By Joanie Morris
Salisbury Post
KANNAPOLIS ó In the normally uncontested Kannapolis Board of Education race, newcomer Todd Adams has filed for the Rowan County seat on the board.
Adams, 39, 1018 Westlake Drive, is director of operations for Speedway Motorsports, where he has been employed for 17 years. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree from Appalachian State University. Adams moved to Kannapolis in 1994.
Adams, who filed Monday, said he is running for the Board of Education because “I think we need a parent on the Board of Education who has a child in the system,” he said. “We’re missing that right now.”
Adams has three children, and his oldest is a fourth-grader at Forest Park Elementary School. Adams currently serves as the president of the Parent Teacher Organization at that school, a position he’s held for two years. In addition, he has also served in the past on the Parent Council at Forest Park.
“I believe we’re at a very important time in our community right now,” Adams said. With the coming North Carolina Research Campus, he said the Board of Education will have to address adequate facilities, as well as recruitment and maintaining excellent faculty.
“All these things are important,” he said. “I think the most important thing is that we prepare for the growth of the city and the effect that’s going to have on the school system.”
Adams has a campaign Web site set up at www.toddadams.org.
Incumbent Lee Efird, who has served on the Kannapolis Board of Education since 1992 and is current chairman, filed for re-election Tuesday afternoon.
Efird, 54, of 2103 Moose Road, is a property manager for Cornerstone Cabarrus LLC and land manager at Rocky Pee Dee Farms. He graduated from N.C. State University in 1977 with a bachelor of science degree in Forestry and Wildlife Management. He is a 1972 graduate of A.L. Brown High School.
In addition to serving on the Kannapolis Board of Education, Efird is also a past member of the Kannapolis Education Foundation Board and the Cabarrus County Parks and Recreation Board. He is a current member and elder at First Presbyterian Church in Kannapolis.
He said his main reason for running is “to continue to build on the foundation that has been laid for the success of the Kannapolis City School System.”
For Efird, that means continuing to work for the best for the students, faculty and staff of all the schools in the system.
Contact Joanie Morris at 704-932-3336 or jmorris @kannapoliscitizen.com.