The State endorsement: Our three choices for Lexington-Richland 5 school board

Three of the seven seats on the Lexington-Richland 5 school board are up for grabs in the Nov. 5 election. Three candidates are competing for two seats to represent Lexington County, and two others are running against each other to represent Richland County in a district that splits both counties and draws from Irmo, Dutch Fork and Chapin in an area northwest of Columbia.

It’s been a difficult four years for this district that has more than 17,000 students, more than 1,500 teachers and two dozen schools. The superintendent left a month after being named South Carolina superintendent of the year in 2021 because of conflict with the school board. Its attorney quit in 2022, saying she couldn’t serve the “dysfunctional” board without compromising her “integrity and professional reputation” built over 34 years as a lawyer in the state’s schools.

With hope the board will prioritize academics over acrimony, The State Editorial Board endorses Scott Herring and incumbent Catherine Huddle over former board member Kenneth Loveless in Lexington County, and Mike Ward over Jason Baynham in Richland County. Huddle, Loveless and Baynham are running as a slate, and we’ll explain why voters should view each separately.

Let’s discuss Loveless first. He’s a disruptive force who lost his seat in 2022 and shouldn’t be returned to it. He lost by 14 votes following a tumultuous term in which he was one of the board members who clashed with the superintendent who left and in which he sued a constituent for defamation. That constituent, Kevin Scully, was elected to the school board in the 2022 election. After his loss, Loveless was fined more than $5,000 by the South Carolina Ethics Commission for inquiries he made about the construction of an elementary school as a board member. The only one of five candidates we interviewed in this district to do so, Loveless criticized our question about how they would ensure the board “isn’t as dysfunctional as in years past.”

“Where is the proof that our school board was dysfunctional in the past?” he emailed us. “Does the question lead the reader to assume that there was something dysfunctional in the past? It’s a terrible question.” We sent him a story on the lawyer’s departure, and he replied, “It is proof of nothing other than sour grapes.” We are open to criticism, as the school district should be, but Loveless would only undermine the board with a seat on it. Electing him is counterproductive.

If Loveless is unfit to serve, that leaves Herring and Huddle to be elected. Herring teaches applied music and manages the percussion ensemble at the University of South Carolina and touts his status as the only one of the three in the race with children in the district or a spouse who is a teacher. He pledged to manage the district’s $240 million budget by prioritizing the well-being of students and teachers through his family’s lenses of educator, parent and student. He said he will value “collaboration over conflict” while seeking input from experts. He also said he would avoid dysfunction. Neither he nor Huddle disputed the board’s clear history of it.

Huddle told us she’d “ensure” the board is functional by asking questions, requiring answers and having “lively but professional” discussions to reach the best solutions.” Unintentionally making the case for Herring, she also said a functional school board is “composed of people from varying backgrounds and expertise who work to do what is best for all the stakeholders of public education.” We preferred her answers and her approach to Loveless’ defensiveness.

The two candidates in Richland County both have intriguing backgrounds and make compelling cases. Baynham is the father of three girls in three schools in the district, one of whom has special needs that have him advocating for sports programs and better technology to help more than 2,000 students with similar needs districtwide. But we gave Ward an edge because he has volunteered in schools since 2014, serving on parent teacher associations, school improvement councils and parent advisory committees, and he has over 15 years of nonprofit board experience.

We also liked Ward’s answer about the dysfunction. Baynham said he is campaigning with Loveless and Huddle “to stop the detrimental behavior on our board,” but Ward told us he’ll take “a very rational and respectful approach to leadership” and be “quick to listen to the thoughts of others,” two crucial management skills that Loveless in our interactions showed us that he lacks.

This story was originally published October 18, 2024 at 6:00 AM.