N.Y., was appointed to the Lee County Board of Education in January, after John Quiggle vacated his seat to take an ap­pointment to the Lee County Board of Commissioners.
Of course, there have been some other stops along the way: He left high school at 17 years old to join the U.S. Marine Corps, through which he earned his G.E.D. and bachelor’s de­grees in criminal justice and di­vinity. When he left the Corps in 1993, he began working in law enforcement, a career path that started with him as a sheriff’s deputy in Pamlico County, and eventually saw him move into jobs as the chief of police in Maysville and, finally, the chief of the Jones County School System’s Special Police.
“A lot of people looked at being a school re­source officer as kind of a ‘kindergarden cops’ thing, but once I got into it, I realized that that’s where law enforcement really is,” Williams said. “You get to deal with young people when you still have a chance to put them back on the right path.”
Williams is one of six candidates for four seats on the Lee County Board of Education. He was appointed to the board not long after relocating to Sanford following a pastoral assignment at Fair Promise AME Zion Church — in addition to his career in law enforce­ment, he’s been in the ministry since 1984. The relocation came just after he retired from his law enforcement position.
Williams says his experience in both law enforcement and the church make him uniquely qualified for a position on the school board.
“I have a lot of first­hand experience with young people,” he said.
“That’s why I think it’s important to have quality education and people who care about making the school environment conducive to learning.
Williams said one of his priorities is offering children avenues to make up for any mistakes they make while in school. He pointed to an “alternative to suspension” program that he recently helped West Lee Middle School implement.
“It’s a six-week pro­gram that we offered through (Fair Promise AME Zion) church where students could come to the church two times per week and receive coun­seling and tutoring, and the parents had to attend three adult sessions,” he explained. “It was some­thing that would only work if the students, the parents and the school all worked together.”