NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The mood was gracious and celebratory at Tuesday night’s farewell to departing New Hanover County school board members and swearing in of new members to take their place.
READ MORE: Motion made to make Barnes permanent NHCS superintendent, agenda review gets political
Tuesday marked the first meeting for newcomers to the board, Republican David Perry and Democrat Tim Merrick, along with a return for Democrat Judy Justice. Justice was voted out in 2022 only to garner the most votes in this past election.
But before being sworn in, the board said goodbye to board members Stephanie Kraybill, Hugh McManus and Stephanie Walker, all three choosing to forgo reelection.
Despite saying she might have enjoyed her time on the board of circumstances in the country and world had been different, Kraybill said she was humbled and honored to have been in service to the district.
“I’m not throwing in the white towel of surrender and I’m not giving up on the school system, but rather I am pulling out my rally towel,” Kraybill said, pulling out a yellow Steelers towel. “And a rally towel means we get together and pull for one common cause.”
Walker won’t be leaving politics, having instead joined the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, where, among many other jobs, she’ll be able to advocate for the school district from the other side of the funding stream. Still, her departure from NHCS caused the board member to tear up when she gave her final remarks.
“[The kids are] where my heart is,” Walker said. “As hard as it’s been, through Covid, through other things that have happened in the school district, there’s some great people that work here, teachers make the biggest different difference, and that’s why we serve — because we’re raising generations of kids who are going to go out into this world and do something.”
McManus recounted stories of his early days as an educator, to much laughter from the audience, before thanking district staff for “putting up” with him over the years. He urged the audience to continue supporting the school board.
The board’s political makeup will not change — two Democrats and one Republican are leaving and coming on. Though, the New Hanover County GOP did censure Kraybill for failing to “align with conservative values” and the board member regularly sided with her left-leaning colleagues, McManus and Walker.
After their exit, the new board underwent elections for chair and vice chair, previously held by Pete Wildeboer and Melissa Mason, respectively.
Wildeboer didn’t seek reelection to his post, instead nominating fellow Republican Josie Barnhart. Republican Pat Bradford followed up by nominating herself and Merrick nominated Judy Justice, though these three failed to gain enough votes.
Instead, it was Mason, nominated by Perry, who clenched the leadership position 4-3 after gaining support from her Democratic colleagues Justice and Merrick.
As vice chair, nominations included Wildeboer, Barnhart, Justice and Bradford — the latter of whom nominated herself again. Barnhart came out on top in a 4-3 vote after getting approval from Wildeboer, Bradford and Perry.
There were few action items for the new board Tuesday night — it heard updates on the district’s bus safety, financial report, endowment grants and New Hanover High School repairs.
Chief Financial Officer Ashley Sutton also presented a budget development plan, which includes a Jan. 14 listening session for budget concerns, hosted by Interim Superintendent Christopher Barnes. The staff session will start at 5 p.m. and the community session will follow at 6:15 p.m. The district is shooting to have a final budget sent to the county by April 15.
The board also voted 6-1, Bradford dissenting due to a packed new year schedule, to hold a January work session to go over the district’s permanent superintendent search.
The only moment of contention came during discussion of the board’s consent agenda; Perry requested to postpone votes on several items he wanted the board to get more information on. He faced some pushback from board members, particularly on the memorandum of understanding with Voyage, a nonprofit that focuses on youth enrichment primarily geared toward areas of poverty. Voyage’s mission is to serve public schools in downtown Wilmington.
Perry remarked the program has “DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] written all over it” and suggested the program should also include disadvantaged students at other schools. Wildeboer and Bradford said they heard nothing but good things about the program and wishes for it to remain.
The MOU passed 6-1 with Perry dissenting.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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