5 candidates vie for the four available seats on BOE

Oct. 21—LENOIR — Four Republican candidates and one Democratic candidate are currently vying for the four available seats on the Caldwell County Board of Education.

Those GOP candidates include: Incumbents Teresa Branch, William (BJ) Fore, and Joe Sims, as well as challenger Mark Gerson. Elaine Setzer-Maxwell is running as a Democrat.

Incumbent Teresa Branch, 62, has served full-time on the school board since 2014. She also served for two years from 2010 to 2012.

Born and raised in Caldwell County, Branch developed an interest in education in elementary school.

"I had some great teachers, and I was inspired by them," she said.

Branch brings many years of experience in education, from teaching and administrative positions to coaching cheerleading and driving a school bus. Now, Branch serves as the director for Caldwell County SmartStart.

"I was honored to land in this fabulous position," she said. "It's awesome working there, and hopefully I'm making a difference."

Branch is married to Caldwell County Commissioner Jeff Branch, and together they have two children who are graduates of South Caldwell High School and App State.

Branch said that her love of Caldwell County and the education system here, as well as her extensive background in Caldwell County Schools, make her an ideal board member.

"I have an understanding from the inside out of Caldwell County schools," she said. "I've been here all my life and worked in different positions, and folks feel comfortable talking to me."

Branch's number one concern is the safety of students, teachers, and faculty.

"Safety is more important that reading, writing, arithmetic, anything," she said. "We also have to get back to the new normal after COVID. Things have been different as a result of COVID; all the time that children were having to attend school remotely, that created challenges. I think there's a lot of catch-up to do because you can't replace that human interaction."

Branch said that she also wants to focus on "smart spending" within the school system.

"I think we're made major strides in making sure that we're getting bang for our buck in every way," she said. "We need to continuously evaluate what we're doing and measure the outcomes ... We want to make the decisions that are best for the kids and to help all students be successful wherever they're going."

Incumbent William (BJ) Fore, 59, currently works as a real estate broker for Barlowe and Triplett Realty in Lenoir. He retired as a captain of the sheriff's office five years ago.

Fore was appointed last year.

"I've really enjoyed my service," said Fore. "We've got a lot of good things going on."

One of Fore's goals as a board member is to protect children and their families.

"I've got grandkids coming into the school system," he said, "and I want to protect the innocence of our children and give them the same options as high schoolers to make them productive adults in society."

Fore said that support personnel is crucial for student success and teacher retention.

"It's a team that supports these kids," he said. "We need to be able to continue to recruit school counselors, speech and language people, and social workers."

He also emphasized the importance of spending tax dollars wisely.

"I want to continue to be a good steward of our tax money," Fore said. "We need to think about what's effective and efficient and what's best for our children."

Fore said that one way to ensure smart spending is to plan ahead.

"We need to do some long term planning," he said. "They just finished Granite Falls Middle School, so we need to look at our other facilities to make sure we're planning ahead and doing what we need to do."

Fore's main goal is to prepare students for success after they graduate high school and begin to pursue careers.

"I want to make sure we're preparing our kids and helping them pursue their dreams," said Fore. "That way they can become functioning members of society. I think it's important to also teach the fundamentals, like life classes on financing and balancing checks, so when students get out of high school, they thrive. I also want to keep expanding our collaboration with CCC&TI."

Challenger Mark Gerson, 52, believes the school system should move in a more conservative direction.

"I haven't been happy with the direction of the schools nationally or state-wide," he said. "I felt that our local school board needs to push back against some of the negative stuff, such as the closing down of schools and mask mandates that went on forever. Our school board needs to fight harder against that, as well as some of the inappropriate indoctrination that's leaking into the schools, like the transgender stuff."

Gerson said he has gone through the list of books in the county's school libraries and found a number of "inappropriate materials."

"My first board meeting, I will present a list and plot summary of each book because I want them removed," he said.

Gerson is a former elementary school teacher from San Francisco, California. He has two children currently in kindergarten and first grade at Granite Falls Elementary School.

"I grew up in Oregon, and we came out here about nine years ago," he said. "I wanted to move somewhere with Christian family values, and that was not Oregon anymore. I also wanted to be near the mountains."

Gerson hopes to bring more parental involvement in the schools, starting by running for school board himself.

"I'd like to start a real effort to reach out to grandparents, aunts, uncles, retired people, to come in and read to children," he said. "It's shocking this doesn't exist."

Gerson said he is excited to be running for the school board.

"I'm working for the people," he said. "I will be accessible and take time to answer questions from parents and the community. When parents see something uncomfortable, I want to hear about it, and I will bring it to the board and investigate it. Those issues often get swept under the table and ignored."

Gerson plans to serve the community with integrity and respect.

"My boss is God, and I want to make sure I'm following that as a leader and guide in everything I do," he said.

Challenger Elaine Setzer-Maxwell, 73, was born and raised in Caldwell County. She has spent her entire professional career in education, particularly at the community college level.

She has two children who both graduated from West Caldwell High School.

After she retired, she decided to work part time at CCC&TI as a success coach for minority students and athletes.

"I thoroughly enjoy that," she said. "It's what thrills me, and I enjoy doing it. That's one of the main reasons I want to be on the board."

Setzer-Maxwell said her main goal is to bring more inclusion, representation, and equity to the Caldwell County Board of Education.

"All of our communities in our county should be represented in the board, but are currently not," she said. "Children in our schools come from all the communities in the county and represent all races and nationalities in our school system, so our board should have and be representative of that. The children and families we serve, they feel like they need a voice on the board, and I want to be that voice and that person that represents the voice for all of our communities."

One of the main issues that Setzer-Maxwell wants to focus on is updating the schools to modern technological standards.

"A lot of our schools are outdated and need updating," she said. "There are several that need modernization and updated technology, and that should be implemented in all the schools to ensure all the children are able to compete in a global economy."

Setzer-Maxwell recognized that COVID brought many issues to the school system. One major benefit of updated technology would be the ability for children to work effectively from home if the case again arises.

"COVID is still out there," she said. "We need to have the technology to better serve our children so they can continue their education whether in the classroom or at home."

As someone who worked in education for almost 40 years, Setzer-Maxwell wants to show educators that they are valued.

"It's an important job, and it's hard work," she said. "We need to appreciate them for it. My passion is helping children become successful in classroom and in life. That's what our job should be: to look after them and take care of their future."

Incumbent Joe Sims, 61, currently works for Farm Bureau Insurance. He is also the owner of Sim's Country BBQ in Dudley Shoals.

Sims is a native of Caldwell County. He and his wife both graduated from South Caldwell High School. His daughter is a teacher at Granite Falls Elementary.

This is Sims's third election cycle after he was appointed in 2013 to complete a term.

"I'm pleased with what we're doing," he said. "I feel like, as a business owner, I bring a different perspective to the table. Schools are the largest employer in the county, and our business is to educate children."

He said he feels most proud about the continuing education programs.

"I think it's a very important program because not every child is geared toward a four-year education," he said. "The program gives opportunities for students to take trades, so when they leave they're ready to go to work and function in society as a young adult."

His goal is to continue to work with stakeholders like the community college and the board of commissioners to foster great working relationships to help schools be successful.

On the other hand, Sims feels like the current testing models need to be evaluated for improvement.

"It's hard to judge a student or teacher or school off of one score," he said. "There are so many things that need to be taken into consideration, such as how well the school and students are doing."

Sims said it has been a pleasure to serve on the school board the past nine years.

"It is an honor to be on the board," he said. "I'm proud of Caldwell County Schools. We try to do everything we can to improve it and become number one in the state ... communication is key to all of that."

Early/One-Stop voting began Thursday, Oct. 20 and ends Saturday, Nov. 5. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8 from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.

Visit caldwellcountync.org/elections for more information.