Johnston school board wants to change when, how it’s elected. NC lawmakers may oblige.
The Johnston County school board wants state lawmakers to change when and how Board of Education members are elected in the district.
The school board passed a resolution in a 5-2 vote Monday asking state lawmakers to move the board to elections in odd-numbered years, which would put them on the ballot with municipal races. The resolution calls for continuing to let the entire county vote for every school board member but would organize seats into residency districts, where candidates must live in their respective district.
School board members say they expect state lawmakers to include the change in a bill that will be voted on this week. The change was promoted as a way of ensuring geographic representation from all parts of North Carolina’s seventh-largest school district.
“This resolution ensures that all districts in our county are represented on the Board of Education,” said board chair Lyn Andrews. “It’s an opportunity for us to move forward in order to enhance, to me, the election of our Board of Education members.”
But board members Michelle Antoine and Ronald Johnson said they felt the process was rushed and being done without getting enough public input. In addition to voting against the resolution, they also lost a 5-2 vote to postpone holding a vote on the resolution.
“It feels like this is coming in a thief in the night,” Johnson said. “Friday we get a notice. Monday morning we’re here.”
Change supported by GOP
School board member Kevin Donovan said Marshall Conrad, chair of the Johnston County Republican Party, approached him about the change earlier this month at the Railroad Days Festival in Selma.
Conrad said in an interview Monday that the idea of moving the school board to district elections is not new. But Conrad said there’s been revived interest following state lawmakers approving a bill earlier this year allowing the Johnston County Board of Commissioners to redraw their lines.
The idea quickly gained steam. Monday was the first time that the resolution was publicly discussed.
School board elections would remain non-partisan under the requested change. Republicans hold the majority on the school board.
Board vice chair Terry Tippett said voters might do more research on candidates in the lower turnout, odd-year elections. Only non-partisan municipal elections are held in odd-numbered years.
“There’s legitimate pros and cons with everything in life, but I think the last two election cycles for the Board of Education have shown that something needs to be done and something has got to be done,” Tippett said.
Improve geographic representation on board
Currently, all seven board seats are elected countywide with no district lines.
The resolution points to how the current system has not resulted in election of members representing schools in the southern portion of the county.
“With the size of our county, we need to consider that districts is the way to go as far as equal representation,” said board member Mike Wooten.
But Antoine said it represents a major change being done “under the cover of darkness.” Antoine said 65% of the county lives outside a municipality, so they’d now have to get used to voting for the school board in municipal contests.
“This doesn’t just create districts,” Antoine said. “I think we’re all receptive and open to hearing about districts. But this fundamentally changes the way the election is held without the voter input whatsoever.”
Lawmakers want to keep 2024 elections
If the General Assembly passes a Johnston County election bill this week, it would go back to the school board to draw up the district lines for all seven seats.
The school board has asked lawmakers to let them transition to the new election method beginning in 2025. The board wants to have staggered two-year terms to give them enough time to make the change.
Under that request, next year’s election of four school board members would be postponed and all the terms of existing board members would be extended a year.
“There’s lot of things to work out between now and ‘25 if we vote on this and it’s approved by the General Assembly,” Tippett said. “There’s lot of things to work out in terms of districts, in terms of logistics for voting throughout the county,”
But the new bill state lawmakers plan to vote on Tuesday will keep elections in even-numbered years. It does move the school board to residency districts but gives a Nov. 17 deadline for drawing the new lines.
If new lines aren’t adopted in time, the school board would use the commissioners’ lines in next year’s election.
“We reviewed the resolution and want to work with the Johnston County Board of Education to address issues with its election process.,” the four Republican members of Johnston County’s state legislative delegation said in a statement late Monday. “We all feel that Johnston County’s citizens deserve local representation.
“There are no current members of the Board residing in Benson, Cleveland, McGee’s Crossroads, Meadow, or Kenly. Our commissioner model works with respect to the residency boundaries and ensures that someone on the board lives in each part of the county.”
Rep. Howard Penny, Rep. Larry Strickland, Rep. Donna White, and Sen. Benton Sawrey said they had concerns about extending the terms of board members so they didn’t want to postpone next year’s election. They said they will examine in next year’s legislative short session about moving the school board elections to odd-numbered years.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 11:33 AM.
