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Eric Worthington is the incumbent running to be re-elected for the Board of Education seat for District 6. Worthington is a Bainbridge native, graduating from Bainbridge High School, and is proud to be able to serve the community that he loves, lives, and works in. Worthington has worked at Worthington Auto for 25+ years and his wife Tina has worked at Southern Regional Technical College for 12+ years. They have been very involved parents in the school system since 2008. They have two sons Carter and Cain. Carter graduated from BHS in 2021 with honors and is now attending Georgia Southern University. Cain is currently a BHS sophomore and was recently inducted into the honor society, is active in Key Club and plays BHS Baseball. Worthington contributes his children’s success with academics and extracurricular activities to parenting and the wonderful teachers and staff of the Decatur County School System.

“I will be the Parents voice on the board,” said Worthington. “This community and Decatur County Schools have been good to me and my family so I only feel it is right for me to give something back in my service to Decatur County Schools.”

Worthington is excited about running again and says that he has really enjoyed getting to understand the workings of a school district as a Board member.

“It is really different than other elected positions,” said Worthington. “It really takes you about two years to get a feel for what you are supposed to be doing as a Board member and how to do it. There is a totally different code of ethics and guidelines that dictates your roles and responsibilities and those are in place to ultimately protect the kids, teachers and staff of the district.”

Worthington said he is very proud of the work done by the Board during his tenure. The Board works collaboratively with the Superintendent to get things done in the best interest of all of Decatur County students. Some of the things Worthington is proudest of is the continued academic success of Decatur County Schools. He mentioned that the students continue to excel at high levels and points to the graduation rate of the district as a great example of that. Currently Bainbridge High School and Decatur County as a whole has the highest graduation rate in the history of the district, both scores exceeding the State average.

“Our graduation rate is a testament to the hard work of all of our faculty and staff PK through 12th grade,” stated Worthington.

Another accomplishment he is proud of during his tenure is the continued push for safe schools for the students and staff. He points to two examples of that commitment, the drug dog at BHS and the system wide crisis alert system, Centegix. The Centegix system is a badge that every employee wears with their school ID and with the push of a button an employee can call for help from the school administration when the need arises or they can even call for 911 in extreme situations.

“It is a great way to put some power into our staff’s hands and give them a sense of security,” explained Worthington.

Worthington also reflected on the outstanding financial shape of the district as a shining example of being a good steward of the local tax dollar.

“I am a tax payer in Decatur County so it is very important for me to be able to say that we are being very wise and frugal with our budgets.” He cites the local millage as a great example of the Board’s fiscal responsibility. “The current school millage is only 14.5 mills, the lowest the school millage has been in at least six or seven years, if not longer,” stated Worthington. He went on by saying, “Being smart with our money allows us to continue to offer our students the very best and another great example of that is the new Bainbridge Middle school that will begin construction in the next few months.”

Worthington closed by saying, “As a Board we have been faced with some tough times like the pandemic, but we continue to work very well together to make Decatur County Schools the very best it can be. I am excited about serving another term for District 6, and I appreciate everyone’s support on Election Day.”