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School Board candidates tackle pre-K, book bans, teacher pay

School Board candidate Rhonda Mountain answers a question during a forum Sunday as fellow candidates Mary Ellen Kustin and Josh Williams listen.

By Amy McCraw, Published: October 20, 2024

Republican and Democratic candidates for School Board on Sunday agreed that all children need preschool education and school system employees need to be paid more.

But they disagreed along party lines when it came to student vaccinations and banning books in school libraries.
The candidates also discussed the role they think religion should play in public schools.
Republican candidates Robert Bridges, Amy Lynn Holt and Beth Campbell joined Democratic candidates Mary Ellen Kustin, Rhonda Mountain and Josh Williams in a discussion of a range of school-related issues during the League of Women Voters forum held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship off Kanuga Road. About 30 interested voters attended.
Republican candidate Kathy G. Revis and Democratic candidate Leslie Carey did not attend.
Carey sent a statement saying she had intended to participate in the forum but was in the process of moving on Sunday because she lost her home and belongings during Tropical Storm Helene.
The first question for the candidates asked who should determine which books are allowed in school libraries.
Campbell said some books should not be in school libraries.
“We have books that are very sexually explicit,” she said. “If they are not age-appropriate, they should not be in our libraries.”
Holt said she believed some books are not appropriate for school libraries.
“The responsibility lies in the central office and the school board,” she said.
Voters will decide if School Board members are making good decisions about which books are in school libraries, she said.
Bridges said he believed parents should have input into which books are allowed in school libraries. A group should decide which book are allowed, he said.
Kustin said she was opposed to censorship and called banning books from school libraries a slippery slope.
Parents and caregivers should decide whether or not they want their children reading certain books, she said.
Mountain said she agreed with Kustin.
“We can not ban books across the board. Let parents make that decision,” she said.
Williams said he also did not believe in censorship and that parents should decide which books their children read.

Teacher pay, vouchers

In response to a question about teacher pay, all candidates said they thought teachers and school staff members should be paid more.
Holt said the state’s general assembly recently raised teacher pay. But other school employees earn less than some fast-food workers. She said she had a proven track record of working with county officials to improve pay.
Kustin said she would advocate for higher teacher pay from the state, which accounts for 60 percent of the school system’s budget. School systems in South Carolina and Buncombe County pay better than in Henderson County, she said.
“That is embarrassing,” she said.
Mountain said vouchers for private schools mean that private schools are receiving public money.
“It’s ludicrous. We need to take our money back,” she said.
Kustin and Mountain said they also thought local leaders could “think outside the box” to come up with a way to have workforce housing for teachers and first responders at a reduced price, possibly with low interest loans.
Williams said he also disagreed with vouchers and believes teachers should be paid more.
Bridges said the school board has a good relationship with the county’s Board of Commissioners. But he said it is difficult for school employees in Henderson County to make ends meet because of high real estate prices.
Teacher salaries across the state need to improve, he said.
“We rank in the 40s in the nation as far as salaries go. I would like to see that increase,” he said.
Bridges said pay for school support staff including bus drivers also needed to improve.
“Would you get up every morning to drive a school bus $13 per hour?” he said.
Campbell said the school board should work with commissioners and other local officials to raise pay rates in the school system because the cost of living in Henderson County continues to go up.

Prayer in school

Forum organizers asked the candidates what role religion should play in public education.
Mountain said she thought religion had no place in public schools because it forced beliefs on students.
Williams said he had mixed feelings on the topic and thought religion should be taught in the context of history.
Bridges said he supported prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance in schools.
“I would like to see prayer brought back in some way,” he said. He said a moment of silent prayer might be appropriate.
Campbell said she supported student-led prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Holt said she liked the idea of silent prayer. Kustin said a moment of silence would be appropriate.
The candidates agreed that all children should have access to a preschool or pre-k education.
Holt, who is a chairwoman for an early childhood task force, said she would like to see pre-k become part of a regular school day in Henderson County’s schools.
“It gives the kids a leg up,” she said. “We need to secure state funding and local funding. It’s really important to our children to get that.”
Kustin said she would like to see a needs assessment for pre-k programs and have the school system fill in gaps. Pre-k education could be done through a partnership with Smart Start, she said.
“It’s a non-partisan issue. Let’s do it,” she said.
Williams said he also thought pre-k education should be free and done in partnership with non-profit organizations.
Bridges, Mountain and Campbell said they also thought every child should be eligible for pre-k.