Lindsay Mahaffey, candidate for Wake County Board of Education District 8
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Candidates for Wake County Board of Education District 8
Incumbent Lindsay Mahaffey and Steve Bergstrom are running for Wake County school board district 8.
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Name: Lindsay Mahaffey
Political party: Democrat
Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 40
Campaign website: http://electlindsay.com
Occupation: Mother of three/former teacher, current District 8 representative and school board chair
Education: Masters of Arts in Teaching Social Science, Bachelor of Arts in international studies and French
Have you run for elected office before? Yes; I have served on the school board since 2016, winning reelection in 2018 and 2020.
Please list highlights of your civic involvement: PTA volunteer, Girl Scout volunteer, former Girl Scout troop leader
Why do you want to serve on the Wake County Board of Education?
To serve our students, to support our teachers, to partner with our parents and strengthen our broader community. I have had the honor of serving on this board since I first ran in 2016 with those guiding principles as my “why”. I will continue to serve using these tenets. As a former teacher and the mom of three current WCPSS students I bring those lenses to the board table and make student-centered decisions.
What are the Wake County Public Schools doing well?
WCPSS has increased pay for our staff to a $16-an-hour minimum. We have expanded opportunities for students from Pre-K to the college level with our early college and dual enrollment partnerships. We have had a fiscally responsible budget, increased the number of counselors and behavioral health professionals, launched a tutoring program. Sustainability efforts awarded WCPSS a Green Ribbon District from the Department of Education. Built and renovated schools thanks to citizens approving school bonds.
What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.
Continue to advocate for teacher and staff pay to address staffing needs, continue to expand academic opportunities for students, continue to address behavioral health and student well-being opportunities in schools. In my six years of serving on the board we have made strides on all of these issues, and I believe it to be necessary to continue these efforts to do what is best for our children and those who care for our children.
What should the district do in response to calls to remove books from schools that some say are inappropriate for students?
Our librarians and teachers work hard to select appropriate materials for our students. The district has a process and procedure to review any materials someone finds objectionable, and the response to calls to remove books would be to follow that process.
How should schools discuss issues involving discrimination based on race, gender and other factors?
We have to make sure that every child feels safe, secured and loved in our schools. That involves making sure that our schools are rooted in cultural competency, and that we are able to honor and include people from diverse backgrounds.
How would you go about making schools safer in the aftermath of school shootings such as in Uvalde, Texas?
This is a two-pronged approach. One is to address students’ social and emotional needs by continuing to increase the number of counselors and behavioral support professionals in our schools. Second, we initiated a security audit by a national school security group and have already begun to implement its recommendations — such as strengthening school entrances and implementing a universal visitor management system.
What would you do to try to address student learning loss that was exacerbated by the pandemic?
Our teachers are already working to address that loss every day in the classroom. Our job as an administration is to support their efforts. In addition to that, we have a partnership with many community organizations (such as the YMCA) in order to provide a research-based tutoring program for students.
What’s the appropriate level of funding that should be provided to Wake County schools?
We have to start with the Leandro plan, and implementing the recommendations in the WestEd report. Article 9 of our State Constitution states that the General Assembly will provide the operations funding for our schools. It’s been 25 years since the Leandro called for a “sound, basic education”. We have to start with that constitutionally required level of funding.
