The fourth of five public meet-and-greets with a potential Lee County Schools superintendent was held Tuesday in Depot Park, with Jeffrey Moss as the candidate.

Moss is the only finalist who has experience already as a superintendent. He currently serves in that position for the Beaufort County School system and was also a superintendent for Stanley County schools.

He spoke with a crowd of about 40 people. Here is an excerpt of his question-and-answer session with the public:

Moss began by thanking the superintendent selection committee for naming him as a finalist. He said he spent 17 years working in education in the same type of area while in Hoke County. “The area, this community is exceptional. It’s what you want to feel like when you walk into a downtown.”

Q How would you work with Central Carolina Community College?
A: “We’re both in the same business,” Moss said. He said when he worked in Stanley County, he met with Pfeiffer University’s president on a monthly basis to discuss initiatives. At Beaufort County Schools, Moss said the system also has an early college system with Beaufort County Community College, as well as a college academy that involves distance learning with college professors. Students in the system can graduate with as much as 44 college credit hours. “As a parent, that would mean a lot to me,” Moss said.

Q: Can you talk more about the Grow Your Own program?
A: The grow your own program encourages schools to give scholarships to students so that they will return to a district as teachers. Moss said Beaufort County Schools has a program similar to the N.C. Teaching Fellows. The school system implemented the program under his leadership. “It’s taken me four years to get it up and going,” he said. “I think you can replicate it anywhere, you just have to have the commitment.”

Q: How will you work to improve student services/relationships with students?
A: “We believe in starting out positively,” Moss said. He said Beaufort county Schools nominate students and choose a winner each month for character education. The winner gets a Wal-Mart gift card and plaque. The school that is the cleanest also gets an award.

Q: What is your style of working with different school boards?
A: “It has to be a trusting relationship and a close relationship. It’s almost like a marriage,” Moss said. “At the end of the day, you have to be united.” He said sometimes personal agendas, especially those that come based on elections, don’t work very well. “Elections can throw a kink in that wheel,” he said. “My personal philosophy is taht I don’t surprise board members.”

Q: What is your position on school safety?
A: “I am very big on school safety,” Moss said. He said Beaufort schools have done a good job in this area. “We have a lot of conversations,” he said. Moss added that the district has a new curriculum that focuses on the growing prescription drug epidemic.

Q: What is your stance on school uniforms?
A: Moss said he helped implement uniforms in Beaufort County Schools. “We saw discipline drop,” he said. Moss said students can focus on the teaching and learning process better. The only minor adjustment they’ve had is to expand to let any color shirt be acceptable.

Q: What is your stance on pre-K education?
A: “It has fluctuated a lot,” Moss said. “Every child should be heading to know how to read by leaving the second grade.” Moss said. “The problem comes after pre-K.” When children are dispersed, the teacher has to work to bring the children from the bottom up instead of working to continue to elevate other children.

Q: What is your philosophy on improving the drop-out rate?
A: “You have to start out on the middle-school level,” Moss said. He added that he doesn’t think raising the legal age from 16 to 17 for dropouts would make a difference. He said it’s important to grab children’s attention more. One idea is more partnerships with businesses. Moss added that one problem is “still seeing teachers teach the way I was taught. I believe we haven’t retooled ourselves. We need to engage kids in the learning process.”