NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A New Hanover County school board member’s post calling two of his colleagues witches caused a stir at the board’s Tuesday agenda review, though the board ultimately voted not to take up the matter further.
At the end of the board’s agenda review meeting this week, Josie Barnhart had attempted to add a discussion of “board conduct” to the agenda. She didn’t explain whether the discussion would be about a specific board member, but her motion prompted David Perry to announce his intention to leave the session.
“I need to get to work in Concord, North Carolina, so do what you will — we all know you’re going to do that anyway,” Perry said. “I am not leaving in disgust, I just don’t feel a need to be here. Bye.”
READ MORE: School board member ditches meeting over pay raises
Perry got up to exit, but Judy Justice, sitting to his left, suggested he sit back down, to which Perry complied.
Barnhart’s motion failed. She, Chair Pete Wildeboer, Vice Chair Melissa Mason and Pat Bradford voted in favor. But the motion needed a super majority, or five board members, to support it because the day’s agenda had already been approved.
Port City Daily reached out to each board member for more details on the incident. Tim Merrick confirmed the motion was made in response to Perry’s Oct. 24 social media post calling to “vote out the witches,” with a link to a website that details why voters should not support Republicans Bradford and Barnhart this election season.
Perry wrote on social media: “Pat Bradford and Josie Barnhart have been brewing poison inside New Hanover County Schools for the last 4 years. No matter where you are on the political spectrum there are plenty of good reasons to Vote Out Pat Bradford & Josie Barnhart.”
The website depicts an AI-generated Bradford and Barnhart dressed in dark purple and pointed hats, stirring a cauldron labeled “NHCS poison potion.” The site has different pages for Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters, outlining different parts of Bradford and Barnhart’s records intended to resonate with each political leaning.
David Perry for Board of Education, who is not up for re-election this year, has also paid for Instagram ads linking to the website.
Merrick told Port City Daily some board members “wanted to make a public display of it,” while others thought it “best not to become a spectacle.”
Though Barnhart did not respond to whether her motion was specifically about the website, she told Port City Daily it was about: “Ensuring everyone is living up to board professional standards and when issues arise the only way to address is openly.”
Port City Daily also asked if the conversation was intended to be general or about a specific board member’s action; Barnhart replied another colleague had “prepared remarks.”
Other board members, including Perry, did not respond to Port City Daily’s questions.
The sequence of events comes after Perry was censured on Oct. 9 for leaving the September board meeting right after it began.
Perry made his exit abruptly at the Sept. 1 school board meeting, after his request to discuss board raises — approved in this year’s budget — was rejected. Perry contended the board should have taken a separate vote on the raises, particularly after budgeting for a 3% increase and the state came back with a 7.8% average increase. However, the board maintains it followed policy as done in previous years.
Perry’s motion to add the discussion to the agenda failed to gain a second and died. When Perry expressed frustration about not being able to explain his stance, Chair Wildeboer called him out of order. Perry then accused Wildeboer of being out of order before standing up to leave.
“I find myself excused for the evening because I’m not going to be dealing with people who don’t even follow their own rules,” Perry said.
Perry did not return for the remainder of the meeting.
At the Oct. 9 censure hearing, all of Perry’s fellow board members voted to censure him for violating the school district’s code of conduct.
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