Will Atherton, candidate for Orange County Board of Education
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Candidates for Orange County Board of Education
Who are the candidates running for the Orange County Board of Education? At least two new members will be elected to replace retiring board members Hillary MacKenzie and Brenda Stephens. Get to know your candidates with our Voter Guide.
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Seven people are running in the May 17 primary to fill four seats on the nonpartisan Orange County Board of Education.
Incumbent Will Atherton is seeking a second term on the school board. He will compete against incumbent board member Sarah Smylie and four challengers, Penny Carter King, Bethni Lee, Anne Purcell, André Richmond and Ashley Wheeler.
An eighth candidate, Garfield “Garen” McClure, will appear on the ballot, but told The News & Observer that he was dropping out of the race on March 14.
Board member Hillary MacKenzie and board Vice Chair Brenda Stephens, whose terms end this year, are not seeking reelection.
Early voting in the primary begins April 28 and runs through May 14.
To find polling places and full details on early voting, visit co.orange.nc.us/1720/Elections or contact the Board of Elections at 919-245-2350 or vote@orangecountync.gov.
Name: Will Atherton
Age: 50
Occupation: IT/Technology
Education: Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Electrical/Electronic Technology, and a minor in mathematics; Master of Science in Network Engineering
Political or civic experience: School board member (former chair) since 2018; member, Community and Technical Education (CTE) Committee (including as chair), Budget Committee (including as chair), Policy Committee (including as chair), Orange County Community Engagement Committee, Joint Leadership Committee of Orange County Schools, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools and Board of Commissioners; liaison, Orange County Schools Business Advisory Board; Board of Directors, The Daniel Center for Math and Science nonprofit organization
Campaign website: www.WillForSchools.com
Who are your top three campaign contributors? Family
Why do you want to serve on the Orange County school board?
I have a passion of our schools and our community.
I have been serving on the board through this difficult time and I fully understand what the commitment is and know what an honor it is to serve our community.
I believe there is a lot of work to do, and we need to bring our focus back to our student outcomes and opportunities, our teacher and staff retention and the safety and security of our students and schools.
I will focus on improving the academic success of our students and creating more opportunities for extracurricular activities; This requires a diverse working environment of teachers and staff that we must attract, retain, recognize, and support in a safe school environment. I will continue to be active in our schools and in student activities. I will continue to listen to concerns from students, families, teachers, staff, and community.
What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.
I will continue to be active in our schools and in student activities; and I will continue to listen to concerns from students, families, teachers, staff and community. Further, I will continue to:
▪ Focus on improving the academic success of our students, and on creating more opportunities for extracurricular activities.
▪ Support measures to recognize, support, and retain our exceptional teachers and staff and ensure staff diversity.
▪ Work to improve and ensure student and school safety.
Teacher support and retention: We must stabilize our staff and give them the support, pay and time they need. If your teacher and staff are changing, our students and families can’t build a relationship.
▪ Protect educator time (lunch and planning time) and pay for additional duties when they are asked to do them.
▪ Work with county and state to increase pay and incentive pay for our district, such as our local supplement and how to phase in a return to master’s degree pay.
▪ As a district, seek feedback, suggestions and listen to staff to improve our district (for me, to continue my visits to schools, events, and stay active in our community, listening to feedback and ideas).
▪ We must improve the climate and communication that was raised by our Equity Report (Nov. 21, Millennium Learning Concepts LLC) and Orange County Association of Educators (March 7 board meeting). Work with and support the superintendent to determine the best way to address the issues identified in these reports for the district as a whole.
▪ Continue to build our relationship with different historically Black colleges (near and abroad), and encourage our teachers to leverage their networks to continue growing our staff and diversity across our district.
▪ Continue programs such as “grow your own” where teacher’s assistants can become teachers.
▪ Teacher referral incentives.
What are the Orange County Schools doing right? What are they doing wrong or missing?
We should take pride in our teachers and staff that truly care about students, families, and community, and their commitment to do everything they can. When visiting and talking to our teachers, staff and community, I hear about all the amazing things they are doing to support our students and community.
The district must improve the climate and communication that was raised by the Equity Report (Nov 21, Millennium Learning Concepts LLC) and OCAE (March 7 board meeting) for all staff. This is especially important for our teachers, who are the most impactful to our students’ learning (based on many different research articles, such as Education Week’s “Why Teacher-Student Relationships Matter” and Learning Sciences International’s “The Number One Factor in Student Success? Relationships With Teachers”), and they should be treated with respect and dignity for the professionals they are. As a district, we must seek feedback, recommendations and listen to staff to improve our district.
How should the board address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion among staff and students?
Our schools must be welcoming to all students, families, teachers, staff, and community members.
The board needs to ensure students, teachers and staff are getting the resources they need to be successful.
The district should be working with our parents, students, community, teachers and staff, and the equity task force to identify barriers, concerns, suggestions, and issues across our district. This should include suggestions, data, and recommendations.
The district should continue to build relationships with different HBCs (near and abroad) and encourage our teachers to leverage their networks to continue growing staff and diversity across our district.
The board should be using data from multiple sources to determine how effective the approach is and be willing to try different approaches if the district is not making progress, especially on student outcomes, discipline and inclusion.
This story was originally published April 24, 2022 at 3:00 PM.
