(Editor’s note: The forum was lengthy and featured valuable input from each candidate. To give our readers comprehensive coverage of the event without short-changing them, we will be dividing our reporting of this event into a two-part series. The second half will be included in Tuesday’s Salisbury Post.)

SALISBURY — Candidates for the Rowan Salisbury Schools Board of Education participated in a forum on Monday at the Rowan Public Library headquarters in Salisbury. Jonathan Barbee, Bryan Wymbs and Dr. Rebecca Childs, who are running for the Salisbury seat, participated along with Dr. Lynn Marsh, who is running for the Southeast seat. Marsh’s opponent, McKenzie Kelly, was not there. 

Kathy McDuffie-Sanborn, who is running unopposed for the East seat, was in attendance but did not field questions from moderator Jason Walser. 

While each school board member represents a district of the school system, voters will be able to cast votes in each of the three races. 

The forum was not a debate but rather just an opportunity for each candidate to answer questions. 

The first question was actually more of a chance for an introduction: Tell us about yourself and your history with Rowan-Salisbury Schools. 

“I’m not from here, but I moved here 24 years ago,” Wymbs said. 

The local attorney described himself as a downtown investor.

“I spend my money and time in Salisbury,” Wymbs said. “I care deeply about this place.”

His kids did not attend RSS schools until high school, when they began going to Salisbury High.  

“I feel a deep debt of gratitude for Salisbury High School,” Wymbs said. “This is a way to give back.”

Wymbs added that he sees great opportunities at RSS and wants to support Superintendent Dr. Kelly Withers’ vision for the district.

Barbee shared his educational background, too. The 26-year-old attended various public and private schools, including Salisbury Academy, Sacred Heart, Isenberg Elementary and Salisbury High School, before enrolling at Catawba College. 

“I ran four years ago,” Barbee said. “I feel like there are a lot of different people here that can do great things. I will support whoever gets elected.”

For her part, Childs said that she “thinks about education day in and day out.”

She is the mother of two Isenberg Elementary Gators. Childs is bilingual. She spent six years in the Dominican Republic, where her career in education began, and she sees the dual language immersion program at Isenberg as a strength of the school. 

Childs has a doctorate in education and currently serves as the program manager for real estate and construction trades programs at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

Marsh is the incumbent for the southeast district.

“Education is very important in our county,” Marsh said. “We as school board members always want to welcome the community to have an input in our schools. 

“I have been on the school board for three years. The reason I want to run for school board is to use my experience and knowledge to continue to make a difference in the things we are doing in our school system.”

Marsh said she is home grown with long standing family ties to the Rowan-Salisbury School System. She also has a doctorate and has served in various educator and administrative education roles across every level of instruction including college. 

The next question was about the state’s opportunity scholarships and private school vouchers. School vouchers allow the state’s per-pupil expenditure to follow students who leave public schools to attend private schools. 

“It’s a misnomer,” Wymbs said of the NC Opportunity Scholarship program. “Scholarships are something a kid applies for and earns on need … These are vouchers. The language of that is a little odd to me. I think private money should be used for private schools. I think public money should be used for public schools.”

The attorney suggested that he could see legal challenges emerging down the road if public money is funneled into Christian or other religious schools. 

“It’s an entanglement of government money into a private entity,” Wymbs said, later adding that he doesn’t think they provide opportunity and doesn’t think they should be a part of the public’s money. 

Barbee took a different approach.

“I am actually somewhat going to make this case that we as school board members cannot do anything with regards to opportunity scholarships,” Barbee said. “What we can do is prepare ourselves for when or if we end up having more charter schools, and then there is also the case of more homeschooling in our area. I am running because I would also like to provide an opportunity for people to consider going to public school and for ones that would love to come back as well.”

Given the chance to speak, Childs said, “I’m glad we are in agreement about the importance of public dollars staying in public schools. I think it’s also important to remember that we think about the disparities that are created when those dollars are moved outside of public schools, not just in terms of dollars but in terms of resources and assets that are leaving the community.”

Childs went on to say that a student does not just represent $7,000. 

“They represent an investment from their parents of time and energy and effort,” Childs said. “That commitment is really the glue that keeps our schools moving forward. When I think about opportunity scholarships, I think it’s really important that we continue to push at the state level to make sure that we are clearly articulating the importance of public education. We have to do a better job of selling our stories and our successes so that people can see the value of public schools and commit to investing fully in our public schools.”

Turning to her experience on the board, Marsh said, “I see the effect that these vouchers are going to have on our budgets. We work very hard now to come up with the money that we need to operate our schools and these vouchers are going to be taking away from our public school students.”

Marsh added that she knows not every child will benefit from an opportunity scholarship.

“I am still thinking that it will apply to some and not others,” Marsh said. “I feel like we need to really put our voice into letting legislatures know that we need more money for public education … Our resources will start disappearing, and we will not have the materials we need and the quality teachers that we need. I am against vouchers and I feel like our public education system is strong. I have always supported public education, and I always will.”

The next question focused on the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s renewal status. The local school system is the only such district in the state. The renewal status affords the district flexibility in personalized learning experiences through “teacher-led flexibility in curriculum, budgeting, hiring, staffing and scheduling.”

Marsh took the lead on this topic. 

“I am very much a believer in the renewal system,” Marsh said. “It is a transformation that we have here in Rowan County that can transform what public schools are across North Carolina … We do have charter-like flexibility of budget, hiring, calendar (and) curriculum. What is so important is that we are focusing on more than just a test score. We are looking at having 90 percent of our students graduate from high school … We are working very hard on these things. 

“We have academies in our schools, and (the students) are being prepared for more than just graduating. We are looking at what comes after graduation. That is why we are focusing on skills, academics and interpersonal skills as well as the health of the child and their well-being.”

Following Marsh, Childs said that she believes the renewal status is “amazing in theory” but added that “theories are only as good as their application.”

“In our school system, the application of the renewal status is limited. Each school has the opportunity to have their own renewal plan but I, as a parent at Isenberg, and I have been there for the past six years, I could not tell you what the renewal plan is. I think there is a gap in how we communicate that plan to our community and that is important not only for accountability but also for collaboration to see how can I support this plan that is being put forth.

“I think as we move forward, we absolutely need to leverage the renewal status, but I also think we need to revisit the renewal status and clearly articulate and explain to the community what it is that we are doing in each one of our schools and how the community can be a part of that success.”

For his part, Barbee said, “We need to take a real look at what our vision and mission statements are. I believe that extraordinary education everyday is a little too simple minded. Maybe we need to reconsider what do we do for our community. What do we do for our people who are employed with the school system? What have we done and continue to do for the children and the programs we have and where is the future taking us?

“With renewal, I enjoy how it has been established, but we should look and see, state legislature-wise, if they could be more flexible with things we could do.”

Rounding it out, Wymbs said, “We got our renewal status about five years ago. We have had four superintendents and have gone through a global pandemic that changed things, changed the world and education. I have been disappointed with the rollout of it but understand that there has been a lot of turnover.”

Wymbs pointed to various efforts that illustrate how renewal can look. 

“I have met with Dr. Kelly Withers about this topic in the last three weeks, and she has a plan, and it was exciting to hear her talk about it,” Wymbs said. “I was energized by that. We also have a new school in Knox that will be completely reimagined. It’s a $55 million project. That is a big deal for our whole county. She has a dispersed leadership model that she can implement. It does not just have to be one principal so it’s a really creative solution to offering leadership at a school that probably would not happen if it weren’t for renewal.”

Stay tuned for the second part of this series, where candidates answered questions about early childhood educational development, proficiency scores, the role of technology in the classroom and a potential move to make school board races partisan.