Registration just closed. Here’s who is running for Lexington-Richland 5 school board

Candidates for the Lexington-Richland 5 school board special election have been set.

Voters will choose between an activist mother, a finance expert, a nurse and a recent graduate to help lead the district as it searches for a long-term superintendent and prepares schools for the potential of resurgent COVID-19 cases.

Candidate registration closed at noon Monday. The candidates registered are: Tifani Moore, Haley Griggs, Jeff Herring and Joshua Lazenby, according to the S.C. Election Commission website.

The Oct. 12 special election comes after former Lexington-Richland 5 board member Ed White resigned earlier this year. White resigned during the June meeting when former Superintendent Christina Melton abruptly resigned, a move that drew protests from parents and teachers. Akil Ross, who was awarded nationwide principal of the year in 2018 while at LR5’s Chapin High, was named interim superintendent.

Here are the four candidates and what we know about them so far:

Joshua Lazenby

By far the youngest candidate running, Lazenby graduated from Spring Hill High just a few months ago.

Lazenby, who is enrolled at the University of South Carolina and pursuing a history degree, told The State his recent experience in the classroom gives him a unique perspective on how district rulemaking affects students and teachers.

“I was inspired to run because this past school year I saw such a divide between the school board and the schools themselves,” Lazenby said. “When I saw the students had to picket the meetings just to feel like they were heard, it was a sign.”

School board members need to do a better job of listening to students’ concerns, Lazenby said. For example, many students felt the district prematurely rushed back into in-person classes.

“Towards the beginning I was happy with their hybrid three days a week,” Lazenby said. “I do believe they may have gone back to full time a little bit too early.”

One COVID-19 flashpoint throughout the state has been whether to require everyone to wear masks. Lazenby said it’s a good idea to wear masks, but a mask mandate is not the right choice.

“I don’t know if it is really the schools’ place to mandate masks in schools, but I do see a place for them recommending it,” Lazenby said.

Jeff Herring

S.C. Midlands native and Irmo High graduate Herring filed Monday for another run at the school board.

There is a “need to have more voices from our community involved with the board. I feel like in the past there isn’t enough input and too much power being swayed by...the board. I’m not sure the community is being heard,” Herring told The State.

Herring, a financial consultant, said his background will help him in managing money and balancing the budget. However, Herring said his biggest strength is to “listen and analyze.”

He’s adamant that people — especially single parents — are better off with in-person classes, but said he will listen to the guidance of health officials, teachers and parents when it comes to implementing specific policies to fight the number of rising COVID-19 cases.

“I worked with a lot of single parents that rely on schools, and at-home schooling has definitely been a detriment to single parents because they haven’t been able to work,” Herring said.

Tifani Moore

Moore was a member of the 2020-2021 school improvement council for Dutch Fork Middle.

In interviews with news reporters and in a statement posted to Facebook after she announced her candidacy, Moore has emphasized the need to work together with school board and community members to support teachers and students.

“With the challenges and community division during the past year, I want to be a part of the solution,” Moore wrote on Facebook after announcing her candidacy. “I’m level-headed, trustworthy and non-partisan with no motivation other than to serve our community. My goal is to bring transparency and sensible decision-making to the school board with a keen focus on supporting all of our students in District Five and the outstanding professional educators and staff in Lex-Rich Five.”

The State has reached out to Moore for comment.

Haley Griggs

Irmo native Griggs works as a nurse practitioner who specializes in women’s health and preventative medicine, according to her online bio with South Carolina Internal Medicine LLC.

Of Griggs’ top priorities is keeping children in the classroom and keeping them safe from COVID-19, as cases rise and the delta variant spreads throughout S.C., according to an article from The Lake Murray News.

The State has reached out to Griggs for comment.