With goals to help students become successful, Kim Schmidlin wants to continue her work as a member of the Sampson County Schools Board of Education.
Schmidlin filed for another term Wednesday morning with the Sampson County Board of Elections. She currently served as vice chair for two years and joined the board after she was appointed in February 2015 to fill a vacancy left by G.H. Wilson.
During her tenure, Schmidlin stated that she worked to improve access to technology, increase effectiveness of special education programs, impact literacy for at-risk students, formalize contract procurement procedures, and promote greater financial internal controls.
The goals for her next term include continuing to advocate for at-risk students and working to improve access technology for all schools in the district. Through internship opportunities and collaboration with Sampson Community College, she also wants focus on achieving flexibility for high school students — especially for juniors and seniors.
“I think they can handle that flexibility,” she said. “The more flexibility we give them in helping them achieve their own personal education goals, I think the better their outcomes are going to be. Students are going to stay in school and their going to more motivated and passionate about their education because they’re actually taking classes that they see benefiting them and their own personal goals.”
With career readiness initiatives, she wants to provide more vocational outlets that are not available at certain SCS campuses
“I think one of the things we’ve been limited by is student having to access their curriculum on campus,” she said. “But through technology and a better partnership with Sampson Community College, I think we can leverage those resources in a different way and really open up opportunities to students.”
Schmidlin owns and run Carolina Therapy Services. Based in Dunn, it provides jobs to more than 200 physical, occupational, and speech therapists throughout North Carolina. In 2010 , she was named Dunn’s Woman of the Year. Her business was honored as Dunn’s Business of the Year in 2017.
As a entrepreneur, she feels that her experience in financing and contracting is helpful when it comes to business matters. She also applauded the work of employees such as Finance Officer Steven Britt.
“I think he’s a valuable asset to Sampson County Schools and I feel like we’ll continue to work with the whole board of education and the superintendent to get greater financial stability for our school system,” Schmidlin said. “That’s a big goal of mine as well.”
She lives in the Midway district with her husband, Jim, and daughters Reagan, Ashlyn, and Quinn. Together, they attend Divine Street United Methodist Church. Schmidlin serves on several committees including the Church Council Chair.
Schmidlin is one of four board members up for re-election this year. The others are Mary B. Brown, Telfair Simpson, and Dwain Sinclair. The other incumbent board members include Tracy Dunn, Tim Register and Pat Usher.