The race for the final Rowan-Salisbury Schools Board of Education seat has officially been settled.

Following an official recount conducted by the Rowan County Board of Elections that spanned a day and a half, Dr. Rebecca Childs has officially been certified as the winner of the contest for seat 5, which represents Salisbury on the school board.

When all the votes were recounted, Childs’ tally stood at 22,926. Meanwhile, Jonathan Barbee’s total was 22,870. The recount resulted in a net gain of seven votes for Childs and a net loss of five votes for Barbee.

Rowan County Board of Elections Director Sharon Main explained that the recount process differs from the way that votes are initially counted because the machines they use are much faster and can process entire batches of votes at a time. 

Those machines used in the recount process are DS850s which are high-speed scanners that can count multiple ballots per second. The machines used in the initial vote count, DS200s, process single ballots at a time. 

Main said when they originally reported the recount to the state, they said it would take anywhere from one to two days.

Ready to roll up her sleeves

Now that the election is in the rearview mirror, Childs is eager to get to work. Childs’ background includes a 15-year career as a bilingual teacher and school administrator. 

She has served students in the Dominican Republic and Rowan County, currently working as the program manager for the real estate and construction trades programs at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

During her campaign, Childs said that it is vital to treat students as co-facilitators in their educational careers. 

“When we view students as co facilitators, it helps put them at the center of the learning experience and activates their role in the process,” Childs said in an interview this week. “Rather than having students passively involved as receptacles for knowledge and information, by centering them and having them co-facilitate, it enhances the learning experience and makes it more relevant for them.”

Childs said that in graduate school she was taught that the one who is “doing the doing,” is also “doing the learning,” meaning that when teachers do too much heavy lifting in the classroom, students are not as engaged. 

The incoming school board member added that its crucial to give students “a voice and a choice” in those activities.

As a top priority for her first term on the board, Childs said it is vital to increase empowerment within the school district by providing all stakeholders with knowledge, resources and opportunities to promote and sustain high levels of achievement.

“I think the way you empower has to be intentional, strategic and consistent,” Childs said. 

In her estimation, in order for the system to really excel, “we have to make sure we are enhancing opportunities for engagement and that that engagement leads to empowerment.”

So what does that look like? 

Childs point to a few items such as connecting parents/guardians with their student’s teacher if they have questions and giving parents, families and teachers additional support. 

“Teachers can sometimes feel like they are not seen and we need to find ways to ensure our educators are being allowed to shine and that leaders in the building are able to get around and know what is going on,” Childs said.

Childs has two children at Isenberg Elementary School, where instruction has been temporarily disrupted after a fire occurred earlier this month and damaged one of the buildings. 

Seeing the district’s response to the issue, Childs was encouraged. 

“I think as a district, there was a lot of intentionality in every step that was taken,” Childs said.

Between the manner in which various methods of communication were disseminated, a community meeting was held to engage stakeholders and district efforts were taken to ensure device distribution met every student where they were, Childs said she was proud of how the aftermath was tackled. 

Disappointed but grateful

Before absentee and provisional ballots were counted, Barbee held a 39-vote lead over Childs. He described seeing that slip away as disappointing, but indicated that he was thankful for the support nonetheless.

“I’m supremely grateful for the over 22,000 voters who supported me,” Barbee said on Thursday. “Its certainly disappointing to win on Election Day and then lose once the remaining votes are counted.”

Given the outcome, Barbee sees promise for future races but acknowledged that no results can be taken for granted. 

“The margin of the race shows that the GOP needs to be involved with non-partisan races in Rowan just as the Democrat party is if they want conservatives to be involved with our children’s upbringing,” Barbee said. 

In closing, Barbee added congratulatory remarks for Childs on her victory and indicated that he intends to continue work for a better Rowan County.