Michele Morrow, candidate for Wake County Board of Education District 8
Name: Michele Morrow
Political party: Republican
Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 51
Campaign website: michele4wakeschools.com
Occupation: Registered nurse
Education: BS in nursing, UNC-CH, 1993
Have you run for elected office before? No
Please list highlights of your civic involvement: Liberty First Grassroots, FreedomWorks, Generation Joshua, Love Life, American Heritage Girls, Reopen NC
Why do you want to serve on the Wake County Board of Education?
I am running for WCPSS BOE because the current board has failed to provide a safe, sound, basic education to every student in our county. They have prioritized social and political ideologies over character development, academic rigor and career training. They have failed to support teachers and families. I will ensure safety, scholastics and responsible spending that will empower and equip each student to pursue a career that will be prosperous, rewarding, and will strengthen our community.
What are the Wake County Public Schools doing well?
There are several schools in our county which are partnering with local companies to provide instructional and internship opportunities to broaden the scope of potential careers for our young people. I would like to see this model be replicated in every high school in Wake County.
What would be your three top priorities if elected? Choose one, and explain how you would address it.
Safety
Scholastics
Spending
Safety — We must put an SRO and a school nurse in every school. I would push for a comprehensive security plan including cameras in schools, buses and on school grounds. We must uphold order and respect for rules so that every classroom will foster learning and healthy collaboration between teachers and students. It is incredibly unsafe to have teachers, IAs, and office staff administering medications. Every staff member should be CPR/First Aid certified.
What should the district do in response to calls to remove books from schools that some say are inappropriate for students?
The district should uphold the obscenity laws of NC and respect the authority of parents. They should connect with organizations who have researched and found potentially damaging content promoting sexual promiscuity and violence and share that information with parents to protect our students. The district should provide age-appropriate health classes, with the consent and participation of parents and guardians.
How should schools discuss issues involving discrimination based on race, gender and other factors?
Our schools should return to basic character development where everyone learns how to respect others’ privacy, be honest, be kind in word and deed, and follow classroom rules and teacher instructions. If we focus on helping our youngsters be self-controlled, hardworking and responsible, we will encourage unity and peaceful school settings. I believe that focusing on race, gender or any other quantifiers causes more division and confusion among our students than it fosters compassion.
How would you go about making schools safer in the aftermath of school shootings such as in Uvalde, Texas?
We need a comprehensive security system in every school including SROs and cameras throughout the building, on the grounds and even in our buses, to help with bullying and safety traveling to and from school. We should have a manned, single-entry system and an alarm system on window and doors, so that the office is alerted if something is propped open and forgotten. We should create a Security Department within the district, so the chain of command is clear and training is uniform.
What would you do to try to address student learning loss that was exacerbated by the pandemic?
We should examine our budget and remove expenditures that do not directly benefit the scholastic success of our students. We should train volunteers from the community to partner with teachers during school to aid children who have fallen behind or require one-on-one support. We should use our COVID relief money to pay teachers $25 an hour to tutor after school, if they desire, and return textbooks to classrooms to assist students to review concepts they have forgotten or never mastered.
What’s the appropriate level of funding that should be provided to Wake County schools?
Funding is appropriate when it is properly allocated to promote safety, scholastic success and teacher retention. These must be the financial priorities of our schools. The budget needs to be carefully studied and bloated expenditures that do not directly improve the aforementioned goals should be eliminated. We should seek partnerships with local companies to disperse some of our costs and to deepen community connections. We must demand transparency and accountability from our board.
