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Joe Helms

My Record

A record you can evaluate.

Nothing on this page is a projection of what Joe would do. It is what he did, and it is all on the public record.

Joe is not asking voters to guess how he will govern. He has four years of decisions, advocacy and votes they can look at directly.

The First Term
4
Years
1
Term
8
Themes

The areas his first term is organised around, below.

1
Community

Listed by theme rather than by date. The specific actions below are ones Joe has stated publicly. No dates, vote counts or outcomes appear on this page that were not supplied by the campaign.

  1. 01

    Teachers

    Advocated for unencumbered time for elementary teachers, so that planning, preparation and collaboration are built into the day rather than squeezed around it.

  2. 02

    Coaches

    Advocated for fair and competitive compensation for Fort Mill coaches, on the argument that a district expecting excellence should recognise the people who build it.

  3. 03

    SILFAB

    Opposed SILFAB and its location near schools and the surrounding community. Raised concerns publicly and stood with community members who shared them.

  4. 04

    Flint Hill

    Voted no when the Board took action related to opening and zoning Flint Hill for students, because of his concerns about students attending school immediately adjacent to the SILFAB facility.

  5. 05

    Fiscal responsibility

    Voted against a district budget over concerns about spending. Points to Flint Hill Elementary, built without the district taking on debt, as evidence that excellence and fiscal discipline can coexist.

  6. 06

    Independent votes

    Voted against a strategic plan over concerns regarding portions of its language. Neither that vote nor the budget vote was a vote against schools, teachers or employees.

  7. 07

    Transparency

    Pushed for transparency in how the district communicates decisions, and for board members to be accountable for the votes they cast.

  8. 08

    Listening and learning

    Met one-on-one with district leaders and listened to teachers, employees, parents and community members. Most of what four years taught Joe was learned this way.

In Depth

Four of those, in Joe’s own words.

01

Teachers

Supporting our teachers.

One of the things Joe pushed for during his first term was unencumbered time for elementary teachers.

Supporting teachers means more than saying we appreciate them once a year. It means looking honestly at how a school day is built and asking whether the people running it have been given room to do the job well.

Elementary school days are relentless. Teachers need time inside them that is genuinely their own, not time that is technically free and practically spoken for.

Time to

  • Prepare
  • Plan
  • Collaborate
  • Recover during demanding school days

Recruiting great teachers matters. Keeping great teachers matters just as much.

Joe Helms standing at the back of a Fort Mill elementary classroom with a teacher and her full class of students.
Joe with a Fort Mill teacher and her class.

02

Coaches and Athletics

Supporting our coaches.

Joe advocated for fair and competitive compensation for Fort Mill coaches.

A district that expects excellence from its athletic programs should appropriately recognise the people responsible for building those programs. Coaching in Fort Mill is not a few hours after school. It is a commitment measured in seasons.

The argument is straightforward. If we are going to hold programs to a high standard, the compensation should reflect what we are actually asking of the people leading them.

Supporting athletics means more than celebrating championships.

Joe Helms in a Catawba Ridge polo shirt with another supporter at a Fort Mill school athletics event.
At a Fort Mill schools athletics event.

03

Flint Hill and SILFAB

When something affects our students, sitting on the sidelines isn’t an option.

Flint Hill Elementary was built without the district taking on debt. Joe viewed that as an extraordinary accomplishment, and he still does.

The issue became deeply personal because Joe’s children attended Flint Hill. This was not a policy question at a distance. It was the school his own kids walked into.

Joe strongly opposed SILFAB and its location near schools and the surrounding community. His position has been clear and unequivocal. He opposed the facility’s location, he raised his concerns, and he stood with community members who shared them.

When the Board took action related to opening and zoning Flint Hill for students, Joe voted no.

That vote was not against Flint Hill, and it was not against the district. Joe believed the district had done an outstanding job on everything within its control. His vote reflected his opposition to the circumstances created by SILFAB, and his concerns about students attending school immediately adjacent to the facility.

Even when an issue falls outside the School Board’s direct authority, I believe a trustee can and should use his voice when the interests of our students and community are at stake.
Joe Helms
The groundbreaking ceremony for Flint Hill Elementary. Two excavators flank a pair of Fort Mill School District signs reading "Fort Mill Elementary #12", with ceremonial shovels and hard hats in the foreground and a speaker at a podium.
The groundbreaking for Flint Hill Elementary, built without the district taking on debt.
The full SILFAB position

04

Independent Leadership

Independent judgment over automatic agreement.

Joe does not believe a Board member’s job is to fight the district. He also does not believe the job is to automatically agree with everything put in front of him.

Early in his term, Joe voted against a district budget because of concerns about spending. He voted against a strategic plan because of concerns regarding portions of its language.

Neither of those was a vote against schools, teachers or employees. They reflected his responsibility to independently evaluate what was actually before the Board, on its own terms.

Listen. Understand. Ask questions. Support good ideas. Speak up when something isn’t right.

Joe at a Fort Mill School Board meeting.
Voters don’t have to guess how I’ll govern. They can look at how I’ve actually served.
Joe Helms

Next

And here is what the next four years would go toward.

Five priorities, and the positions behind them.

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