Larry Duckworth has announced he will seek the Forsyth County school board seat being vacated by Mike Dudgeon.

Duckworth, chief executive officer for Learn.net, said his experience in education puts him in a position where he “can really help.”

“My motto is great to greater, because we’ve got a great school system already,” he said. “Giving our kids the competitive edge for the future is what our job has to be.”

Duckworth said he has been impressed with Dudgeon’s service in the District 2 post and “would have never run against him because I’ve got such a great regard for him.”

But when Dudgeon announced his plan to run for the District 24 state House seat, Duckworth said it was a great opportunity.

“My parents always taught me to give back,” he said. “This is a way for me to give back, pure and simple. It’s a lot of work, but it’s good work.”

Duckworth, 63, has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in business administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, or Virginia Tech.

He and his wife, Sharon, have been married more than 40 years, have three grown children and three grandchildren.

Before making a decision to run, Duckworth contacted Dudgeon for some advice.

Dudgeon said he’s known Duckworth for a few years.

“I believe he would do a really good job,” Dudgeon said.

“I think because of his business leadership background and education background that he would be a tremendous board member,” he said.

Duckworth is the first person to have publicly expressed intent to run for the seat in District 2, which includes much of south Forsyth.

He is running as a Republican, but said he has “no political agendas other than to help us help our kids be highly successful in life.”

Qualifying for the July 20 primary is set for April 26-30. The general election will be Nov. 2.