The filing period for the School Board elections ends Friday, Feb. 26th, at noon. Four Iredell-Statesville Board of Education seats are up for election. Those are the seats representing districts 1, 3, 5 and 7. School Board elections are nonpartisan and are to be held at the time of the May primary election. The term of office is for four years.
The information below depicts the schools included in each district as well as the current School Board member representing each district.
District 1- Dr. Ken Wilson
Union Grove, Harmony, North Middle, North High, Central, East Middle (district also overlaps with West Middle and West High)
District 3- John Rogers
N.B. Mills, Northview, Pressly, Statesville High, East Elementary (district also overlaps with West High, North High, West Middle, Statesville Middle, Monticello, Ebenezer, and Third Creek)
District 5- Bill Brater
Celeste Henkel, South High, Troutman Elementary, Troutman Middle, Lakeshore Elementary, Lakeshore Middle, Lake Norman High, Shepherd (district also overlaps with West High, West Middle, and Sharon)
District 7- Karen Watson
Mt. Mourne, Brawley, Lake Norman Elementary, Woodland Heights (district also overlaps with Lakeshore Middle, Lakeshore Elementary, and Lake Norman High School)
According to the Iredell County Board of Elections, Dr. Ken Wilson, Mr. John Rogers, and Mr. Bill Brater have each filed for reelection. Mr. Robert Bobinski has filed to run in the election for the seat representing District 7. As of Feb. 19th at 2:22 PM, Ms. Watson has not filed for reelection.
In my opinion, unless there is some significant change within the School Board there will not be any significant change in the administration of the School System. NOW is the time for some individuals to step up and speak out for the students. If you live in one of the school districts up for election, please either consider running for the School Board or encourage someone who will make a good candidate to do so.
If Kenneth Wilson is currently in his second term, and if what you understand about the School Board Policy Code is correct, then how can he be eligible to run for a third consecutive term?
ReplyDeletePaul, many of us were hoping that you would be interested in becoming a member of the Board of Education.....
oh, he is interested. lol
ReplyDeleteFeb. 22, 7:22 PM - I don't know how Dr. Wilson can run again since it would be a violation of I-SS policy for him to serve a third consecutive term. Does anyone know if Dr. Cash is in his third consecutive term? I am not sure if the information on the I-SS web site is up to date.
ReplyDeleteI live in District 4 and therefore I cannot run for School Board in this election.
In response to February 22, 2010 7:22 p.m.'s final statement... I believe the use of the word "many" is likely a gross exaggeration.
ReplyDeleteDing dong, February 23, 2010 4:31 PM you are so wrong
ReplyDeletecalled the school system. they said that policy had changed but could not tell me when. they said the state made them change it.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I sent Dawn Creason an email asking for information regarding the terms of the current School Board members. I received the following information today. David Cash and Keith Williams both started serving on the Board in 2000 and each is in his third consecutive term. Dr. Wilson started in 2002 and is in his second consecutive term. Charles Kelly started in 2004 and is also in his second consecutive term. Bill Brater, John Rogers, and Karen Watson each started in 2006 and are each in his/her first term.
ReplyDeleteSeveral months ago I asked for all changes to I-SS Policies that had not been posted to the Policies listed on the school web site. I was informed of a couple of minor changes but there was nothing about the term limits for School Board Members. Thus it seems that the policy restricting Board members to two consecutive terms is still in place. I think State law allows Board members to serve more than two consecutive terms but that should not restrict individual school districts from having a policy that allows only two consecutive terms.
As of Feb. 23rd at 8:10 AM, Richard Pavelock and Barbara Orr have joined the race to represent District 7 on the School Board.
The filing period for the upcoming School Board election has ended. According to the Iredell County Board of Elections web site, Ken Wilson and Bryan Shoemaker have filed to represent District 1. Robert Bobinski, Anna Bonham, Barbara Austin Orr and Richard Pavelock have filed to represent District 7. John Rogers, Jr. and Bill Brater will continue to represent Districts 3 and 5, respectfully, as no one filed to run against either of them. Of course, since Karen Watson did not file for reelection, there will be at least one new individual on the School Board.
ReplyDeleteLast week I sent an email to Dawn Creason asking her about I-SS Policy Code 2110 regarding term limits for I-SS Board members. I received the following reply today.
ReplyDeleteMr. Klaene-
Policy 2110 is outdated and has never been amended to reflect state law. Anyone running for public office in Iredell County, including for the board of education, would refer to the Iredell County Board of Elections for specific rules and laws governing term limits. Elections are not a board of education matter, but rather a board of elections issue. Although I am certainly not the authority as to the board of education's reasons for not updating this policy, I would venture to guess that both incumbent board members and potential board of education members simply contact the board of elections for clarification on term limits. Further, policy 2110 as it currently reads is likely a simple oversight by the board of education. I certainly appreciate your bringing this issue to the board's attention. I am certain they will address the situation with a policy amendment in the near future. For your reference, I have attached a copy of the law regarding board of education terms in Iredell-Statesville Schools. I hope this helps.
Please let me know if you need any further information.
dc
The State law that Ms. Creason referred to contains the following.
SESSION LAW 2002-18
HOUSE BILL 1597
AN ACT TO REPEAL TERM LIMITS FOR MEMBERS OF THE HAYWOOD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, EDENTON‑CHOWAN COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, AND IREDELL‑STATESVILLE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
SECTION 2. As allowed by G.S. 115C‑67, Section 3(d) of the Plan of Merger of the Iredell County and Statesville City Schools is amended by deleting the sentence "No member shall serve more than two (2) consecutive terms."
Thus State law does allow individuals to serve more than two consecutive terms on the School Board. But, as stated, does the law allow the School Board to set its own term limit? There are many situations where local regulations are more restrictive than State law.
School board term limits were actually found to be unconstitutional under the N.C. Constitution. The law referenced above was passed because only those counties listed still had board of education term limits in effect. Several white papers about this issue have been written in North Carolina. You might want to check out the UNC Institute of Government for more information. Sounds like the I-SS board of education simply failed to amend their policy and bring it into line with N.C. law. There certainly is no room for creativity where board of education term limits are concerned in N.C.
ReplyDeleteThis is what we need to be talking about and it all goes back full circle to 90% of the posts on this website. Over budget at the top! Parents it is time for a change!!
ReplyDeleteSTATESVILLE, N.C. -- Students need books to learn, but North Carolina is telling schools there's no money for new books.
In Iredell County, students are already using books that are old, torn and have broken bindings.
"Our students need textbooks. It's the biggest part of their education they need," said a parent.
At Statesville High, some students are using books that are eight years old. But the states say it doesn't have money to provide to local districts for new books.
"We're looking at an even bigger cut from last year. Last year was tough. This year is going to be far, far higher," said Dawn Creason, public information officer for Iredell-Statesville Schools.
For this school year, Iredell County got $800,000 from the state for new books. But next year, there's no money, which puts schools in a bind.
"The few dollars that we get -- are they going to go to textbooks? Are they going to go to teachers? Are they going to keep buses on the roads?" asked Creason.
It's a tough choice. Parents say it's an unfair choice, too.
"To put that burden on this school system, it's just not fair," said parent Kathy Carpenter.
Iredell County typically uses books for five years on average. But given the budget, the books could stay in service for seven years instead.
"Those books are going to look pretty raggedy after that seventh school year, but realistically, that's what we're probably going to have to consider," Creason said.
For Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, this year's book budget from the state was $5.4 million. Union County received $2.6 million. Lincoln County got $488,000.
So where's the $800,000 gone? No new books? That's a lot of money. Stop this insanity and parents speak with your vote. We need a board that will make everyone accountable.
The time is coming when students will need their own laptop and their textbook will be in the computer. Who is going to pay for this? The taxpayers, as usual.
ReplyDeleteI think this blog has lost its glory. 24 hours passed and no one commenting on the news on textbooks. Where has everyone gone. Has apathy taken over?
ReplyDeleteGlad to see someone is running in District 1.
ReplyDeleteWow, no posts for 12 days. I guess all long, this blog was really just about "getting" Terry Holliday, not improving education. Happy? Dr. Holliday has moved on to greener pastures, I-SS attendance and grade stats are on the decline, we're still paying too much to too many administrators. What did you accomplish? We've completely gone back to the "good ol' boy" system. Why, we aren't even posting school administrative positions anymore - it's just "pick your friends." Just wait until next year's layoffs are announced. you'll see that although there is money for pay RAISES for those at the top - those at the bottom are being cut. Dr. Holliday saved all jobs; let's see how many jobs the current triumvirate can save.
ReplyDeleteThe paper reported there was over 757,000 dollars in raises to certified staff, that means central office as teachers are not getting any raise. Now we're told we'll also be losing 2% of our suppliment. All this while we have highly qualified teachers that never teach a child in every school. I'm sure CO will still be getting their raises too. They'll be furloughed 2%, but I'll give up 2% out of one hand if you give me a raise in the other hand.
ReplyDeleteTo April 1 at 6:10 PM: AMEN!!!! I'm with you!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy are there 7 out of the 8 school board seats filled by people from the northern end of Iredell and yet the majority of students live in the southern end of the county? Do we need to protest or amend the divisions based on population? I believe it is outdated!
ReplyDelete