News

VOTER GUIDE: Henderson County School Board

By Lightning Reports, Published: October 20, 2024

Candidates for Henderson County School Board are Republicans Robert Bridges, Beth Campbell, Amy Lynn Holt and Kathy G. Revis and Democrats Lesley Carey, Mary Ellen Kustin, Rhonda Mountain and Josh Williams.

Campbell did not respond to the Lightning’s candidate survey.

Robert M. Bridges, 78, is retired from Henderson County schools with more than 30 years’ experience as a teacher, assistant principal and guidance counselor. He and his wife, Norma, have a son, Michael, and two granddaughters, Bella and Gabby. He has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and master’s in guidance counseling. Hobbies include woodworking, carpentry, serving God and the members of his church and community.

Beth Campbell, the mother of three daughters in Henderson County schools, has been a volunteer throughout their education. "I have been able to work within the schools on many different projects," she said in candidate forum in January. "I’ve been very active in our PTO for many years. I believe every student has the right to a quality education. Our teachers should absolutely be supported in everything that they do."

Leslie Carey, 46, has a bachelor’s degree and an additional degree in clinical massage therapy. She and her husband, Jay Carey, a retired U.S. Army combat veteran, have four boys ages 5, 16, 19 and 26; two dogs and a cat. They own a bounce house company. Hobbies include travel, cook, volunteering, nature walks, sudoku and quality time with friends and family. 

Amy Lynn Holt, 51, community outreach and major gifts officer for the family’s Champion Comfort Experts. She and her husband, Ritch Holt, have four children: Kyle, Christian, Connor and Aliyah Faith. A graduate of Miami Dade College, Holt enjoys reading, flower farming and arranging, nonprofit volunteering, Aliyah Faith’s gymnastic competitions and spending time with granddaughters Elle, Charlotte and Aurora.

Mary Ellen Kustin, 40, has an undergraduate degree in math and a master’s degree in sustainable development and conservation biology as well as a master’s degree in public policy. She is program director for United Way of Henderson County. She and her husband Will, have two school-aged children plus hound dogs. For fun, she enjoys playing outside with her family, listening to live music and getting together with friends. 

Rhonda Mountain, 57, has a paralegal degree and an associate’s degree in residential planning from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She is a certified service coordinator for the disabled and an entrepreneur. She was a PTA president for six years, school carnival chair two years and a girls’ softball coach for 12. She and her husband, Hank, have six children and five grandchildren plus dogs Scout and Finnegan. She enjoys golf, read, kayaking, hiking and cooking.

Kathy Revis, 67, is seeking a second term on the School Board and is currently vice chair. An educator for more than 40 years, she was a teacher and principal before serving as the school system as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for 17 years. She has an undergraduate degree in secondary math and earned a doctorate in educational leadership. She and her husband, Ken, have a son, Garrett, and three grandchildren.

Josh Williams, 42, is a single father of a fourth-grade student in Henderson County public schools. A native of Hendersonville, he is a military veteran and owner of J Williams Financial Services.

Why are you running for School Board?

Williams: I am running for the School Board because I see firsthand the struggles that many students face in the classroom along with the help that is needed to better assist them to be successful.

Revis: I believe that the variety of my experiences in education has helped prepare me for the role of a school board member. I want to continue to contribute to our educational system and to serve our school community. We have a strong school system, but we can always look for ways to grow and improve to provide the best education possible for our students and families. I believe I can view issues from different perspectives and work well with others to find positive solutions.

Mountain: I am running for School Board because I firmly believe in a fair and equitable education for all children. We need to commit to our public schools because without doing so, we are not committing to our children or our community. Public schools failing will have a dire effect on our local economy and our neighborhoods as a whole.

Kustin: I’m running to make sure kids have the support they need to thrive — from access to healthy breakfasts & lunches to teacher assistants and social workers. I’ve spent my career in the nonprofit sector working across party lines and perspectives to find common ground. Our students need qualified educators whose professional focus should be entirely on the classroom — not on working additional jobs or switching professions altogether because inflation and our area’s cost-of-living have made a career in teaching unsustainable. I will continue to urge Raleigh to invest the state’s budget surplus in our schools.

Holt: I served on the School Board for three terms (2010-2022). I did not run for reelection and my last term ended in December of 2022. Since that time, I have missed it tremendously. We have a fantastic school system. I really want to continue to be involved to be a voice for parents, teachers and students. I still feel like there is a lot more work to be done and my job is not over yet.

Carey: My decision to run is based on a response after listening to many parents and teachers alike saying they don’t feel very supported in our schools right now, and I want to make a difference. As a former PTA president, I understand what it takes for a school to be successful, including how to be creative within a tight budget and meeting a variety of needs within the school environment. I know what it takes to meet goals when educators, administrators and parents all work together for the common good of our kids. 

Bridges: I’m running for reelection to the School Board to help insure students of Henderson County have the best option of public schools possible.

What are your highest priorities for the Henderson County public schools over the next four years?

Kustin: I’m ready to do what it takes to bring people of all stripes together to make Henderson County a leader in public education. To do so, we must: Enforce a zero-tolerance policy for bullying; legally set our own school calendars that make sense for our students — either with an exemption or law change in Raleigh; increase weekend learning instead of out-of-school suspensions for non-violent offenses; support student mental health with more trained personnel in schools; expand our school facilities to match the population growth.

Holt: I want to work with the disconnected youth and try to find better solutions for out of school suspension. I am not saying that students do not need to be suspended. I want to explore options that could serve as an alternative without so much time lost in the classroom. I hope that something can be done to work with the legislature in Raleigh to get some flexibility to start school two weeks early. Our students are a lot more important than just their ability to work for the tourism industry, which is why the current state calendar law was created in the first place. 

Mountain: I will fight hard for free breakfast and lunch for all. I will fight to keep politics out of our classrooms. I will fight for fair gun laws to help protect our kids and schools from gun violence. I will not ban books, as that is censorship and does not properly teach our history. I will also advocate heavily against the voucher program, whose money is going to wealthy kids to keep them in private schools. If they want our public school tax dollars, schools should have to live up to the same standards as our public schools.

Carey: After this hurricane, reclaiming stability for our community and securing the integrity of school structures is first. Once those types of immediate needs are met, we focus on providing high-quality education, necessary staff and resources for all of our students to thrive. We also need to resume the free lunch program. My vision reflects what most parents want: a safe environment that supports their children. As a graduate of one of the top high schools in our country, I am familiar with the type of public school environment that makes it possible for all kids to be successful. 

Revis: One priority we must have as a board is to restore the public’s trust and faith in public schools. I think we must be transparent in our work and encourage open and honest dialogue with staff, parents, and community members. Another priority is to continue to seek ways to keep our students safe at school. We have done a great deal over the past few years to secure our campuses, but we must continue to be diligent in this area. Another priority is to continue to strengthen our literacy program in our elementary schools and to focus on preparing our students for current, post-graduation career and college opportunities.

Williams: Over the next four years my highest priorities for the schools is ensuring high quality learning environments for all students, educating students and administrative staff on the awareness of cultural biases, better teacher wages and that funding is used properly.

Bridges: Top priorities over the next four years are numerous: hiring qualified teachers in all areas, as well as auxiliary staff; increasing salaries and supplemental pay will help in the recruiting process; increasing reading and math skills; attacking the problem of growth in student population through redistricting or the building of additional schools to meet needs as they arise; continuing to upgrade all safety needs for our students.

Once in the Top 5 among North Carolina school districts, Henderson County has fallen in the past two years to No. 30 and No. 31. What do you think accounts for this drop, and what as a School Board member would you do to improve it?

Carey: North Carolina used to lead the nation in public school education, but it has fallen to be near the bottom. We can look to our state legislators who have steadily defunded our schools. Luckily, Henderson County ranks 24th highest in tax wealth income and could do more with local funding of our students seeing as we pay less per student now than we did in 2008. Several programs involve support from community members and there is potential to strengthen these programs if our state legislators continue to reroute public school tax dollars to private schools.

Williams: I think that lower EOG test scores have caused a significant drop in the NC rankings for HCPS. To improve this issue as a school board member I would bring more tutoring and other support programs to help bring the rankings back up. To bring these programs to HCPS also requires funding along with an improved revised budget, which is something that I specialize in as well.

Bridges: Our administrators are well aware of the need to increase our state ranking, and Mark Garrett, our superintendent, has vowed to pursue this need by working closely with all teachers and administrators. Covid played a big part in those rankings, and the fact that students can now have positive contact with teachers should increase each student’s performance.

Revis: I think that during the pandemic, our priority became supporting the immediate needs of students and families, as it should have been, and therefore our focus on the state standards was put on the back burner. During that time, we also had a great deal of teacher and staff turnover and had a teacher shortage like we have never seen before. We also had several changes in top level administrators during that time. However, I am confident that with the stability we now have in leadership at the district and school level, that we are doing the correct work we need to do to see our student performance improve.

Kustin: Unfortunately, N.C. ranks 41st nationally in teacher pay. Henderson County should not be on the hook to make up that difference. We especially feel the squeeze being surrounded by school districts in Buncombe and S.C. that pay higher wages. The extreme pressures of the pandemic proved to be the final straw for many qualified teachers who retired early or left the profession. Our local nonprofits and businesses play a key role in supporting our schools. We can build on those relationships to think outside the box and develop affordable workforce housing for teachers as other N.C. school districts have done.

Holt: I honestly feel the reason for this drop is due to the restrictions that the majority of the school board voted in favor of during Covid. Children can’t learn how to properly spell, read and speak while their face and their teacher’s face are covered with a mask. I also think the amount of virtual school these children were forced to endure attributed to this as well. As a previous school board member I did not support this. As a school board member I would support extra learning with help from tutors brought in to catch students up.