Johnston County School Board poised to add 3 new members

A certainty on Tuesday’s ballot: the Johnston County Board of Education will seat three new members in the latest shakeup in a tumultuous year that’s included protests against mask wearing and Critical Race Theory and a censured board member.

A May primary cut a field of 13 possible school board members down to six candidates for Tuesday’s general election.

The six school board candidates were Kevin Donovan, Mark Lane, Rick Mercier, Terry Tippett, Michelle Antoine and Melissa Bowers.

With early voting and all precincts reporting results, Donovan, Tippett and Antoine are currently set to join the Johnston school board.

The three new school board candidates all carried endorsements from the conservative PAC Citizen Advocates for Accountable Government, which was created at the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year as Johnston’s school board faced protests over mask wearing in the classroom and Critical Race Theory. The mask protests drew outgoing Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn 200 miles from his district to lead a rally in Smithfield.

The subject of Critical Race Theory, which school leaders denied was part of any curriculum in the district, led to a new policy establishing strict rules about how history and racism are taught.

Tippett, a retired teacher, collected the most votes, with 36,542 in unofficial results, followed by Donovan at 30,380 and Antoine with 29,667, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Johnston County schools bond

Johnston County voters overwhelmingly approved a $177,000,000 bond measure meant to fund county school projects. The bond was supported by 65 percent of Johnston voters.

Outgoing school board chair Todd Sutton said the bond is largely structured to address maintenance issues such as aging HVAC systems and overcrowding in the quickly growing school district. He said there are currently 186 mobile classrooms on county campuses, which Sutton deemed a safety hazard.

The bond is one of three Johnston expects to put on ballots over the next four years, Sutton said, funding building projects for the next decade.

“If we don’t look at building additional schools to accommodate the growth, it’s a safety hazard and incurs unwanted costs,” Sutton said.

JoCo school board turnover

The Johnston County school board is poised to look quite different in its next term, with chair Sutton and members Terri Sessoms and Al Byrd departing. Both Sutton and Sessoms declined to seek reelection and Byrd didn’t collect enough votes in the May primary to make it to the November ballot.

Another school board member, Ronald Johnson, has been mired in controversy in recent months, including two censures from the Johnston County Board of Education calling for his resignation. Johnson was also fired from his job as a detective with the Smithfield Police Department due to what the agency deemed “detrimental personal conduct,” according to previous reporting in The News & Observer.

Sutton said he had mixed emotions about the timing of his exit from the Johnston school board and its chaotic year.

“I have a lot of vested interest in the school system excelling, so I have mixed emotions about not being able to continue to help direct our school system in the right direction,” Sutton said. “There’s been a lot of chaos and baseless allegations we’ve had to focus our attention on that takes attention away from the students and does a disservice to the school system.”

As the new school board is formed, Sutton said he prayed for a more focused term.

“My hope is the majority of the board keeps its eye on the prize, which is turning the school system around, and to try and eliminate unwanted distractions,” Sutton said.

Johnston Board of Commissioners

Three of the four Johnston County commissioner seats on Tuesday’s ballot were uncontested, as Republican incumbents Richard “Dickie” Braswell, Patrick Harris and Butch Lawter were reelected to new terms.

Incumbent Commissioner April Stephens looks to cruise to an easy reelection in her bid to hold the District 4 seat, collecting 46,765 votes to challenger Evelyn Sanders’ 28,121 with all precincts reporting.

With Stephens’ win, Johnston County Republicans continue to control every seat on the Board of Commissioners.