FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2022
Contact: Laura Macklem
[email protected]

NC VALUES COALITION RELEASES 2022 SCHOOL BOARD ENDORSEMENTS

NC Values Coalition announced today endorsements for 2022 NC school board races in select counties. This is the first year the organization evaluated school board candidates. Six counties were selected, including Wake, Winston-Salem-Forsyth, Greene, Pitt, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, New Hanover, and Guilford counties.

“With concerns about parental rights, and politically charged and inappropriate materials being pushed in schools, we wanted to take a sampling of North Carolina counties and evaluate their school board candidates,” said Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald. “These candidates have proven to us they will honor parental rights and protect children with their votes.”

Candidates were evaluated by their survey responses, on-line presence, personal interviews, endorsements, donations, and personal knowledge of candidates. NC Values has taken leadership addressing the concerning state of public education in North Carolina. In April, the organization held school board candidate trainings in Raleigh and Mooresville. The event was open to school board candidates and concerned citizens focusing on a wide range of school board election topics. Speakers shared their experiences serving on school boards, CRT, and how to run a school board campaign. One of NC Values’ endorsed school board candidates, Steve Bergstrom, spoke as a subject expert at the Raleigh bootcamp. In addition to the candidate training, NC Values held Mama Bear workshops in Raleigh, Charlotte and Kernersville, where the public was taught how to identify and combat harmful content in schools, using the organization’s Mama Bear Manual as a guide.

“Because of the significance public education has on future generations, shaping the ideas and values of this culture, we place a high level of importance on transparency, parental rights, politically neutral curriculum, and developmentally appropriate materials,” said Fitzgerald. “We are excited to endorse these candidates as we consider how to expand our evaluations into more counties in future elections.”

The following are the NC Values Coalition’s endorsed school board candidates for the 2022 General Election. Although Greene county was evaluated, no endorsements were made in that county.

Wake County

  • Monica Ruiz D2
  • Wing Ng D3
  • Jackie Boegel D5
  • Patrice Nealon D6
  • Jacob Arthur D7
  • Steve Bergstrom D8

Charlotte Mecklenburg

  • Ro Lawsin D1
  • Sean Strain D6

Guilford County

  • Crissy Pratt D2
  • Linda Welborn D4
  • Tim Andrew D6

New Hanover

  • Peter Wildeboer At-Large
  • Melissa Mason At-Large
  • Pat Bradford At-Large
  • Josie Barnhart At-Large

Winston-Salem/Forsyth

  • Steve Wood D2
  • Sarah Absher At-Large

Pitt

  • Ken Jones D1
  • Lee Williamson D5
  • Sandy Moyer D7

###