Anne Purcell, candidate for Orange County Board of Education

Seven people are running in the May 17 primary to fill four seats on the nonpartisan Orange County Board of Education.

Retired school administrator Anne Purcell is running against incumbent board members Will Atherton and Sarah Smylie, and four other challengers, Penny Carter King, Bethni Lee, 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: Anne Purcell

Age: 68

Occupation: Retired school administrator

Education: Bachelor’s degree in education, Elon College (1978); master’s degree in middle school education, Elon College (1995); master’s degree in school administration, N.C. State University (2001)

Political or civic experience: Kiwanis Club; Delta Kappa Gamma Education Sorority

Campaign website: https://AnnePurcellforschoolboard.com

Who are your top three campaign contributors? William and Julie Crawley, Joseph Fountain, Phillip Walker

Why do you want to serve on the Orange County school board?

I spent most of my career with Orange County Schools and worked very hard in each job that I held to make the system the best it could be. I want to see it get back to being a great system for our students, families, our teachers and all who work for the system.

What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.

▪ Academics

▪ Teacher support

▪ Principal support

Academics: Orange County used to be the envy of the state in programs, teaching talent and academic performance. In recent years, our system has faced precipitous decline, with a majority of students suffering significant learning loss — 62% of the entire district are performing below grade level proficiency, including 80% of our vulnerable students performing below grade level, and too many performing two years or more behind grade level. We must focus on helping and supporting teachers to turn this around.

What are the Orange County Schools doing right? What are they doing wrong or missing?

Orange County hired math coaches and that has helped teachers tremendously. The Math Expressions program was purchased to help with teaching math. Letter Land helps young children build phonetic awareness to aid in reading and spelling. Lucy Calkins Writing Program was purchased to help with reading comprehension and writing throughout the system.

Missing: How do we identify our young minority students in elementary school who have leadership and strong academic potential to begin working with them through special programs to develop, build and sustain these attributes?

Recruit and hire teaching assistants in all elementary schools to be support for teachers trying to help students “catch up” from time missed within the classroom, in front of a teacher, due to the pandemic.

How should the board address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion among staff and students?

I believe that the most important immediate strategy to address these issues are:

▪ Identify and remove obstacles for opportunity

▪ Identify resources to support students and different styles of learning

▪ Ensure proficiency of students, particularly in early grades, with sufficient personnel and support

▪ Recruit and retain diverse teaching and support personnel

▪ Hire teaching assistants for every elementary school grade level

Tammy Grubb

The News & Observer

919-829-8926

Tammy Grubb has written about Orange County’s politics, people and government since 2010. She is a UNC-Chapel Hill alumna and has lived and worked in the Triangle for over 30 years.