Twelve candidates, four open seats and one election. The field for a spot on the Catawba County Schools Board of Education is a crowded one.
Three incumbents — Glenn L. Fulbright, Becky Brittain and Leslie Barnette— are seeking another four-year term on the board of education. The remaining candidates are Michelle Teague, Chris Gibbs, Clayton Mullis, Don Sigmon, Kathy Kelly, Nick Huffman, Glenn Christopher “Chopper” Fulbright, Steve Morgan and Tim Settlemyre.
The candidates answered a series of questions, starting with one that asked them to state their priorities if elected. Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.
You must live in the school district to vote in the Catawba County Schools Board of Education election. Early voting starts Oct. 20. Election Day is Nov. 8.
What is your top priority if elected?
People are also reading…
Becky Brittain
Safety is a major concern of mine. Students and staff deserve a safe environment to learn and work. When students feel safe, their ability to focus and learn increases. Safe environments also contribute to reducing absenteeism. Safe environment factors include but are not limited to digital citizenship, adequate temperature control of our educational spaces, food security, cleanliness, health and crime prevention. Catawba County Schools has done a great job evaluating, researching and improving our safety measures over time. We have not been complacent.
Chris Gibbs
My top three priorities are school safety; recruiting, hiring and retention of highly qualified teachers; and community and parental engagement and building strong support networks with stakeholders to ensure the success of all students.
Clayton C. Mullis
My top priority if elected to the Catawba County Schools Board of Education is to bring new vision and leadership. Public education is in a difficult time not just in Catawba County, but across our entire country. I want to bring a vision to the board that shows we can take public education seriously and that we want a new direction that will focus on our students, staff and parents. Also, we can try to tackle and address the issues that we face today.
If elected as a member of the board of education, I feel the meeting structure needs to be reevaluated. I feel the meetings should be moved from their current time of 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to allow individuals of our community to attend meetings. I would also like to see the board move monthly meetings around to different school buildings across the district to also encourage our community to get involved. I also believe the board of education could explore the idea of having two regular board meetings a month. One meeting could handle financial, personnel matters and approvals of construction. The second meeting could be used to set time aside to allow the board to engage with staff across the district and a time for parents and individuals to bring issues of concern to the board. It should be a time where engagement happens, communication happens.
I feel that we need to show that we plan to elevate the profession of teaching to a new standard. We should recognize that it is the most vital profession and its importance in training our replacements for the next generation. We have to raise our school system to a higher standard by recognizing that we need to bring all stakeholders, from parents, teachers, students and community leaders to the table to make our schools the best in North Carolina. We have to promote our schools and make sure we are putting all of our resources into our school system. By doing so, we have to ensure that parents trust that our schools are a great learning environment for all students and safe at all times. With us doing these things we can make sure that the next generation is able to learn, enjoy life and also leave it in better shape than they found it.
Don Sigmon
My top priority would be the teachers. Making sure the teachers are qualified and then making sure they are respected by the students and supported by the administration.
Glenn L. Fulbright
My first priority is school safety. I have pushed for eight years to have resource officers in all of our schools. We are almost there, but there is more work to be done. We are still four school resource officers short. Catawba County Sheriff Don Brown and all of the other law enforcement agencies in Catawba County have done a great job moving money and personnel around to achieve this goal. A big thanks to them all. Also, the administration has done a great job adding vestibules in the school buildings. I am proud to have been a part of school safety improvements the past few years. There is more work to do. Can we be 100% safe? No, but we can continue to push forward and do all that is possible.
What is next? Being able to fund the school resource officers for the 2023-2024 school year and beyond. Where are the funds going to come from? It takes a village to keep our kids and staff safe, and I am proud to have been a part of the Catawba County village.
Another hope and dream is to have two career-ready high schools in Catawba County. The late Mark Story did an amazing job in leading Catawba County Schools and CVCC forward with many career and technical education programs. Jeff Isenhour is also doing a great job with the support of a hard-working administrative staff. We continue to remodel current school buildings to add more programs, but we are getting close to being out of room. I feel by building two new schools for the career and technical education programs, more students would benefit as well as helping with overcrowding in our high schools.
Kathy Kelly
My top priority would be to work with our community partners to ensure a safe educational environment for our students, teachers and administration.
Michelle Teague
My top priorities include school safety, student academics, teacher recruitment and retention and transparency.
Parents want to know their kids are safe at school. Schools should continue to partner with local law enforcement and develop creative funding opportunities to provide the right security, which is critical. Also, our schools should stay focused on proactive safety measures and ensure students and school staff understands safety protocols. Keep parents informed of threats communicated at our schools.
We have been challenged with dealing with learning loss for students associated with the pandemic. Catawba County Schools has passionate teachers and staff who are dedicated to see our students succeed. We need to do everything possible to make sure the teachers have all the tools and resources they need in accomplishing these tasks. Remove controversial agendas in the classrooms such as critical race theory, social and emotional learning, and sexual and gender ideology. We need to make sure our students graduate ready for college and trade schools.
Teachers should be valued and know they are appreciated. They are on the frontline and have a great deal of influence on our kids. We have some really great teachers. We need to make sure the school system provides a purposeful, healthy working environment and boosts morale. We need to find creative business funding for teachers to be compensated with incentives, benefits and bonuses for their hard work. Build a network and relationships with universities to secure good teacher candidates for open positions.
Parents need to know their voices are being heard on important issues that come up with their kids. Even though I believe there is communication, many parents feel there is room for improvement for better communication and transparency. As a school board member, I would work to build that level of trust and confidence for better relationships and unity among parents, teachers and staff.
Nick Huffman
My top priority is to provide representation on the board for parents and guardians with students that are currently in our school system. I have two daughters currently enrolled in the Catawba County Schools system. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that we needed parents on the school board to represent the parents and students in the school system. Much like the parent-teacher organizations in the local schools, having that type of interaction at the school board level is the key to engagement and communication. This facilitates good policies to help our students learn, grow, and develop skills to prepare them for college, military or the workforce.
Leslie H. Barnette
My top three priorities include the safety of our students and school staff, the retention and recruitment of teachers and school staff and student achievement, specifically, regaining the learning loss that occurred due to COVID.
Steve Morgan
A top priority is always safety, but I believe that Catawba County Schools are well-prepared by working with local law enforcement that have been providing school resource officers, contingency plans and training for incidents. With that said, I believe that one of the most important things we need to do for our children is help them get caught up and close their learning gaps that resulted from COVID-19. We need to continue identifying the most prominent gaps for the majority of students in their grade level, then find the best ways to target those gaps so that they can move forward in their education more successfully. For those who may have greater gaps, tutoring opportunities should be provided to assist them in areas they are having difficulties.
Tim Settlemyre
My top priority would be a review of all Catawba County Schools policies and how they are interpreted by individual schools. When attending school board meetings, I have noticed a startling lack of agreement among schools as to how board policies are applied. Also, there is a lack of clarification from current board members when asked how particular board policies should be applied.
Glenn Christopher “Chopper” Fulbright
I want to be a voice for the students and the staff. That’s who talked me into running. I worked at Bandys High School coaching football, baseball, softball and was the assistant athletic director.
The questions
The candidates were asked three questions by the Hickory Daily Record. Due to the large number of candidates, the answers to each question are being published in separate articles.
- Today: What is your top priority if elected?
- Monday: Under what circumstances, if any, should a book be removed from a school library?
- Tuesday: How prepared are Catawba County Schools for an active shooter situation?"
0 Comments
'); var s = document.createElement('script'); s.setAttribute('src', 'https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js'); document.body.appendChild(s); window.removeEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); __tnt.log('Load Rev Content'); } } }, 100); window.addEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); }
Want to see more like this?
Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox.
Sarah Johnson
Reporter
- Author email
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don't have an account? Sign Up Today