CMS board will keep one incumbent, gain two newcomers after 2023 election
The lone incumbent seeking reelection and two challengers took the top spots Tuesday in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education race.
Voters filled the three at-large seats with a former educator, a business and technology professional and a pastor.
Lenora Shipp won her second stint on the school board after being elected in 2019. Shipp, a retired CMS educator topped the field of 14 candidates with 14.75% of the vote. She chairs the board’s policy committee and served on the superintendent search committee that chose Crystal Hill to lead the district.
“I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to continue the work serving all of our students in Mecklenburg County,” Shipp said Tuesday night. “They have always been my why — ensuring that their future is bright. I thank the community for their faith in me to do so.”
Political newcomer Liz Monterrey, a Latina parent and daughter of immigrants, had 12.41% of the vote. Monty Witherspoon, who has twice run for school board, is pastor of Steele Creek AME Zion Church. He also finished with 12.41% of the vote.
“I’m so excited to represent the Latino community, to represent all the dreamers out there that just want to make a difference,” Monterrey said. “The work is just getting started. The first few months will be a lot of listening and learning and understanding the job before I jump in. I’m excited to engage the Latino community and work with the school board and the superintendent to improve student outcomes.”
Shamaiye Haynes, a former CMS parent making her first run for office, had 10.16% of the vote, finishing shy of a school board seat. Haynes has served on the Project LIFT parent advisory board and CMS Title 1 advisory board. She also serves on the CMS Bond Oversight Committee.
Three of the candidates — Annette Albright, Claire Covington and Michael Johnson, Jr — ran as a “CMS Unity” slate. Albright finished with 7.9% of the vote; Covington with 7.24% of the vote and Johnson had 6.78%.
Bill Fountain had about 8% of the vote; and Clara Kennedy Witherspoon had about 4.8%.
Juanrique Hall, Peggy Capehart, Omar Harris, Brian Kasher, and Tigress Sydney Acute McDaniel round out the candidates for school board.
More new faces
While Shipp won reelection, this year’s election continued a period of change on the board; Chair Elyse Dashew and at-large member Jennifer De La Jara didn’t file for reelection.
The school board also saw five new faces after last November’s election, with voters ousting three of four incumbents and showing they wanted a different tone, focus and results. Thelma Byers-Bailey, who represented District 2, was the only incumbent to win her race last year.
De La Jara, who threw her support behind Monterrey, called her victory “historic.”
“(Monterrey) will usher in a whole new era of parental and constituent engagement,” De La Jara said. “With 30% of CMS’ student body being Hispanic, it is way past time to have our community’s first Latinx candidate.”
Board members hired Hill in May, approved new boundary lines for South Charlotte neighborhoods and saw student achievement scores improve.
Voters approved a $2.5 billion CMS bond package Tuesday night, a record request in North Carolina that was also on 2023 ballots. The school board will be tasked with overseeing the start of the 30-project list associated with the bond.
Members are elected to four-year terms, and they will be sworn in Dec. 12.
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