The board is currently led by five Republicans (Pete Wildeboer, Pat Bradford, Melissa Mason, Josie Barnhart, and Kraybill) and two Democrats (McManus and Walker). McManus and Kraybill have decided not to run for their seats, and Walker is vying for a seat on the New Hanover County Commission.
All those running for office answered WHQR’s questionnaire, which was based on the results from the Community Agenda. Around 400 voters wrote to tell us what topics they’d like them to comment on. The top issues were support for public schools, for diverse communities like people of color, LGBTQIA+, and families who speak English as a second language. They also were concerned about how the district protects student and family rights, how the candidates would handle dissenting viewpoints, and curriculum and book selections.
You can find their unedited responses here. WHQR also analyzed the school board candidate’s campaign filing records here.
All six candidates attended a candidates' forum, hosted jointly by WECT, WHQR, and Port City Daily on October 2.
Politics and Leadership
The candidates all essentially committed to choosing the best person for the district’s next superintendent, meaning they are not looking specifically for a specific Democrat or Republican.
Jones, a bookstore owner, former educator, and chemist, said he was looking for a leader with emotional intelligence.
“One of the things that we see in professional spaces is folks who have an ego about the way they do things and are reticent to receive criticism or to receive direction about the way they do things,” he said.
Bascome, who ran a childcare facility and is a former consultant for Smart Start of New Hanover County and a district substitute, said that she would leave politics out of her decisions. However, she balked when she had to answer questions from audience members about her own political opinions.
The question was who she supported for North Carolina’s state superintendent — and how she planned to advocate for public education.
“Wow, talk about leaving politics out of it, huh? Honestly, I haven't had a real chance to look at the policies of Mo Green and Michele Morrow. I've heard a lot of social media chatter, and I don't think that's a great place to get any of our political information. [...] So, unfortunately, I haven't done much research on the state superintendent. I do plan on doing that, sitting down before Election Day, making sure that I do my research,” she said.
Bascome has been pictured with Morrow at campaign events and voted in the Republican primary when Morrow was running against current state superintendent Catherine Truitt (although we don't know how she voted). Morrow has called for the public execution of Democratic politicians, for a military coup to install former president Donald Trump to office in 2020, and has made hateful false statements that ‘+’ in LGBTQIA+ means pedophilia.
Merrick, a retired chiropractor and semi-retired consultant, was asked about his labeling of some Republican candidates as ‘extremists.’
“It seems our Republican opponents want to take us back 50 years, but it's 100, folks," Merrick said, referencing opponent Natosha Tew's claims that education a century ago was more effective.
"All the Republican opponents I know of have signed on to the Moms for Liberty (M4L) pledge. Moms for Liberty is described as an anti-government hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It's about restricting what teachers can teach. It's about bringing Christian nationalism to school. I love prayer, and I love everyone to be able to have prayer, but not just one prayer,” he said.
Merrick's claims about M4L are partially false. Bascome shook her head during the forum, saying she didn’t sign the M4L pledge; WHQR confirmed with M4L Chair Jan Boswell that only candidates Tew and Perry have signed it.
Tew is the founder and current legislation chair for the M4L New Hanover County Chapter. Tew’s former campaign manager, Justina Guardino, was recently the vice-chair of the organization but was arrested on charges related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and was removed from the site.
Merrick has been critical of Tew, but not always accurate. He falsely claimed on social media that she had been fired from her job at the City of Wilmington for her behavior during the school board's call to the audience sessions. While Tew did face public blowback, she resigned and was not fired by the city.
Justice introduced herself by saying she had been in education for over 30 years and was a former administrator at Laney High School. She also served on the NHC school board from 2018-2022 (she lost her reelection bid in 2022). She advocated for staff pay increases and drew attention to employee attrition rates but was at odds with some of her colleagues during her tenure, so much so that she was censured in 2022.
During the forum, she said her colleagues tried to silence her when she brought up difficult issues like the sexual abuse cases against teachers in the district (the censure, though, was over her allegedly sharing confidential information) and brought her working relationship with the current Republican chair, Pete Wildeboer.
“We're different political parties, but one of the reasons we did agree was because we both have a long history of 30 years working together off and on educationally. [...] One of the problems I found with the past board, and I hope it doesn't happen with this board, is that people are on there, not necessarily for the kids, but for their own personal agendas. You've got to set that aside. This isn't about you. It's about the kids,” she said.
Another audience question Justice was asked was about her accusations of ‘failed leadership’ and to whom she was referring. She said the May 2024 climate survey results were unfavorable to the board.
“What they were paying attention to was spending hours on whether or not they should ban books, writing policy that made no sense whatsoever. [...]. I work with the educators in this county. They come to me. They talk to me, want to be listened to, and know what they're talking about. They know how to educate children. Nobody's indoctrinating children. If they could indoctrinate children, they'd indoctrinate them to listen, be quiet in class, and learn,” she said.
She mentioned that the board could have better supported former superintendent Dr. Charles Foust and said he had potential. But, during her tenure, she was critical of his leadership, and they got into a couple of shouting matches on the dais.
Future of Books
Bascome told the audience at a GOP town hall forum earlier this year about the district’s extracurricular reading program, Battle of the Books, claiming it wasn’t transparent. During the forum, she balked when asked about the program and the broader issue of book bans.
“Wow, here we go again. [...] I think the biggest concern with Battle of the Books was not necessarily all of the books, but parents thought that because they elected these conservative school board members, those school board members chose every book [for the competition]. And I think there needs to be a little bit more clarity on the fact that these books are not from our school district; they are from the [North Carolina School] Library [Media] Association and that it is voluntary. But once it's voluntary, those books will be in your child's school library, and parents need to know what books are there,” she said.
Eventually, she said that some parents, not necessarily her, were upset that some of those books had made their way into the library, but she didn’t clarify which ones. She reiterated that she is not for banning books.
The NHCS site has extensive information on this opt-in competition. After board member Josie Barnhart wrote an opinion piece in a conservative outlet questioning the competition and the types of books that are selected, the district had to explain the BOB process further. The district’s lead media specialist, Mary Alice Hudson, gave a presentation to the board at their agenda review on May 28 explaining how the competition works. They put out the book list in advance, and students don’t have to read all the books. They clearly identify NCSLMA as the organization running BOB.
Rachel Keith
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WHQR
Misinformation on the COVID-19 vaccine
Tew, formerly a firefighter and the City of Wilmington's emergency response coordinator, has attended the board’s public comment period several times to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine. She has doubled and tripled down on her claims.
“I think I've been proven right with the recent studies that have come out; the COVID-19 vaccine has killed more people than COVID-19 did. [...] It is a bioweapon. It has killed more people than it has helped. [...]. There are young athletes dropping dead on a field. There was no reason for a heart attack at 20, 21, 22, 23.”
The vaccine has not killed more people than the virus. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) say it saved millions of lives. It is not a bioweapon, and the vaccines' dubious ties to the death of athletes have been debunked.
Tew then told the audience that she had two three-ring binders of studies she would send, although she has not done so yet. Then she said that people would start “dropping [ing] dead in two years.”
“Those shots are killing people. They are causing turbo cancers. [...] I hope it doesn't happen to anyone in this audience, but that is what is happening,” she said.
During the forum, Port City Daily reporter Brenna Flanagan asked her to cite the studies to support her claims further, but she said she didn’t know and didn’t have the information in front of her.
As the CDC has reported, in rare cases the vaccine can cause allergic reactions, which can be life-threatening. Side effects like anaphylaxis and myocarditis or pericarditis — allergic shock and heart inflammation, essentially — were reported. However, Tew's claim that the vaccine has killed more people than it has helped is false. There is likewise no evidence that vaccines caused 'turbo cancers.'
Tew has made a host of other controversial and false statements, including stating "There is no such thing as a 'trans' child. No child is born in the wrong body. Boys and girls are perfect AS THEY ARE. Gender Ideology is cult [all-caps in the original]," in her response to WHQR's candidate questionnaire.
In 2022, Tew called the district a “hellhole” and was twice escorted out of board meetings by law enforcement for her behavior. She also went on Steve Bannon’s right-wing talk show to spread misinformation about the Career Readiness Academy at Mosley.
In the wake of Hurricane Helene, Tew reposted false claims implying that weather-manipulation technology was used to engineer a natural disaster in conservative and mineral-rich parts of North Carolina. Tew hasn't fleshed out this conspiracy theory — but it remains demonstrably false.
Funding
Perry highlighted his experiences in education and IT. He also said his grandson attends school in the district.
He called for a financial audit of the district’s finances.
“There are too many things that are hidden in the cracks. What we see is the high-level items, and then you've got all the things that are snuck in there. [...] We don't know all the money we are spending on, say, technology. How much money are we spending on all these various subscriptions to all the software we're using to buy laptops and tablets for every student,” he said.
The district has an internal auditor, Nancy Braswell. It also paid close to $69,000 to an independent consultant, Anderson Smith & Wike PLLC, who presented their 113-page audit in January. While there isn’t a current public-facing budget line-by-line analysis, Perry could ask for it through a public records request. Recently, the district also published this year’s over 50-page budget file.
Jones also answered a question about the district’s finances. He pointed to issues with sending more support to underperforming schools.
“Much of that is down to funding and the ability to apply resources in such a way as to leverage the abilities that our teachers bring to the classroom to bring about that kind of educational attainment that we would need. I don't believe we're receiving enough funding to meet those goals,” he said.
Jones said the district can gain more funds through the county commission, the New Hanover Community Endowment, and applying for grant opportunities. That's possible, although it would require political will on both governing boards. The Endowment is always limited, at least on paper, in the ways it can replace the funding stream of core government services.
He and his Democratic colleagues have opposed the General Assembly’s funding vouchers for families attending private, charter, or religious schools.
Perry said the issue of vouchers was a state-level decision and irrelevant to the school board. Bascome didn't commit to an opinion on vouchers, but acknowledged that they're unpopular with many; she noted that the voucher system does create a reinvestment fund — a newly established and infrequently discussed pool of money that could be used to provide funding to schools.
Behavior management, teachers carrying guns
Merrick received a question about his policy on suspensions — which he is advocating to reduce. The district has been sanctioned for disproportionately suspending Black students with disabilities, although they recently came off the sanction list.
“First of all, there will always be certain cases where suspension is absolutely warranted. We need to maintain the safety of our students and our teachers. However, zero-tolerance exclusionary practices have been shown to be ineffective, and they reduce the amount of education for those children who are suspended. They also disproportionately affect people of color and LGBTQ kids,” he said.
Merrick cited the following study found in an NEA article about restorative justice. This University of Chicago study showed that “when we use restorative justice rather than exclusionary principles, 35% less arrests in school and even 15% less arrests out of school, and 18% less suspensions out of school,” he said.
Perry answered a question on his suggestions during the GOP primary forum about letting teachers carry guns to respond to active shooters.
“I actually regret saying it, [but] not because I don't believe in it. I believe armed teachers would be a great idea if they were well-trained and went through advanced training. [...] But I'm sorry for bringing it up because it's something that we're not going to get a vote on as a school board. This is an issue for the General Assembly. And so when we start hearing stuff about private school vouchers, and Leandro, that my Democratic opponents keep bringing up, those have nothing to do with what we can do as a school board, so we need to concentrate on the things that we can do now,” he said.
While school boards do not make policies about teachers carrying guns, the voucher system, or funding from the Leandro Plan, those issues undoubtedly affect them.
School boards have passed resolutions to tell the General Assembly that they don’t support a particular policy. For example, boards like Bladen County Schools have passed resolutions to oppose the voucher system. In a 4-3 vote, the New Hanover County school board asked the GA not to cost share with charter schools. Board members Bradford, Mason, and Barnhart voted to cost share. And sometimes, school boards openly defy laws like the calendar law. 29 of them have done so thus far.
Role of media in getting to know candidates
At the close of WECT, WHQR, and Port City Daily’s candidate forum, current board member Barnhart scolded journalists for not making the forum about the children and policies designed to help them.
Rachel Keith
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WHQR
The board has drawn the ire of some in the public and the staff, as evidenced by the 2024 climate survey results. Recent policies, too, show instances of serving some of the culture war interests, such as the banning of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, policies surrounding the classroom displays and the professional standards of conduct, the elimination of the equity, diversity, and inclusion committee, the debate whether to keep the Student Voice policy and the extracurricular Battle of the Books competition.
Questions were taken from online and in-person submissions — and the reporter questions were formulated based on the candidate’s record or a policy platform that voters wanted to know more about. The forum's goal, and the media's role in hosting it, is to show voters who each candidate is, how they will answer tough questions, and how well they explain their rationales.
Find voting dates and other election information and reporting here. You can find our 2022 BOE candidate forum here. Watch the full video of this year's forum below:
Benjamin Schachtman contributed to this reporting.
