Without Ragin running, Sumter school board Area 5 is 3-way race of political newcomers

Editor's note: This is the third in a series on the five Sumter school board area seats that are up for election in November. Each week leading up to Election Day, The Sumter Item will analyze at least one area (alternatively called district) race and interview candidates on the ballot. All candidates will be contacted. Online this series, like other election information, will be free to read as a public service. Candidate Q&As in their own words were included in our Vote 2026 Guide section published in the Sept. 26-29 Weekend edition.

THE AREA 5 RACE

The Item returns to mostly an outlying Sumter County area in this school board race story to cover the candidates in Area 5.

The area is the only race that does not include an incumbent, as board Chairman Shawn Ragin is not seeking reelection because his intention is to open a public charter school in the City of Sumter beginning in August with the start of next school year.

Three candidates filed and are in the race: Jason Johnson, Roosevelt Miott and Gregory Walters. None have been on the school board previously or held any political office.

Area 5 is a large portion of western Sumter County extending from Horatio in the northern section near Shaw Air Force Base down to Pinewood in the southern section and also includes the Wedgefield area. The western boundary line is the Richland County line, and a southern boundary is the Clarendon County line. The easternmost boundary area includes Providence Baptist Church.

JASON JOHNSON

Johnson is a Pinewood native and graduated from Lakewood High School in 2001 before attending University of South Carolina in Columbia. He graduated in 2006 with a degree in business management.

Johnson has worked in his family's cemetery services business for 29 years and since he was 14. As far as community service, he is affiliated with Brothers Inc., which is a nonprofit organization that focuses on youth mentoring, engagement and empowerment.

In 2018, he ran for Sumter school board and lost to Matthew "Mac" McLeod when the board had seven single-member districts. Now, the board is nine single-member districts, and this is Johnson's first attempt in Area 5, which was officially created before the 2022 election. After the change, McLeod is now in Area 6.

Johnson has two children who graduated from Lakewood and Sumter High School since 2020.

His platform - or talking points - are stability in district leadership to help build public trust, strengthening partnerships and increasing academic achievement.

According to Johnson, it is hard to build public trust when the school district has had a revolving door of superintendents - there have been six total, including an interim - since consolidation in 2011. Stability in that district leadership role will help with trust, but the district needs to also address the root causes for why it's lost nearly 4,000 students in the last decade, he added.

Regarding partnerships for the district, those include parents, the local colleges, industry in Sumter and Shaw Air Force Base.

"Sumter has got a really good infrastructure if we utilize it properly," Johnson said.

On academic achievement much needs to be done, he added, given the district's core subject proficiency totals are so far below the state's averages based on the latest state report card data released last week.

In his talks with community members recently as he campaigns, Johnson said he has emphasized that everybody needs to take stock in their role in educating young people.

"I think my philosophy as a parent - and I feel the same way about my parents - I considered myself to be the primary educator for my children," he said. "When they got to school, the school was able to gauge their performance. But I never looked at the school as the primary educator. It was my responsibility to make sure my children knew how to read, do math and all these things.

"But, I also understand that every parent doesn't have the same academic skill set. So, some things that I may have been able to teach and pass on to my children, it may have been a struggle in another household. It's all a personal assessment, but I think it is something that we all have to access and take stock in as well."

Some school board candidates and local leaders are addressing the concept of "rural schools versus city schools" leading up to the election, but Johnson said, "just based on the state report data, we have rural schools and city schools that are struggling."

He added that separating the dialogue to "rural schools versus city schools" does not work toward unifying the school district and the focus needs to be on issues to help all schools in Sumter.

Regarding magnet school programs, Johnson said he is for them if they are a benefit to the students, the district and the community at large.

"But I am more interested in focusing on ways to improve schools and performance throughout the district," he added.

On realignment, or rezoning attendance lines, Johnson said it needs to be strongly considered because many schools are underutilized and he thinks it can create equity to ensure all children have access to the same opportunities and programs in their education.

Regarding consistently late buses in transporting students to and from school, Johnson said he was not aware that new Superintendent Gerald Gary and his administration have identified the lack of proper home addresses for students as a key challenge.

District administration plans to conduct a full-scale online enrollment process with parents in the spring to obtain accurate residential address information for bus transportation purposes. No recent Sumter superintendent has pursued that measure previously.

Johnson's perspective on Gary as the new superintendent is positive.

His view is because the new superintendent is from Sumter, that helps Gary understand the issues in the community. Johnson also likes that he has proven leadership qualities and has brought a team with proven leadership abilities to the district.

He added he thinks Gary will promote and produce equality in offerings in Sumter School District.

If he were elected in November as a new school board member, Johnson said he would initially invest time to learn as much as possible regarding policies, procedures and understanding school district operations.

"As hard as I have worked as a candidate, if I am elected I am committed to working even harder to serving my constituents, the entire county, but especially serving our young people," he said. "Of course, there is a learning curve involved, but the one thing that I am committed to doing is always being accessible, always working to make sure I understand what's going on in the schools and ensuring the community understands what is going on in the schools."

GREGORY WALTERS

Walters is originally from the Davis Station community near Manning in Clarendon County and graduated from Scott's Branch High School in Summerton in 1992. He holds both an Associate and Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice, he said.

Walters served 12 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard and then was honorably discharged and medically separated from the military in 2010, he added. Walters moved to Sumter after leaving the military in part because he wanted to live near a military installation, he said.

He has worked in the day care industry for 10 years and in January opened Growing Hands and Feet Academy in Sumter. Walters is the director and co-owner with his wife, and it currently has a little more than 50 kids, he said.

Walters has three children in the school district, and all attend Lakewood High School.

This is his first time seeking an elected office.

Walters said his platform - or talking points - include getting the fiscal 2026 deficit, or shortfall, under control. Additionally, he likes realignment if the data supports it and magnet school initiatives as district administration develops out the process.

Walters added he is potentially for reopening closed schools because the district doesn't have the money to build new schools and he also does not think a referendum would be successful because people do not want their taxes increased.

Overall, Walters said his platform is "small" now, and he would be "flexible" on basically all ideas as he learns more if he were elected as a board member.

"I really have to actually be on the board and see some things before I can say too much," Walters said. "That's why I am speaking just a small platform at this point. If I can be on the board, my thoughts can change after I see some things or find out some information.

"I am not head-strong on something when I can maybe look at [ideas] and change my thoughts. I am not one of those persons that is like 'This is what I want and this is where I am standing firm, and I am not going to change.'

"I am not one of those candidates because you may get in a position that you are on the inside and need to make a sound decision for the best interest of the child. On some issues, maybe the public does not understand all the details. So I am flexible as I learn the issues."

Regarding the annual deficit of about $10 million, Walters wants more investigation and does not think the district could manage a budget to include building a new state-of-the-art school, he added.

"I would call for a forensic [audit] to make sure everything is accounted before asking for more money from anybody," Walters said. "Let's put a handle on that first."

He added he is running for the elected seat because "I truly support all kids and want the best for Sumter."

With a previous career in the military, Walters said he knows what it is like to move children in and out of different schools and how difficult that can be.

"I just feel, and I said, I can be the best candidate to help our community and our schools move forward to be a top district."

On various topics, he said he is willing to make suggestions and "get the discussion going to see what the best outcomes are for the kids."

Regarding "deconsolidation" or splitting the district back into two districts, which some community members have discussed, Walters said he is neutral on the concept and suggests a survey be completed to see what the community wants.

Gary, the new superintendent, is in his first year, and Walters added he thinks he is "doing a pretty good job" and would be willing to support him.

"We need to give him the opportunity to do his job," he said. "We done had these rollovers from different superintendents, so I would give him the opportunity to do his job, and that takes time."

ROOSEVELT MIOTT

Miott is a Stateburg native and graduated from Ebenezer High School, which is now a middle school in Sumter School District, in 1961 during segregation.

He earned his bachelor's in elementary education from Morris College and later earned both a master's and education doctorate degree from the University of Houston during the 1970s. His doctorate was in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in "cultural pluralism," which essentially means integrating all cultures into curriculum, Miott said.

Miott has two children that graduated from Crestwood High School in 2007 and 2008. 

He served about 40 years in the former Sumter School District 2 as a teacher and school administrator, including a total of 27 years as principal of the former F.J. DeLaine Elementary School in Wedgefield. Most of Miott's tenure at DeLaine was when Frank Baker was the superintendent in District 2. Even though the school closed to students in 2018, it is still utilized as a district resource facility.

Miott also had principal stints at Oakland Primary School near Shaw Air Force Base and two rural schools in the far eastern portion of Sumter County that later closed (St. John Elementary and Mayesville Elementary).

He closed his career 2013-17 at the district office in the newly consolidated district, serving as the director of an early childhood program for preschoolers that was in place at several schools in the City of Sumter.

Miott is first vice president and second in charge of the Sumter County branch of the NAACP, which has traditionally been staunchly against closing any rural schools in the county. Miott said he would be against closing any of those schools if he were elected as a trustee "if there was a possibility of continuing them."

His platform as a candidate includes putting children first in academics, rezoning attendance lines and stability in district leadership.

Regarding academics that includes achievement, "a rigorous curriculum" to prepare students for life and equity in programs throughout the district, Miott said.

On rezoning, or realignment, it should have already been completed, he added.

When The Item responded that the only realignment plan officially brought forward to date was from the 2022 consultant's study that would shift 32% of district high school students to a new high school, Miott said he is not necessarily familiar with the study and his ideas would not shift that many students.

He is a member of Sumter County Councilman Carlton Washington's magnet school committee with a focus on implementing a magnet at Rafting Creek Elementary School in Rembert.

Miott said it would be nice to implement magnet schools in the outermost rural schools in the county, but he would also be for similar initiatives at all district schools. Those programs could help bring back students who have been lost to other K-12 educational options, he added.

Leading up to the election, Washington has set a tone of campaign dialogue as "rural schools versus city schools" and when the newspaper asked Miott about the discussion going that route he only said that the councilman can understand those disparities.

"Carlton grew up in the rural schools, just like I did," Miott said. "So he understands the same things I did. In fact, I understand more than he did because I am much older than he is. My growing up in rural schools was from the bottom of the pit. I think rural schools should be just as important as other schools. It should not be something that they are not getting but others do."

Regarding whether Gerald Gary, the new superintendent, is for equality and equity in all district schools, Miott simply said, "I sure hope so."

On his thoughts on how the new district leader is performing to date, Miott did not want to commit one way or the other at this point and said he only reads The Item randomly.

"It is too early for me to size him up," he said. "You got to give somebody a chance to do something first."

Washington has taken a critical tone on Gary regarding new district hires, bus transportation issues and the budget deficit for fiscal 2026, and Miott was noncommittal on the matter.

"I think he would have more information on all that than I do since he is leading the magnet committee," Miott said, "because I have not looked into it."

If he were elected, Miott added that the board must work together as a team, and no one can enter into the office with their own agenda.

"The board must work together as a team. You cannot go in there with your one agenda; so I am not planning on going in there with my own agenda, but I am going in there with what I would support."

Miott added his stance is the superintendent is the CEO of the district, runs the district, and if he brings items to the board and the trustees approve it, then he would be all for those items.