For Percefull
World's Editorial Writers
01/29/2003
Tulsa World (Final Home Edition), Page A16 of Opinion

District 1 seat on school board open

Now, more than ever, the Tulsa Public Schools Board needs another member to help guide it through lean times.

The seven-person board needs someone who understands the complexities of money matters.

It needs someone who understands the academic and financial challenges faced by teachers and administrators trying to serve the more than 40,000 students in Oklahoma's largest school district.

The board needs another voice of reason and of passion, someone who can get along with the other six members but has the character to disagree if necessary.

It needs someone who understands what neighborhood schools mean to communities, how those schools are a matter of identity and pride.

Public relations consultant Gary Percefull could provide the aforementioned qualities. He is an excellent choice for the District 1 seat, left vacant by the recent death of Charles O. Williams.

Percefull knows how to connect with people and how to advocate.

He served on the TPS Suspension Task Force, which worked to address discipline and safety issues. In addition Percefull has a history of community involvement. His company became an active Adopt-A-School partner. He also worked with the East Tulsa Prevention Coalition and the Going to Bat for Tulsa Kids mentoring program. Percefull has run several businesses. He's served as a board member of the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa and worked on CSC's Early Childhood Awareness Task Force.

Percefull has a reputation for fairness and for being open-minded about other people's ideas.

The District 1 spot has had several board members over the past five years. Each has brought leadership qualities to the post. Percefull would carry on that tradition.

It's often said that being a school board member, who must balance multiple competing interests, might just be the toughest elected job around. Percefull is up to the task.