Rhett Richardson has a vision -- and not just because he is an eye doctor.

"I'd like to see the Barnwell 45 school district reach its maximum potential," he said.

Richardson, 52, is one of four candidates vying for the two open seats on the board. The others include Renee Geter, Dewayne Eubanks and incumbent Chad Perry.

The election is April 13.

"I have an affinity for the schools and the town itself," Richardson said.

Richardson is a native of Barnwell and has one child already in fifth grade in the district and another that will enter school in two years, he said.

Richardson is married to Cheryl, a stay-at-home mother.

The biggest challenge of the district is overall improvement both for its students, but also the area at large, Richardson said.

"There are people who don't realize how important a school is to a town and vice versa. If you want to have a high quality community, you've got to have great schools," he said.

Schools are economic attractors and indicators of an area. When industries look at locating a plant or business in an area, they will check out the quality of the schools for two reasons, Richardson said.

One, the company envisions how receptive its employees will be to the local school system and whether they would send their children there, he said.

Two, the company will look at the area schools as an indicator as to the quality of education the local populace has when the company begins hiring, Richardson said.

If elected to the school board, Richardson said one thing he wants addressed is communication.

The school board could communicate better with the parents, the public and the teachers, he said.

Under both listings for the duties and responsibilities of the board as a whole and individual school board members, Richardson noted it mentioned communication, he said.

"Communication -- that's the only one that was listed twice. I was pleased to see that," Richardson said.

Richardson graduated from Barnwell High in 1976 and went to the University of South Carolina for three years studying physics.

In 1979, during his third year at USC, Richardson was admitted into the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn. He graduated from there in 1983 with a doctorate of optometry.

An ophthalmologist treats diseases and does surgery. An optometrist tests and examines eyes and proscribes corrective lenses.

Richardson is also on the USC board of visitors, which is like being an "ambassador" for the university.

While at Barnwell High, Richardson helped restore one of the high school rites of passage -- the prom, he said.

After integration in 1970, the high school discontinued the prom. Richardson, as a senior, approached then Barnwell High principal Reed Swann about reinstating the dance, he said.

The Class of 1976 -- whites and African-Americans -- had their first prom together since integration began, Richardson said.