We asked Lexington-Richland 5 school board candidates about the issues. Read our full Q&As.
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Candidate Q&As
Opinion team interviews for the Nov. 5, 2024 general election
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McClatchy’s South Carolina opinion team interviewed the five candidates who are seeking three seats in the Lexington-Richland 5 school board election on Nov. 5. Our full Q&As are below.
Three people — former candidate Scott Herring, incumbent Catherine Huddle and former board member Kenneth Loveless — are running for two seats in Lexington County. Two others — Jason Baynham and Mike Ward — are vying for one seat in Richland County.
Every candidate received six questions and 250 words of room for each answer as part of our endorsement process. We are publishing interviews edited for accuracy, clarity and style before we publish our endorsements so readers can assess the candidates on their own. Expect all of our endorsements the week of Oct. 20.
Early voting begins Oct. 21, and you can find a location here. Find your polling place and sample ballot here. If this public service helps, please consider supporting our journalism here.
Your subscriptions and support make this massive undertaking possible, so thank you for reading our work. If you have questions about our interviews or eventual endorsements, please email me.
Scott Herring
Q: What are your top three priorities and why?
A:
Priority one: Recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. Teachers and students are the foundational pillars of schools. Without highly qualified teachers, we cannot expect to provide our students with a first-class education. Ensuring we attract and retain top educators is essential for maintaining the district’s academic excellence.
Priority two: school safety. District 5 has a strong safety record, but we must work to prevent complacency. Creating single-point school entries and secure vestibules is a great start, but it is also important that we continue to cultivate strong relationships with students and parents. Those strong relationships help teachers and administrators recognize early warning signs of students who may need support.
Priority three: equity across the district. The proposed bond referendum highlights that critical maintenance and repair needs are concentrated in certain parts of our district. All of our students and teachers, regardless of location, deserve reliable facilities that foster positive academic outcomes and empower students to reach their full potential. Equity in our infrastructure ensures that every student has access to a conducive learning environment. Prioritizing equity in all decisions ensures that every student is successful and every teacher can thrive in a well-supported environment.
Q: How would you ensure the board isn’t as dysfunctional as in years past?
A: In my past leadership and committee roles, I have consistently demonstrated a pragmatic, solution-focused approach that values collaboration over conflict. The success of these experiences was rooted in creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. As a school board member, I will model and foster that same environment to ensure the board remains productive and forward-moving. In decision-making, I will consider all perspectives, while also seeking input from legal, financial, curriculum and facilities experts. As an advocate, my priority will be ensuring that policies serve the best interests of our students, teachers and families. I believe my presence on the board will help maintain its current positive trajectory, keeping our focus on what truly benefits our school community and avoiding the dysfunction of the past.
Q: How would you boost student learning and test assessments?
A: Boosting student learning starts with supporting our teachers. We must trust our teachers to be the professionals they are. To support them and our students, we must create classrooms that are free from disruptive behaviors. The new bullying/cellphone policy offers a step in the right direction in terms of minimizing classroom distractions. To support student learning while also considering the recent changes to the third-grade retention policy, we must focus on academic interventions in the lower grades before those students fall too far behind. I would advocate for expanding our support network with resources like Reading Recovery Teachers to supplement the reading coaches and interventionists already present in District 5. Teacher retention is also vital to improving student learning and outcomes. Experienced teams of teachers who work together over time share best practices, learning strategies, resources and materials they find effective, thus directly benefiting students.
Q: How would you address soaring teacher turnover and vacancies?
A: Teacher retention and student learning are deeply connected. We must offer sustained, competitive pay for our teachers in order to attract and retain the most talented teachers for our district. We should offer milestone bonuses for teachers when they reach 5, 10, 15 years and beyond in their service to District 5. We must demonstrate in all that we do that we trust our teachers as professionals to do their jobs. We must relieve teachers of disruptive disciplinary challenges in order to ensure time for instruction. Additionally, protecting the unencumbered time our teachers are entitled to is important. We need to reduce the non-instructional burdens placed on teachers, such as excessive paperwork, and unnecessary meetings, while also minimizing “other assigned duties” that detract from their focus on their students and their own families. A district that respects teachers’ professionalism and provides them with the tools and time to succeed is much more likely to recruit and retain them, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for our students.
Q: How would you improve financial management and transparency?
A: The first step in improving financial management and transparency is ensuring the board continues to have discussions and make decisions in full view of the public. Our district hires competent financial consultants and legal professionals, and it is in our best interest to consider their input carefully. The board’s role is one of oversight, not day-to-day management. We must be diligent in asking pertinent questions, scrutinizing the advice of our hired professionals and ensuring taxpayer money is spent wisely and effectively.
Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponents in this election?
A: I am the only Lexington County candidate with direct experience in education. I have devoted my life to teaching. At USC, I currently teach applied music (one-on-one lessons) ranging from first year students to doctoral students in their final year of their terminal degree. I also direct the USC Percussion Ensemble, which has been named a winner of the Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition three times, in 2012, 2021, and again this year in 2024. I also oversee the instruction of the USC Palmetto Pans steel drum band. Previously I have been the director of the Palmetto Pans as well as taught a course for music education students centered on teaching percussion in the public school setting.
I am also the only Lexington County candidate who actually has children in the district. Additionally, I am the only Lexington County candidate whose spouse is a teacher. We need board members who bring the perspective of an educator, a parent and a student. As a board member, I will always approach my responsibilities through those lenses and work towards board decisions that prioritize the well-being of our students and teachers above all else.
Incumbent Catherine Huddle
Q: What are your top three priorities and why?
A:
- Focusing on the foundations of education. We have large percentages of elementary school children who cannot read or do math at their grade level. As these children progress through the upper grades, the differences in competence grows, which creates discipline issues and unfair workloads on teachers who are having to teach students in the same class who may be many grade levels apart in reading and/or math.
- Recruiting and retaining teachers. We must hire and retain the best teachers possible. That means supporting them with smaller class sizes, reading and math interventionists, time to do their job, top compensation and a safe environment. Safety is not just about the physical safety of the school building but also about ending bullying and ensuring students follow staff instructions.
- Fiscal management and transparency. Too little funding is making it into the classroom and being wasted on programs that don’t improve educational outcomes. Property tax rates went up to build our latest school and were supposed to come down, but a majority of the board has voted repeatedly to keep the tax rate artificially high and overtax the community.
Q: How would you ensure the board isn’t as dysfunctional as in years past?
A: We have had a dysfunctional board for the last two years largely because a majority of our board has abdicated its policy and fiscal responsibilities, and unfortunately some have resorted to poor behavior and inappropriate comments when they disagree with a fellow board member.
School boards hire a superintendent to run the day-to-day educational operations of the school, but the school board retains responsibility for setting policy, approving budgets, issuing school bonds and setting operating and debt service millage property tax rates.
A dysfunctional board is one that does not take these responsibilities seriously. A dysfunctional board asks few questions and does little homework. Worse, a dysfunctional board attempts to stymie board members who dare to do their homework and ask questions.
In contrast, a functional school board is composed of people from varying backgrounds and expertise who work to do what is best for all of the stakeholders of public education. A functional school board asks a lot of questions, requires answers and has lively but professional discussions to reach the best solutions. I will do my part to ensure that our board is functional by continuing to do just that.
Q: How would you boost student learning and test assessments?
A: I would push to adopt the state’s new programs on reading and math as quickly as possible. I would also ensure that all available discretionary spending is focused on tutoring and other methods to catch up every child who is behind. I would ask the administration to develop a formal program to recognize teachers whose students have made the biggest gains in reading and math and analyze the reasons for their success and incentivize these teachers to participate in programs to assist other teachers in using their methods.
We also need to focus on grading, promotion and ending the cycle of promoting students who are not competent in their current grade level. We have grade inflation, and we are literally promoting students who cannot read close to grade level to grades where reading is no longer routinely taught because the curriculum assumes all students can read close to grade level. We must develop a culture of expectations and never assume that any child “can’t.”
Q: How would you address soaring teacher turnover and vacancies?
A: I talk with a lot of teachers, and a common theme I hear is that they do not feel supported by parents and the administration when it comes to discipline. I believe we need to stop dancing around this issue and take the following actions: 1) ensure all teachers have classroom management training and assistance, 2) communicate the importance of discipline to all parents, 3) ensure our school leaders are following the code of conduct without exception, and 4) report results to the board and community. We can only improve when we are honest with everyone.
Lastly, our teachers must know through our actions that we value their service. We must pay ALL of our teachers as well or better than any other district in the Midlands. We had the funds to do this with our 2024-25 budget, and I led a vote to do so but sadly the majority of the current board voted against doing so. Unbelievably, one board member, who voted against increasing our teachers’ pay, proposed Chick-fil-A gift certificates instead.
Q: How would you improve financial management and transparency?
A: Since I have been on the board, we have added a policy requirement for an internal auditor and updated several facility procurement policies to increase financial management and transparency. I ask detailed questions about the budget, tax rates and large expenditures in order to ensure that my fellow board members and the public are fully educated. I have a degree in financial management and a background in executive financial management, and I use this knowledge to ask the right questions and get the right information before making decisions.
First, we need to hire the internal auditor that our policy requires to be hired. Second, I need help on this board. The current board has kept the debt service millage rate higher than it should be. The millage rate should have come down after the bonds for Piney Woods Elementary were paid off, but the board voted to keep the millage rate elevated and has voted on measures designed to use the fund balance instead of lowering the millage rate. The public will not trust us with a tax increase when it is needed if the board won’t lower the rate when it should.
Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponents in this election?
A: One of my “opponents” is Ken Loveless, but fortunately Lexington County voters get to vote for two candidates, and I don’t consider Mr. Loveless as an opponent but rather someone who is also very well-qualified to serve on the board.
However, my other opponent was one of the “S’s” — candidates with first or last names beginning with S — when he ran for the board two years ago. He is a college teacher with no background in finance or business. The other three “S’s” (who won election two years ago) have voted against a raise for teachers and in favor of an increase in the operating property tax rate, and voted for several maneuvers to keep the debt service tax rate artificially high. I expect my opponent would join them in their continued efforts to overtax the public while losing focus on academics.
Voters should choose me because I have a proven track record of voting for students, staff and taxpayers. I keep the public informed of board activities, and I welcome suggestions and communications from parents and the community. I have fought for teacher pay and for correct (lower) property taxes. I will ensure our district refocuses on core academic skills and that our classrooms are free of political ideologies while I continue to support our teachers and ensure our schools are safe for students and staff.
Kenneth Loveless
Q: What are your top three priorities and why?
A: My top priorities are: (1) teacher compensation and administrative support, (2) student discipline and bullying prevention, and (3) workforce development.
I will use my expertise to focus on teacher and staff compensation instead of our oversized focus on buildings. We need to redirect funds we are wasting elsewhere to pay our teachers and staff the best in the Midlands.
No teacher should be prevented from teaching (or children prevented from learning) because of classroom disruptions or bullying. Currently, we have good programs for “catching” bullying, but we need to implement a program to prevent bullying.
College immediately after high school is not always the best course for every student. We need to enhance our current career and technology programs to increase capacity and ensure that we are offering certifications and programs that have the best overlap of high-paying jobs and those needed by local industry.
Q: How would you ensure the board isn’t as dysfunctional as in years past?
A: It’s ironic that The State newspaper asks this question when The State’s editor Paul Roy Osmundson is suing the district in case #2021-CP-4003694. The district had for some time conducted officers’ meetings in executive sessions. Very soon after Osmundson filed his case, the board upon which I served agreed to conduct officers’ meetings in public, but Osmundson has not settled his suit. The current board and some previous boards have been truly dysfunctional because they have focused too much on hiding problems in the district and not enough on representing our stakeholders and focusing on transparency and improvement.
The board’s primary job is approving the annual budget and property tax rates. The majority of the current board asks few questions and appears to not understand how the budget and tax rates work. As a result, the percentage of our budget spent in the classroom has decreased and our property tax rates have been inflated. The proof is in the pudding. Math and reading comprehension scores have been on a steady decline.
I will bring my business expertise to ask questions and work toward solutions. I will ask fellow board members to work together to make improvements to policies to ensure that the business framework of the district is operating smoothly so that we can give our undivided attention and as many resources as possible to educating children.
Q: How would you boost student learning and test assessments?
A: The day-to-day of student learning and achievement belongs to the superintendent. As a trustee, the best way I can help boost results is ensuring the budget is allocated with a focus on core education and ensuring that the superintendent’s performance objectives stay focused on improvements in reading levels, math scores and other objective measures of performance.
Q: How would you address soaring teacher turnover and vacancies?
A: Our district is faring better with turnover and vacancies than most districts in the Midlands. However, addressing turnover and vacancies is particularly important. Turnover is largely caused by burnout and teachers who do not feel valued. We must enforce discipline and ensure teachers have their planning time, stop wasting their time on unproductive busy work and ensure they are paid the best in any district in the Midlands. The current board had an opportunity to increase teacher pay to match the top pay of other districts in the area but voted 5-2 against doing so. That sends the wrong message to our teachers and is unacceptable.
Q: How would you improve financial management and transparency?
A: We need to be realistic with our annual operating budget. When excess funds are available from the operating budget, they need to be spent on operations, especially teachers and otherwise in the classroom — not on new building as has been done recently. Property tax rates need to be set correctly, and we should stop overtaxing our community just to keep the millage rate high. I will also ensure transparency by hiring the internal auditor required by the district’s policy and encouraging the board to form an audit committee.
Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponents in this election?
A: Lexington County voters have two votes in our election. I support Catherine Huddle as a second candidate because I worked with her for two years and I know that we are both hard workers, willing to ask questions and understand the district’s finances and how property tax millage rates work.
My other opponent is a college teacher with no experience in business or finance — which are the primary responsibilities of the board. He is also aligned with three extremely liberal people on the current board who have voted to raise property tax rates and deny teachers raises. If he wins, the board will have a clear majority of four people who will have an undeterred ability to continue to waste money and increase taxes without improving student performance or outcomes.
Voters should choose me because I have proven that I will fight for what is important — for a quality education, for career training alternatives to college, for safety, for teacher salaries and working conditions and for the taxpayers. These are not mutually exclusive goals. All of them are achievable when we stop accepting the status quo and work together to focus on what matters.
Jason Baynham
Q: What are your three priorities and why?
A:
- My top priority is stemming the loss of teachers from our district and recruiting new teachers to the district. We must raise our base pay immediately to $50,000 annually before incentives. We must also offer raises to established and tenured teachers every year based on performance and goals. Along with pay, teachers need support from the administrations at each school and at the district office. They need support with discipline and in dealing with the mental issues that face students today.
- Addressing urgent safety and building maintenance issues in the district before new construction is also a priority. We must get students out of portables and behind sturdy masonry walls within the school campuses. We also need working metal detectors at every student and staff entrance manned by a qualified staff member. With the safety threats our schools face, this is non-negotiable. We have multiple HVAC and building problems affecting thousands of students across the district that cannot wait another year to address. Every school must have at least one school resource officer to protect and deter against threats.
- The special needs students in the district need a dedicated sports program that visits every school weekly or to have an in-house program. We have over 2,000 special needs students with more identified every year. They deserve the best in District Five. We also need updated technology in some of our district special education classrooms. Our teachers need the correct tools to reach these students.
Q: How would you ensure the board isn’t as dysfunctional as in years past?
A: The first step is electing qualified candidates who place the interests of students and teachers before their own agendas. I am working with other candidates who share my values and ethics to win our elections to stop the detrimental behavior on our board. My hope is that we will elect a chairperson who will bring back committees to better address issues that will in return keep acrimonious behavior at a minimum by trustees. By having more time to dig into the details with an official committee group, we can present qualified solutions with more reference information to be prepared for discussions in front of the full board. We need to lean into the rules submitted to school districts from our state Board of Education and stop trying to go around the rules because the current board and district administration disapprove.
Q: How would you boost student learning and test assessments?
A: We were presented an example at a board meeting, stating we have a middle school class in our district that has students ranging from second- to eighth-grade reading levels. COVID-19 learning loss is a huge contributor to this current issue. My own fourth-grader worked for three years with reading therapies to catch up to grade level. She has the benefit of involved parents who support her and participate in reading with her. Not every student has these advantages. We need to offer extra reading comprehension therapies for elementary age students during dedicated blocks of time, weekly.
We need to drill down on basic math principles, such as addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. These are the fundamentals for being successful in future subjects. We need to have classes more evenly divided with students on the same level of learning. This will allow teachers to directly address the subjects on a level the students can comprehend. Addressing these issues early will limit the problems in middle and high school for most students, and continuing these therapies as needed throughout middle and high school will keep students on track for graduation and a successful life.
Q: How would you address soaring teacher turnover and vacancies?
A: As I addressed in my top three priorities, we must first pay teachers enough to keep them and show our appreciation for their efforts and work. We need a $50,000 minimum salary with annual raises based on performance and goals.
We need the administrations at every school and district office to support our teachers. We need to foster healthy environments that show appreciation and support for the tireless work our teachers do. Supporting our teachers by enforcing disciplinary rules is of paramount importance. If students know there won’t be consequences for bad behavior and that the threats of discipline from teachers are without teeth, they will act out continuously.
Teachers should feel safe, supported and able to make a comfortable living in these jobs. We must recruit from state colleges, especially, and offer booths at community job fairs and all district high school job events. Students considering this field should be encouraged by the support we show our teachers now if we want them to enter the same field.
Q: How would you improve financial management and transparency?
A: The major issue facing our district currently is the overtaxing of the community through millage that is too high based on expenditures. We routinely have excess funds every year despite the financial needs of our district. It is obvious with our current priorities we are not spending the money where it is needed. Our budget needs to be realigned to better address the urgent safety issues and building issues we face. We need an open and transparent bidding process for vendors and for construction projects.
We should know as a community what the maintenance costs for all new proposed building projects will be before construction and approval begins. As of now, the administration has not provided the board or community with an answer to the ongoing costs for operation and maintenance of the multiple new buildings on the November bond referendum. We should have legal counsel that does not have ties to anyone on the board or in the administration. The legal counsel should not have a financial interest in any projects that they are providing advice on.
We should be honest with the community. List the needs and list the costs of the projects. We must not use trickery to push through projects and bury the details. Our children and community deserve open and honest discussion of all proposed spending.
Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponent in this election?
A: I am a dedicated dad with three wonderful girls currently in our district, representing three separate schools. I have seen the effect that having wonderful teachers has on students. I have a special needs daughter, which has given me an in-depth insight into the needs of that department. In addition to owning and operating my small business, I have been a stay-at-home dad for 12 years after leaving my management career. I understand the difficulties, successes and everything in between that parents in our district face.
I have years of experience in management, budgeting, personnel management, conflict resolution and problem-solving. Being a school board trustee requires dedication, as it is at many times a thankless but highly important position. I have been involved with our community for many years through our schools, our church, my business and at community events. We are filled with wonderful residents who care deeply about the success of District Five. I will be a new voice that will provide a fresh perspective, rooted in experience and compassion. I will represent not just Richland County residents but all of District Five and community stakeholders.
We need our schools to be successful in training and teaching our students. They are the future leaders and community members who will shape the future. This election will have a large impact on just that, their future. Vote accordingly.
Mike Ward
Q: What are your top three priorities and why?
A: My top three priorities are health and safety; supporting teachers; and strong schools, strong communities. We need to ensure that we have safe, supportive learning environments for all students. Additionally, we need to provide the resources and respect our educators need to succeed in their classrooms. Finally, when we spend time working together to improve our schools, we will build a strong future for our communities.
Q: How would you ensure the board isn’t as dysfunctional as in years past?
A: I take a very rational and respectful approach to leadership. I understand that we all have our opinions and at various times we all think we’re right. Sometimes we are all right but in different ways. I am very accepting and am quick to listen to the thoughts of others before taking any actions.
Q: How would you boost student learning and test assessments?
A: I believe that there are too many factors impacting our current assessment results. One of the issues I have seen within District Five is the various reading level competencies of our students. At a recent board meeting, the superintendent shared data with the public about an eighth-grade English language arts classroom. At the end of the year, most of the students were below grade-level with their reading skills. There were students reading at levels as low as third- and second-grade! How can we expect to teach anything at an eighth-grade level if the students cannot read near that level?
Q: How would you address soaring teacher turnover and vacancies?
A: We must focus on teacher retention by providing them with the support they’re begging for. While higher pay will satisfy some people, the environment they work in needs to be improved. Teachers have the passion to teach. We need to create an environment where they’re empowered to teach and want to stay because District Five is a great employer!
Q: How would you improve financial management and transparency?
A: I believe there is already a fair level of management and transparency. From what I have been able to see from the public’s view, we have competent professionals working in the district office, and we consult other professionals, such as attorneys and financial planners when needed.
Q: Why should voters choose you over your opponent in this election?
A: I have been volunteering in schools since 2014. I have worked on Parent Teacher Associations, School Improvement Councils and even Parent Advisory Committees within the schools. I have over 15 years of nonprofit board experience, including most of those years as a leader such as chair or vice chair. My heart is within our community. My goal as a school board member is to make sure our students and teachers have what they need to be successful while making sure the parents, taxpayers, businesses and other community members understand what’s going on in their schools. We must return to a place where everyone in our community can be proud of our public school system in District Five.
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
