Dr. Rick Unruh seeks re-election to Houston County School Board

HOUSTON COUNTY – Houston County Board of Education vice-chair Dr. Rick Unruh is seeking re-election for Post 1. 

Unruh’s interest in education stemmed from both of his parents being teachers, including his high school teachers. His mom worked in the public school system, while his dad worked as a college professor. 

“I had a lot of really good teachers in high school and they kind of inspired me to go in that direction,” he said. 

Now, Unruh and his wife Carole have two children and five grandchildren. He admits his story is probably atypical of most who seek elected office. 

“After retiring from a 35 plus year career as a school teacher with more than 32 of those years in Houston County, I thought my contribution to education was behind me,” he said. “However, in March 2012, I had the opportunity to join the school board as an appointee filling the Post 1 spot as my predecessor resigned for personal reasons. I am excited to continue to serve the families of Houston County.”

Unruh believes he is plenty qualified to recapture his role for Post 1. 

“Other than my 35 years in the classroom, I have a BS in education from Trevecca Nazarene University, an MA from Georgia College and State University and a Doctorate of Strategic Leadership from Regent University,” he said. 

Unruh has done many things during his 11 years on the Board of Education. 

“The board is entrusted with three things: creating policy to guide our school district, overseeing the financial activities and selecting the Superintendent of Schools,” he said. “I am extremely proud of the work we have done as a board to recognize our teachers, contribute to the growth of our students, improve and expand our facilities as our county grows and ensure our schools are safe spaces to learn.” 

When asked about the teachers, Unruh said the district has the finest teaching staff, as many of them are graduates of Houston County School District. 

“All are fully qualified with many seeking advanced degrees,” he said. “Our salary schedule exceeds the state and is $5,000 to $15,000 higher than surrounding districts depending on the experience of the teacher as well as teacher retention being around 92% which is better by 10 to 15% than nearby counties.”

School safety is of the utmost importance and concern to Unruh. The district works extensively with the Houston County Sheriff’s Department to provide School Resource Officers. 

“We recently added a second School Resource Officer to each of our high schools,” he said. “We have upgraded our lock systems, school entryways, as well as added an emergency alert system that allows all employees to trigger a school-wide alarm; additionally, students have the ability to anonymously report concerns through an app.”

Brick-and-mortar facilities are something Unruh supports and wants to generate more of if re-elected. 

“We have seen our facilities improved and expanded throughout the district with five new schools, upgraded sports facilities and renovations of existing schools, including new classrooms,” he said. “This included the collaboration with governmental agencies to provide a new tennis facility as well as a long overdue aquatic center.”

Unruh also supports student achievement in the arts. Unruh said that all students are afforded opportunities to experience music and art, as theater and dance are offered in high schools. 

“We recently invested a million dollars into band instruments,” he said. “With the tremendous support of Houston County voters, we envision a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center for the school district utilizing our most recent E-SPLOST funding.”

On student achievement, Unruh said students in the Houston County School District routinely outscore the state average in standardizing testing. The graduation rate and SAT scores are also above the average in the state of Georgia. 

“Our district continually strives to improve student growth across all schools and grade levels, and the district’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan outlines ways our district will make advances in closing achievement gaps,” he said.  

Unruh considers himself a servant leader and gives several reasons why the public should vote for him. 

“I have a proven record as being a well-respected teacher,” he said. “I have also been on the board for 11 years now, and we’ve had a good measure of success.” 

Early voting for the School Board is happening now; election day will be May 21. For more information on the Houston County Board of Education, visit www.hcbe.net/boe.