New Gardendale City School Board Member Karen Malone said when she first began reading up on the case related to the Gardendale City School Board’s attempt to split away from Jefferson County, she had no intention of putting herself in the middle of it.

“I began to read up on it so I would know how to pray for my community,” Malone said.

The former teacher and current children’s minister moved to Gardendale almost seven years ago and embraced the community as her own almost immediately.

As she began to read the federal judge’s ruling related to the school system and the national media accounts of the city’s attempt to break away from the county school system, Malone said she was struck by the fact that the words didn’t mirror the community she now called home.

“I was reading articles that didn’t match my experience,” Malone explained. “It was frustrating to read what wasn’t a reality for us and most families we know.”

Malone was involved in the schools and activities with her children because she said she knew from experience how important it was for parents to help teachers and work with schools to give children a chance to succeed.

It wasn’t long before those around her were urging her to get more involved and apply for the school board.

The mother of two said she was still hesitant to jump into the politics of the school board position, but decided to throw her hat in the ring after Federal Judge Madeline Haikala ruled that the board must appoint an African-American person to fill at least one seat on the board of education, despite some misgivings. She said she was initially concerned about being a pawn if she was chosen just for her skin color, but after much prayer and conversations with her husband, she decided she would put those concerns to the side and get involved.

“You have to leverage the platform you have to create the change you want to see,” Malone said.

Malone submitted the application material during the open time period in the Spring, but the appeals process resulted in a stay of the order pending the appeal outcome. As a result, the board and city council left the designated seat, Place 2, open until the appeal is complete.

When Gardendale School Board Member Dick Lee died in September, the board was left with another empty seat and opened the process for replacing Lee. At that point, Malone applied for that seat in Place 5.

Gardendale Mayor Stan Hogeland said at the council meeting that the council received applications from 11 “very impressive” candidates but that Malone quickly rose to the top of the applicant pool with both her experience and her interview.

Malone is currently the only female and the only African American on the Gardendale City Board of Education.

Malone moved to Gardendale almost seven years ago from Madison, where she had been a school teacher in the city school system for 11 years.

She said that education has always been in her blood, her mom was a teacher and assistant principal, as were 11 of her aunts and uncles. In college at Alabama A&M, Malone decided that elementary education was where her heart was and changed majors to pursue the work she loved.

She soon landed the job teaching at Madison City Schools and taught there until her marriage and children brought her to Gardendale in 2011. She had always been active in church ministry but once she settled in the area, she became the children’s minister for Faith Chapel, allowing her to still work with elementary-aged children.

Now, Malone is focused on “what really matters,” which she said is the school board pushing forward, working as a team to accomplish goals that will best serve the students of Gardendale.

Malone will officially be sworn in at the council meeting on Jan. 18. Lee will also be honored for his service and board training will be provided by the Alabama Association of School Boards.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta currently has the school board case, which will determine if Gardendale is allowed to split from the Jefferson County Board of Education and form their own system or not. The split is currently opposed by nearby communities, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, The Jefferson County Board of Education and the Justice Department.