Candidates for the Alamance-Burlington School System Board of Education election on Nov. 3 discussed their backgrounds, priorities and major concerns about ABSS at a candidate forum Sept. 29.
The forum, held at Cummings High School, was sponsored by the Alamance Chamber of Commerce, Elon University and Impact Alamance, with the event live streaming on Elonnewsnetwork.com. A recording of the forum will be available at alamancevotes.org.
Seven candidates are running for three open seats that will be up for grabs on the November ballot. Two incumbents are running, and board member Dan Ingle is retiring, leaving a seat open. During the event, candidates were asked to tell the audience of about 30 people about themselves. Candidates also answered a series of questions related to their priorities, concerns about ABSS and what they would do as a board member if elected.
Five of the seven candidates are current or former teachers, but some have a connection to ABSS through being parents of children at ABSS.
A major topic that was discussed was teacher recruitment and retention. Samira Khan, who teaches at Guilford Technical Community College, said retaining teachers through increased salaries needs to be a priority.
“ABSS is going through a crisis where we keep losing our teachers to other districts, and that is not fair to our children,” Khan said during the forum. “We can increase the retention by increasing their salary, by making sure that they feel valued, they feel that they are respected.”
Kyle Ward, who was an Alamance County teacher for over 30 years, said retaining high-quality teachers is key to the students’ experience.
“When a child does not have a consistent teacher in the classroom, it's hard for that child to create a relationship, and sometimes it's hard for that child to feel safe,” Ward said during the forum.
Budgeting was also a frequent topic of discussion. Incumbent Charles Parker, who also works at Duke University in the department of electrical and computer engineering, said the board needs to rely on data more when making financial decisions.
“Every dollar should have a backing, clear data that supports a demonstrated need, and then a measurable result, and not just rely on previous year's spending trends,” Parker said during the forum. “One of the things that I've discussed as a board member is getting really high quality data in order to be able to make decisions.”
Parker said that while he is proud of what he has done while serving on the board, there is more progress to be made amid recent fiscal and mold crises.
“I believe I have more to contribute and want to help ABSS move beyond crisis management to being able to focus on the long-term needs of the school system,” Parker said during the forum.
Incumbent Eric Hall, who works at Elon University as the assistant provost for scholarship and creative activity, described several ways the district could address keeping more teachers in ABSS schools.
“We need to recruit and retain our educators,” Hall said during the forum. “What can we do to do that? Can we put more people out of career fairs? What kind of professional development can we provide? What kind of things can we do that makes them want to be a part of this community and keep them here?”
Brandy Whitaker is a parent of two children who attend ABSS schools and has worked with nonprofits. Whitaker said a nonprofit-focused way of funding could alleviate issues. She said that she would work to implement a full-time grant writer for creative funding.
“If we have somebody on staff at the district level who focuses all of their time and attention into creative funding grants, we could get a lot more things accomplished for a lot less time and money,” Whitaker said during the forum.