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2026 Watauga County Meet the Candidates - Watauga County Board of Education · Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to this special election edition of Five Your Business David Jackson.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: The Moon area and polygraph chambers of commerce are free to start and you will meet the candidates for them in conjunction with the 2026 general election.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: The Wataga County Board of Education and Board of Commissioners, and races for the state House and Senate were conducted as part of our in-person forum at the Appalachian Theater back on October 1st.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Candidates for U.S.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: House, Wataga County Sheriff, and Wataga County Clerk of Court were interviewed individually.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_01: This episode contains the audio archive from our session with the candidates for Wataga County Board of Education.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_05: Well, thank you, uh David.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_05: Good evening, everyone.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_05: My name is Yolanda Adams.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_05: First of all, I want to say thank you so much for this amazing opportunity to uh stand here.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_05: I thought I was gonna we were gonna be sitting down, but it's uh stand here and talk to you about why we are running.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you obviously to the Chamber of Commerce and also the beautiful Appalachian Theater for hosting us here.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_05: Um I'm original from Bogota, Colombia.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_05: Um, I have called the High Country Home for the past 25 years, which uh I have improved my accent and everything, and you all uh little comments that I can go ahead and plan in.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_05: But it has been a beautiful journey uh for me and for my family.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, have been here for uh for the 25 years, and I met my uh wonderful husband, Jay, and we have our uh four wonderful kids that are Alejandro, uh Christian, Joshua, and Hannah.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_05: And uh they're um part of my why I'm running.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_05: They're the beautiful product of Watabakani Schools, and um Hannah is actually a senior um this year in Wataga.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_05: Um for the uh for more than 10 years, I actually had the pleasure to work for Watabakani Schools as the family resource coordinator.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_05: So um I have that intel of uh being able to work with families, um, their um their students, um, staff, uh, and administrators, and also with community members uh to make sure that the students were successful um on what they're doing.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_05: And right now we actually have, um I'm actually the assistant director for student leadership and family outreach for Gear App at um at Appalachian State University.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_05: Um I have uh been uh part of multiple boards um and I sit currently, and I actually was appointed by Governor Um Stein to be the co-chair of the North Carolina Commission of Accessibility.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_05: Um throughout my career, I have uh seen the um education from many perspectives, and that is why I'm here today.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_05: So I want to thank you for this opportunity.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_06: Ellen Lamont, two minutes opening.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_04: Good afternoon.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_04: I want to start by thanking the Chamber of Commerce for this opportunity, and also thank you to the audience for attending.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_04: My name is Ellen Lamont, and I'm a district one candidate for school board.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_04: I'm a professor of sociology at Appalachian State University since 2014, where I teach courses on families, intimate relationships, gender, and childhood and youth.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_04: I've been teaching since 2006 and have a strong dedication to public education, which has shaped my desire to serve on the Watauga County School Board.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_04: As a teacher myself, I've been involved in student, teacher, and curriculum development and evaluation.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_04: In this role, I've gained intimate knowledge of what allows both students and teachers to succeed.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm very grateful for the autonomy that Appalachian State gives me to innovate in ways that support transformational learning.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_04: And I've been honored with a number of teaching awards over the years as a result.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_04: I want to support that training and autonomy for K-12 as well because we know how impactful it can be for students when excellent educators are given the space and resources to do what they do best.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_04: I'm also the parent of a public school student.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_04: My son is now in 12th grade, so getting ready to leave his time in the public school system.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_04: But I want to highlight that the system has met his needs exceptionally well.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_04: I've seen firsthand the dedication of the teachers and the numerous opportunities that students are given to explore their areas of interest and develop, not just as students, but as people.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_04: And I can compare it to my own high school experience in a different state and see how much stronger my son is coming out of Wataga High School.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_04: We're doing a lot of things well, so it means continuing to support our successful efforts, but also identifying areas for improvement or places where certain students may slip through the cracks and not be as well served.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_04: Most importantly, I'm committed to public schools because I see their value to society as a whole, not just because I'm a teacher who cares about education, not just because I'm a parent who cares about my own child, but because I'm a citizen who knows the value of public education to the functioning of our democracy and economy.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_06: Chad Cole, a two-minute introduction.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you guys again, just like everybody else for the you know the chambers for allowing us to be here, Appalachian Theater for allowing us to be here as well.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh third time I've been up here.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've enjoyed every one of them, get to know people a little bit more, and I enjoyed that part of it as well.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Chad Cole.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm running for District 4, uh, Watag County School Board.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's an honor to be up here and speak.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Watog County isn't just where I live, it is home, it has been home for six generations of Coles.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: I have uh a daughter that graduated two years ago.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: I have a daughter that's a sophomore at the high school, and then I have a son who will be in kindergarten uh next year.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm invested.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be here for a long, long time.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and like I said, our roots are really deep here, and the community means a lot to me.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and again, getting to experience uh life in Watauga County and going K through 12, uh uh it's it's just been a wonderful thing.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And to see how the school system has continued to build, we have not seen the decline.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: We keep seeing it increase.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: We see just the best of the best come in, and I want to be uh a part of that.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Throughout my career, I've worked and talked uh in emergency services.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've served in nonprofit world locally and uh currently in another organization right now and operate a small business.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and those experiences have put me alongside some some wonderful people that I could glean from and get more information from and help me make good decisions based on uh different backgrounds, uh, looking at it from different points of view, not just my point of view, uh, but being able to get uh everybody else's take on as well, make uh good uh sound decisions, I would say.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want schools to provide an excellent education while recognizing that success after graduation doesn't always look like a four-year college.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: It could be straight into the workforce, it could be a trades, uh, it could be military, emergency services, something like that.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure that these kids know exactly uh what's available out there and not just shelter them and and push four years down their throat.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot more out there than just college.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I'm asking for this opportunity to serve not just District Four, but all of Watauga County.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we may be districted up now, but uh this uh this is about the whole county, not just one district.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_06: Now Megan Caim Kornhauser.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you to the Boone and Bullowing Rock area chambers of commerce, especially for their willingness to work with me regarding accommodations for this event so that I'm able to participate effectively.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um my name is Megan Caim Kornhauser, and I'm excited and legally nervous right now to be here as a candidate for Watague County Board of Education District 4.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_03: The process for running for political office has been a unique um, at minimum experience and has been very enlightening for me about the processes of our local government.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_03: I originally became interested in what the school board does for my involvement in higher education.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: I've spent the past two years working with disability resources to provide accommodations for students, employees, and visitors to the App State campus, as well as being an adjunct instructor for one of the local community colleges within history and humanities.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: My predominant field of study is within Holocaust studies, so please bear with me for the sharpness of my example.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: One of my favorite examples or assignments to give my students is to analyze a piece of Nazi propaganda.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: What does the propaganda say outright?
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_03: What is its intended audience?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Who is it about, and what does it say about that group of people?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: One of their options is an elementary school math problem from a textbook where the question asks about what is the cost for care for disabled people depending on how many years they stay in that institution.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: And it seems for many students like something that would never have bias, like a math problem, but it justified the killing of 300,000 people.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: This has always highlighted to me the importance of school education.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: Now, I say this with running for a political campaign, especially with meeting in our current voters, um, other people on the board, and others involved in our local government, and learning more about what our school board does and where people, including myself, have thought what they do.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_03: But I have learned a significant portion of it is how we is financial stewardship.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_03: And if elected, I intend to be a good steward of the funds allocated to our system in conjunction with the county commissioners to address issues that really impact all of us, but therefore impact the constituencies of our school.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and thank you.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_06: All right, our first question will go to Ellen Lamont.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: All right, here we go.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Several Watage County schools are aging and face serious needs with here heating and cooling electrical systems and infrastructure.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Renovating or replacing a school can take years of planning and major public investment.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: If elected, what specific steps would you support during your term to address immediate facility needs while also building and funding a long-term plan to renovate or replace aging schools?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_04: So our budget challenges are a manufactured problem to some extent.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_04: We've seen a decline in support from the state.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_04: We are facing constitutional amendments on the ballot that will tie our hands further.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_04: We have vouchers draining money.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so we really do need to support a strong tax base to support these community needs.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um, otherwise, we're gonna lose the capacity or services to engage in these improvements.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_04: However, this does seem to be one of the key priorities of the school uh system in these coming years.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and what I've been assured is that we have a very strong uh financial officer who is working on these issues.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so what will my role be?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_04: It will be simply um making sure that the budgets are balanced, uh making sure that um we're trying to keep within the costs and seeing um working with the county commissioners to see where different um funding sources might come from, um, those types of things.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 11:00
  unknown: Mr.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_06: Cole, same question.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I figured that would be a hot topic on this one.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's it's like um what's next?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we finish one school and then what's next, and we finish another school and it's what next.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: So what's next is we, I mean, elephant room is Harden Park.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's the one.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um our county commissioners right now are doing an amazing job of getting things ready and lined up uh for this to take place.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants to talk about this, uh, but it's the taxes.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the finances are not here.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Where, you know, where are we gonna get this funding?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: I know they're working on grants.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm all I'm all about grants.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: If they're used properly, I'm all about grants.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so being able to reach out federally uh with the state, um, making sure that we can secure that funding, uh, whether we have to put it on a ballot, whatever we have to do, uh, we're gonna have to do it.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it's gonna take a partnership, not just the five on the uh the school board.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna take the the five on the county commissioner.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to work together.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and as as she just said a while ago, and I love how you said this, uh our CFO and the superintendent uh are working extremely well together.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: They're they've been a blessing, and I'm so glad that we have that type of partnership now, uh, and that guidance.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: We need that type of leadership, and we have great leadership right now, so we're gonna have to glean on them, lean on them, uh, and get guidance from not just uh within our county commissioners, um, but outside state representatives, uh, maybe have to go federal, I don't know.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: But we also can't just look at Harden Park.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: That might be the big one that has to be fixed.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to look next.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Is it gonna be Parkway?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is it gonna be blown rock?
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: What are we gonna do with Bethel?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Where's the repairs?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned heating and air.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Uh air is a big thing right now.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, with them shortening up or extending out our days, um, you know, something we have to consider as well.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: It gets hot in the summer uh around here.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, what can we do to put a band-aid on uh the heat and the air as well?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to, again, they're they're not money doesn't grow on trees, but that's what it all boils down to is money.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_06: Megan Kornhauser is your question now.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um the one of the things that I think is really critical about this is how it does come down to a funding issue that in a lot of ways I would agree with Ellen is manufactured.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, for instance, the education lottery was intended to support and fund schools with 35% of those lottery funds going to the schools, but then quickly that became a guidance and not a requirement that has thus lost revenue for schools despite record-breaking sales in lottery tickets.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_03: So I think working and advocating with the state and with the county commissioners who add some of that supplemental income and funding to the school system is going to be vital in order to assist with some of these repairs.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: I think one of the things like Harden Park and Bethel are going to be serious issues coming up for the Board of Education, whoever may be elected, because those are going to be very costly renovations in order to do and um working with the funding of the county commissioners, especially, and just good financial stewardship, looking at the numbers.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_05: So facilities are ultimately about students and employees.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_05: How do we um uh make sure that uh they're safe, they're healthy, in the infrastructural environment in which they are learning and working.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_05: Uh definitely uh working with the Wata County School C CFO and the superintendent and also um the commissioners is impairment in this.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_05: Uh unfortunately, you know, funding for education is decreasing on uh uh on a regular basis, so we have to be very responsible how we spend uh that money.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_05: So my approach um will start with the facts.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_05: Uh basically, what are the most urgent safety and infrastructure needs and go from there?
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_05: I know we replaced uh Bala Cruz's, it was a school that it was needed.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_05: Uh and of course, as we have um my price here had mentioned before, as well as um Harding Park, but we cannot overlook the other schools.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_05: So um having transparency is key here.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_05: Um also making sure that we are responsible with the budget that the school has and is implemented in the right way with the needs, uh making sure that we cover the needs for the safety of our of our schools.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_05: And again, our precious kids are in there on a regular basis in the staff.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_06: The second question we'll start off with Chad Cole.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Omer.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, question two.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Wataga County Schools has lost more than 100 students a year recently, and because state funding follows enrollment, that means fewer state funded positions and a tighter budget.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: At the same time, teachers and staff are harder to recruit and keep in a community where housing is expensive.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: How would you manage the loss of revenue while making recruiting a top priority to keep great teachers and great staff?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: That is a wonderful question.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's uh something that we've been trying to address for for several years now.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think since COVID, we've seen the decline because we're seeing the increase in housing.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um you just can't afford to live here anymore.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so many of our teachers, even uh at Cove Creek, we see are living not just outside the county, they're living outside the state.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and that's a problem not just with North or not just with Watague County, with the it's with North Carolina, it is with this the U.S.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: itself.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're seeing so much more uh homeschooling taking place.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're seeing kids staying at home, but we're also seeing a decrease in babies.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: We're not seeing that next generation uh coming up.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one thing that, and I've had the opportunity to talk with some local um uh folks here uh with mayor and some other people about this.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we have all this uh the housing that's here.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: The housing is here, it's just not affordable housing.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and the one thing that I would love to see us do is have a partnership with some of these apartment complexes where we can tap into that and they could say, yes, we will set aside uh, you know, five, six, ten units that would be designated specifically for educators uh and to help get them on their feet so that we can recruit them, let them stay there for two years, get on their feet, uh, and then they can start pursuing uh another place to live here locally or outside the county, whatever it may be.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but we're gonna have to have some partnerships.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's all it boils down to partnerships.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's here.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: We just need to tap into it and um and start taking care of our own.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're losing some of the best teachers, we're losing it just because of housing around here, and I hate that.
• 17:41
  unknown: Ms.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_06: Kornhauser.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_06: Megan Kornhauser.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_03: This is definitely going to continue to be a problem.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_03: That rate has been the same for the year prior as well, and also, I believe, resulted in the cut of seven positions thereabout.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: And as was mentioned, there are about six to nine thousand people that commute into Watauga County each um day for work, which the housing in crisis could potentially result by eliminating that in the enrollment of those families into Wataga County school systems rather than in the school systems from where they're having to commute into.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: So working with other elected officials in order to help with the housing crisis, which is a huge task that is way broader than just the school board, um, is going to be necessary, though, and will benefit not just again the constituents of Wataga County School Systems, but everyone involved.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: It will also take a lot of financial stewardship with putting in professional development for teachers.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: If they are having to travel in from other counties or other states, they're not going to be able to teach as effectively.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: And we need to be able to put back into them with professional development with benefits that really help them be able to be the best teachers that they're able to be and be the best staff as well for other um positions that are affected by this in the school systems.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, Londa Adams, your question.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_05: So we cannot uh we we cannot talk about excellent schools without talking about the people who make the schools excellent.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_05: And that's of course our staff.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_05: Um uh burnout, uh uh underpaid, uh, the retention, the cost of living is something that affects all of the employees uh within Watawa Kana schools.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_05: So compensation matters, but retention is essential.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so we have to think outside of the box and see how we can go ahead and help to retain these amazing teachers that come into our building.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_05: Um, I know what kind of schools have very high standards to when they hire, so we just need to make sure to keep them here.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_05: So the idea of what Chad said, trying to have like maybe a lot of homes where we can go ahead and offer that.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_05: Like I know like Appalachian State University do that to maintain their the uh some of the new stuff that uh they're coming in, um, it will be essential.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_05: But this is of course something that we can sit down and try to talk and try to figure out.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_05: We uh we all love um live in this beautiful community where um we know it's uh loved by tourists.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_05: So that always is going to bring that price up on um in on the buildings and the um the the homes where uh we need to live.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_05: So uh, but yeah, definitely uh thinking about the retention and how we uh we can keep those families here and helping them with the living situation will be essential.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_06: Ellen Lamont, your question.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um I would say that this is our number one challenge alongside our capital improvement projects.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so of course, this recruitment and retention problem is related to pay and cost of living.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_04: Again, this is a manufactured problem to some extent, with the state tying our hands in many ways.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um, this matters, of course, as Yolanda said, teachers should have a right to leisure.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_04: Many of them need second jobs, many of them are making long commutes.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_04: As a result, it will impact our students as well.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_04: We lose qualified teachers, we struggle to fill spots, we lose programming and staff support, and teachers will struggle with time and energy for students.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_04: So that means that we need to be addressing pay and we need to be addressing cost of living.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so the goal, of course, is to work with county commissioners to address housing costs, to address affordable childcare.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_04: It means advocating to the state for higher teacher and staff salaries.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I know that county commissioners have been excellent and working with the superintendent to locate other funding packages to support our teachers from our local tax base.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um it also might mean that we have some tough decisions to make around how.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: How we district and how we divide up our students between our schools.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_04: And I do promise to do this with the impact on families in mind.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_04: We know it's a numbers problem, but it also impacts families and communities.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_04: So decisions really need to be made with care and extensive community input.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_06: All right, we move on to the next question, and that will be started by Megan Kornhauser.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_06: About two of out of three North Carolina jobs now require training or a credential beyond high school.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_06: This year, Watauga High School students began earning paid hands-on experience with local employers through a new program called Rise Caldwell Watauga.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_06: As a school board member, how would you build on work-based learning like this so more students graduate ready for good paying local careers, including those not headed for a four-year college?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_03: I think that this will be something that is going to be incredibly beneficial to a lot of people.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: I encounter a lot of students nowadays in my role that have been told college is the only method.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: That's the only way to get a good paying career.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_03: They have to go and get a four-year degree in order to enter an entry-level position that does not require and does not really actually need one.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_03: I believe working with programs like this and working with other community colleges locally will be really pivotal for getting students that hands-on learning so that they can also learn before they enter if they do decide to engage in a four-year program, entering before they know exactly what maybe that interest is.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: I know that Wataga High School has an alumni interview session where people can come back or people within the community in order to talk about what they do for a living and give students other options and opportunities to ask questions about roles that they may have never considered.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: And putting money into things like the career and technical education pathways and allowing for dual enrollment prop purposes, which is um, but that also then will still kind of tie into this whole holistic issue of recruitment as well, and getting that increase in funding for uh for high-paying teacher positions.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Linda Adams.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_05: So uh this is an area that is very um uh dear to my heart because of the work that I actually currently do with uh Girapp.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_05: Uh we also have to realize that um every child is not fit for maybe a four-year college or like a PhD.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_05: So we have to maybe address it through uh the three E's, right?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_05: That is like education skills, uh go to further their education or employment or enlisting.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_05: And we have to listen uh to those pathways.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so one of the things that I emphasize is like we have to make sure that we plant that seed on each student that is sitting in our classroom, that there is a pathway for them regardless of where they want to go.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_05: And it's not up to us to tell them this is exactly where you have to go, but depending on your pathway, we're gonna give you all the uh the your toolbox to be successful where you are at.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_05: Um and uh for one student success, maybe like uh maybe uh Appalachian State for uh uh when we do the um, I'm sorry, when during my time doing the lead program uh that I lead with um gear app at Appalachian State University, that's one of the things that I focus the most is to make sure that those students see a vision and they see a leadership that they can apply, even within uh when they're within the school, doing uh apprenticeship, starting to advocate for uh um items that are dear to their hearts.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_05: So it is very important that we actually listen to the students and guide them exactly where they need to go.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_06: Ellen Lamont, your question.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_04: So first and foremost, I don't see the role of education as preparing people for the workplace.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_04: So that's definitely an important point.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_04: But first and foremost, I see us as developing well-rounded citizens through education in humanities, arts, social sciences, and STEM.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_04: And the wonderful result of that is that they also become more nimble for a changing economy.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_04: So the goal is for all students to have support for their desired pathway.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_04: And I actually think we already do this very well.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_04: So we have a college track at the high school, we have mandatory standardized testing that is supported by the school, students do not have to pay.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_04: We have frequent workshops on the application process, we have very robust AP opportunities, we have middle school advanced math tracks that support college readiness for highly selective universities.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_04: We have extensive clubs to support major choices, well-developed advising gear up program to support college readiness.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_04: We also have our technical education track, which gives students extensive opportunities to take community college courses during high school, WIA that allow students to graduate with credentials and certificates that allow them to quickly transition to the workforce, clubs that support this track, junior ROTC programs for students who want to join the military.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_04: Um, what should our role be?
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_04: Our goal should be to continue to make these pathways clear, especially early on, identify any gaps, and also identify any emerging industries so that we can increase capacity in those areas and also increase collaborations with local businesses.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_06: Chad Cole, this is your question.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is my wheelhouse.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is something I'm very passionate about uh when it comes to the education of our kids, is preparing them for what's next.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because of the way that I was I I went through with Hogg High School.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and while I was in the high school, I ended up in emergency services and made that.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: And this is this would be this month is my 28th year in emergency services.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I've I've got to see what happens in the high school, and then you can take that outside the high school and make you could make a career out of it.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, agriculture, same thing.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: So talking to some of the leadership here in the county, um, and I think we're all on the same page when it comes to this, we need more partnerships.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: We have a great high school right now to prepare them.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's just not good enough.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we need to be better uh when it comes to preparing.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: I remember doing the what we call the building side or the we used to build houses in the high school when we built it up near Central Office.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: I would love to see that come back so that our kids can have a more hands-on uh feel for how to build a house, do more apprenticeships.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: One thing I was talking to the mayor about was doing an apprenticeship here with public works so they can kind of get a feel for that.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we have HOSA, we have cosmetology, we have AutoTech, we have some great things, but we need more partnerships outside the school system with local businesses so that our kids can do their apprenticeships and get more hands-on uh skills with them.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just talking about the the ROTC.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: I love that the juniors, uh junior ROTC, um, and what they do and preparing that group for the military, that might be their thing, emergency services, uh, law enforcement, whatever it may be.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: But um, I think we could step up just a little bit more and partner with our local community with these objects.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_06: We now begin question number four with Yolanda Adams.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: The state, not the school board, sets is this working?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sorry, the state, not the school board, sets most teacher pay and funds positions like teacher assistance.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: But school board members are often the strongest local voices in Raleigh and before county commissioners.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: North Carolina ranks near the bottom nationally in what it spends per student.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: How would you advocate for better teacher pay and more classroom support if elected?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_05: We definitely have to go to Raleigh.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_05: And us, um, I feel like the Board of Education has a big responsibility um regarding this matter.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, we cannot just sit here and stay quiet and uh keep losing um teacher aids that are essential for the teachers to be able to accomplish their job that they do every day.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, and uh we have to take that in responsibility.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_05: Of course, we have the um great support of the commissioners, uh, which uh they come uh and they uh supply sometimes uh some of the budget that we don't get from the state level.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_05: But this is something that we have to be thorough about it.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_05: Um sometimes it takes more than just our voices to be able to be heard.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so one of the things that I'm actually currently working with, with the students from my legal cohort, is for them to start to advocate specifically for things like this.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_05: And I can give you a perfect example of a student from Graham County, uh, because we work with uh six currently 16 school districts, and he uh took it upon himself to specifically advocate for uh teacher retention and pay because he saw the effect that it was um happening in Grand County.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_05: And I see it in exactly what is happening in in Wataga County as well.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_05: So making sure that we hear the student voices uh that we can actually bring that.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_05: We have representatives, of course, in the board from the student uh perspective, it will be essential.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_06: Ellen Lamont, your question.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, thank you.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_04: Um I think that's a great answer.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we need to be heading to Raleigh, we need to be advocating to the state for higher teacher and staff salaries, and we need to be using um data to show why this is important.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_04: We need to be showing what our teachers are actually doing, what our students actually lose out on.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um it's not only about our students, though.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_04: Again, as I said earlier, we we um we harm our teachers when they're burned out, right?
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_04: It's just a matter of fairness that they shouldn't have be having to work second jobs.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_04: However, we do tend to get more emotional when it is related to students and our children, and so that does need to be one of the focus.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_04: What is this actual impact?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_04: What kind of learning loss do we see when our teachers aren't able to do this work?
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I love the idea of getting students involved, getting student voices involved.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_04: And we did see a large walkout earlier this year that did have a big impact on the state.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_04: And so I would also be thinking about how teachers and students can use their voices in this more kind of activist ways, um, things like um, again, walkouts and also um op-eds, anything along those lines that are creating more attention, um, and also getting parents involved in this.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_04: Um, parents are one of our strongest voices, and so we want to get them involved in saying why they support our teachers and what their students need.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_06: Chad Cole, your question.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep going about what you just said because I agree 100%.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: If your student has a teacher and that that student loves that teacher, you need to love that teacher and support that teacher.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's not up to the five on the board, it's not up to the superintendent, it's not up to our commissioners to go to Raleigh.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: We have to go to Raleigh, but we can't go as five.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: We need to be going as a group.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so if if you if you have teachers that you're loving and they're doing an amazing job, and your TAs are doing an amazing job, and your bus drivers are doing amazing jobs, and your principals are doing amazing jobs, your cafeteria workers are doing major amazing jobs.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: We need to support them.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: They don't need to go to Raleigh.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: We need to go to Raleigh for them and show our support for those teachers and for those school systems.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we can't uh we can't lose anymore.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it just breaks my heart to walk through the schools right now, and Harden Park is probably an exception, but to walk through some of our schools right now and see empty classrooms.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: I do not like empty classrooms.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see kids sitting there, I want to see teachers standing there, I want to see uh these classrooms full.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: I want to hear the halls, you know, with the laughter and the all that goes on in schools.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: But we have to show our support for the teachers, and the only way that we can do that is if the parents and their community get involved and we do go to Raleigh.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'd lock our arms with these four right now and go to Raleigh.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: Just just I would I would go, I'd go to DC if I had to for our teachers just to help get more support, more finances, more personnel, uh and qualified personnel and hang on to them, try to retain them as long as possible.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_06: Megan Kornhauser.
• 34:36
  unknown: Thank you.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_03: I believe then this would be, in my opinion, a two-pronged approach of working within the budget that we already have, as well as advocating to the state directly for increased funding.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, to my understanding, a lot of the state's budget comes down to an actual position number as opposed to a funding, like a dollar amount, and being able to navigate putting certain personnel into that position pool so that we can kind of finagle and work with what is already allocated.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_03: There's going to be some intentional decision making within that, um, working within that budget as well.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_03: One of the things that's really passionate for a passion of mine is disability and things like 504s, IEP accommodations, which can be very, very expensive.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: And we're seeing an increase of students who are needing extra support, um, things like interpreters, which are like$150 an hour at a minimum, as I've learned in my position, um, but also assistive technology, et cetera, and being able to afford those things, it's going to be an expensive increase for a lot of students, but putting that um working within that budget of what already exists, where can money be allocated, making tough decisions with that will really help with some of that classroom support, especially.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_06: Um, we have question number five now for Ellen Lamont.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Omer.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: Watauga County schools lose an average of about 14 days a year to weather.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Both the COVID uh 19 pandemic and Hurricane Helene forced the district to rely more on remote learning.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: This year, the school board lengthened the school day to bank extra time so closures can be made up without as many remote days or a longer summer.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: What has the school system learned about what remote learning can and can't do?
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: And how would you balance calendar flexibility with keeping students learning in the classroom?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not a fan of remote learning.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_04: I don't think it works as effectively as in-person learning.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I feel students often check out, I feel teachers often check out to some extent, and I say this as someone who also had to uh pivot online during COVID-19.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I think it's especially challenging in the age of AI as well.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_04: So there are some major limitations related to online learning.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_04: However, one of the things that we did learn from the pivot to online during COVID was that there are some ways to be more effective as a teacher and more engaging as a teacher.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_04: And so I would think we need to invest more in teacher training as related to most effective practices in online education.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um that is that um having watched my son do online uh education, I could see that some teachers are more effective than others.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_04: And that's not necessarily a knock on any individual teacher, but more a sense of, well, a lot of times we had to pivot very quickly.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_04: We did not have the training for that, and so we now need to play a little bit of catch-up on that.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_04: And what was the second half of your question?
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_04: How would we balance it?
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_04: Um how we would balance it is I mean, it's just a necessity, I think.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I think that's what the the issue that the school board grappled with last year is that this is our most effective intervention, and so we just need to find a way to do it well.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_06: Chad Cole.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's uh I I agree.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't like remote lumber flies and looking at shiny things all the time.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to figure out a way to allow them to focus.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: So extending the school time, I I was uh I was a fan of this.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I appreciate them doing this, trying to add some more uh time to our days because I'd love to see our kids start getting out in May and enjoying the summer um and not having to worry about bringing their laptop laptops home uh and let the teachers have a small break as well.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just uh the kids having a remote day.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's it can be just a you know, just a day of peace for everybody to just have a snow day.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we just we need those snow days.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: I remember snow days.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_00: I love snow days.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was in school in in uh 93 when the blizzard hit.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: I remember it very well.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we need those breaks, uh, but we also need to figure out a way to use remote learning in a way that, and I think this is gonna be something that we all agree on.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: AI is taking over with a lot of things, uh, and how we can limit our children from utilizing AI for everything.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: We have a generation coming up right now that can't think.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: All they want to do is pull their phone out, ask their phone a question, get their answer, and give it back to you.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like that.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're gonna have to start putting uh uh putting a hold on that and figure out a way to uh minimize AI use uh with our remote learning and more I hate to say it, but more training for our teachers as well because they're gonna be the ones that have to address it eventually.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_06: Megan Kornhazer.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_03: One thing that I immediately also thought of was that I do also miss snow days that I feel for the kids that no longer get those or getting the ability to go to App Ski Mountain for free.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know even know if they still do that.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_03: Um and as also somebody who teaches online, I'm an asynchronous right now instructor, it definitely impacts the quality of learning.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I try very hard to not and have engaging AI-free assignments, but then these are 18 to 22-year-olds that are going to beat me on that too.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_03: So one honestly, this is an area where I think looking at other schools and kind of doing studies on how other schools are operating, and whether that be in North Carolina specifically, is going to be extremely helpful in figuring out how to navigate whether extending days so that students can not have to pivot and teachers don't have to pivot in-person assignments online.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_03: Some things just simply don't work in an online setting, depending on what the course content is.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_03: I part of that also comes down to that situations like COVID or Hurricane Helene are very, very different than a snow day or even a week of snow.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, having to pivot entirely for a year or two versus in some cases a semester is has a different expectation than does it snow 12 inches?
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think that will require looking at what other schools are doing.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_06: Yolanda Adams.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_05: Well, I will have to echo um everything uh that it has been said before.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_05: We um virtual learning is hard.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_05: I'm also um um work from home uh many times, and is there's a lot of uh distractions that I um I even get affected sometimes because of the dogs or this and that.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_05: So for the kids, it's the same thing.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_05: They need to uh manage all that, and it's very hard.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_05: I do believe that the extending time is gonna be something that is gonna help a lot.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_05: I will I was in agreement from the beginning.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_05: I thought it's not gonna be, we're not saying they're gonna go for uh an hour and a half more or anything like that.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_05: It was minimal, but I think it's gonna have a great impact on um helping with those decisions.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_05: I do also know that we have to show so much mercy and grace to those people.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, the I know the superintendent and anybody that wakes up at three o'clock in the morning to make those decisions, uh, I would not like to be one of them because it's uh it's a very hard decision.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_05: And regardless of the decision you make, you're always gonna make somebody bad about it.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_05: So um, so definitely uh showing uh mercy and grace regarding that is essential.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_05: And yeah, definitely uh providing um some training and maybe uh specifically for the younger grades, I feel is more essential because uh there is it's even harder to have a kindergartner or a second grader um hooked up to the um to their computer.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_05: Uh so definitely uh training will be a must as well.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_06: All right, we're gonna move on to number six, and we'll start with Chad Cole.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_06: Um, what do you identify as the three most significant issues facing Watauga County schools, and what evidence supports your choices?
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: Everything you just said, every question that you guys have just asked, have been the top three.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we're we're talking about uh teacher housing, affordable housing.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the decline in uh student enrollment uh and funding.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, those are some of the biggest things, and then um uh the Harden Park and fixing the schools that are coming up, so we got to deal with Harden Park.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: So those are the three big things is retention, uh, and fixing the schools and then uh and the housing.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know how we're gonna do it.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: I I wrote something down here um this evening that I heard somebody say it says uh we won't solve every challenge with more money.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the answer is just using uh what we already have more effectively, and I think that's what we're gonna have to do is uh we can't just keep trying to to pull money out of daddy warbucks, uh, you know, the county commissioners.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't work that way.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're we have we have what we're doing.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: We need as a school system, we do need more money, of course, but we're going to have to prioritize uh and make sure that number one, our students are not affected by any decisions that are made by that board.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: So whether it be trimming the fat somewhere down the road with uh you know with admin or whatever it may be, uh, whether it's, and I don't want to even address this, but if if it's merging a couple schools together, uh, whatever we do, that decision that we make cannot affect the education of our children.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be done in a way that it would be seamless, smooth, and they would never feel the bump in the road if it's done.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but you guys have those top three questions that we've already answered, that that are those are our top three priorities.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_06: Megan Kornhazer.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm probably going to echo a lot and I think will continue to be echoed, um, as enrollment and funding and teacher retention are pretty key problems.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, one thing that I want to address is also um something that we've kind of highlighted already as well, is that voters themselves are finding overwhelmingly that um some of the key issues that they are seeing in relation to public education is also increasing the rates of students who are not reading at grade level.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_03: Our schools are doing really well, especially in considering where we're at in North Carolina.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_03: They're doing really well compared to the other the rest of the state.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but being able to insist with that is also going to be something that I think will be continuing to be an issue, especially as we continue to see reliance on things like artificial intelligence and the way that this is impacting people's ability for critical thinking.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_03: It will um but part of that kind of comes into this again, like very circular issue of how do you retain quality teachers, how do you pay them then?
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: Where is that money coming from, etc.?
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_03: How do you add support, like one-on-one EC teachers or other means of providing for students with disabilities?
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_03: It's a lot of a very holistic problem in a lot of ways that it impacts the whole county in some in some regards, outside of just the school board itself.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_06: Yolanda Adams.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_05: Well, first I want to say that Watawakan Schools have done an excellent job covering and making sure that our students are successful.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_05: And I want to reiterate like my four kids have gone and are an amazing product of Wata Kanye Schools.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_05: I have, like I said before, three that are already graduated and they're thriving in their education um in their um in their living.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_05: Um so and one that is is about to fly when she graduates from uh since she's a senior.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_05: But uh again, um retention of this uh of the staff is essential.
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_05: Um we mentioned before, we just need to advocate uh at the rally level um to make sure that we compensate them for what they need.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_05: Uh we talk about also about the infrastructure, but again, we have to make sure that we're very clear and have a very focused um standard of where we need to start uh since the costs are extremely high and we need to be uh careful with the budget uh and the way it's used.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, but then again, keeping them safe.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_05: And one of the things that uh I don't I don't think we have addressed it yet, but uh I just want to mention is to make sure that the mental well-being of our students and staff are taken care of.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_05: Uh we went through COVID, we went through halene.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_05: This is a uh generation of resilience.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_05: I have seen it in my my kids.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, they skipped graduation because they couldn't uh because of COVID, and then they went and helped through haling.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_05: So it is amazing to see, but it takes a toll, and that is something that we cannot ignore.
• 47:50
  SPEAKER_05: We see it nationally, how it affects uh the well-being of the of the students and the staff.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_05: So we need to make sure that we're thorough with that as well.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_06: Helena Lamont.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_04: So I agree that we've been discussing the key issues in the school system.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_04: So, of course, recruitment and retention of teachers, again, that is about um the quality of education that our students receive.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_04: We've been talking about the budget challenges as well.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_04: Those are related to state funding structures.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_04: It's also related to enrollment, so we can do things such as advocating to the state for different funding structures that support rural communities, ask for buffer periods as enrollment declines to give us time to adjust, identify grants.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_04: Some less appealing options include things like rotating support staff between schools, but again, it might mean some tough decisions on how we divide up our students among schools.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_04: And then I also want to echo what my fellow candidates said about making sure that our students are ready.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_04: We have seen significant learning loss, and we do see a lot of mental health challenges in the schools.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_04: So we also want to be thinking about, again, within these budget challenges, how do we make sure that we have enough counseling staff?
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_04: How do we make sure we have mental health services, ongoing assessments, um, reconsidering the role of technology in the classroom, um, and also support opportunities for community building and engagement.
• 49:23
  SPEAKER_04: This is one of our best interventions into mental health problems is connecting people up to other members of their community.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_06: All right, we now give you two minutes to summarize and tell folks why they need to vote for you.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_06: We'll start with uh with Megan Kornhauser.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um so before wrapping up, really quick, I would like to again thank the Boone Area and Blowing Rock Area Chambers of Commerce for hosting this forum, um, their flexibility with me regarding accommodations.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_03: This is a difficult thing to do, I imagine, without a disability, with one also very, very difficult.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um and but also providing the us candidates with the opportunity to speak.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm excited to, on the other end, as a voter hear from other candidates and hear the positions and intentions of others that are on the ballot this year.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_03: When what I really ultimately want to part with is that I think it's pivotal for us to, for who are those of us who are eligible to vote, to please engage in that civic duty, um, to participate in your local community, partially because in the last midterm election, only about half of Wataga County actually participated that was eligible to do so.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_03: Most people participate in one of those big elections.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but the our state and local politicians also have significant impacts on our daily lives, and you deserve to have your voice heard in that regard on who represents you and who makes those decisions.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_03: I would also just genuinely encourage voters to take what they've heard here tonight and also go home, read what candidates have said, um, research those.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_03: And while, of course, I stand here as an individual who hopes to be elected, the most important thing ultimately is for the will of the people to be heard and for us to make informed decisions about who we want and to represent us, the intentions and priorities of those people that are elected to office and how they intend to achieve those goals.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_03: For the Board of Education specifically, there's going to be a lot of difficult decisions that are going to have to likely be made in two of our terms, whoever that may be.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um and so ultimately, regardless of this, the results of this race or any other, just that that should be made by as many people as possible.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_03: So please engage in that.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_06: Yolanda Adams, closing statement.
• 51:47
  unknown: Yeah.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_05: So tonight we have heard a lot about policies, budget, facilities, work, uh, workforce challenge, safety, and academics.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_05: Those issues matter tremendously, as we all know.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_05: But I want to end where I begin with the people.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_05: I am a mother of four children who have gone through Guatarakan schools.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_05: My two oldest sons are very Latino-like, like me, and my two youngest ones are very American-like, like their dad.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_05: This has given me a very interesting perspective on how their educational pathways sometimes encounter big barriers for one of them and not for the others, as well as how opportunities come their way in different ways and different perspectives.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_05: That is why I'm here to serve all students.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_05: My time working for Watakuan School was a catalyst in my professional journey.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_05: I create amazing connections with our teachers, staff, administrators, and community partners.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_05: After all, the American saying says it takes a bill it takes a village to raise a child, and this is so true.
• 52:49
  SPEAKER_05: I also understand the term burnout way too closely.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_05: So I want to make sure that our educators feel supported and heard.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_05: In our precious families, we who in who entrust their children to the school system, we need to make sure that they also feel like their voice matter and that their words are not just being listened to with uh not just with open ears, but also with open hearts.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_05: I am not seeking the seed because I believe I have all the answers.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_05: I don't.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_05: I'm seeking it because I know how to listen, connect people, build partnerships, ask questions, and work collaboratively for the good of all.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_05: I know our schools from the perspective of a parent, an employee, a family advocate, and a community partner.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_05: If giving me the opportunity to serve, I will prioritize the student success and well-being.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_05: I will center the experience of families and educators, I will advocate for safe, welcoming, supportive schools.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_05: I will look for opportunities and partnerships that help our students thrive.
• 53:53
  SPEAKER_05: And above all, I will remember that every policy that we discuss and every budget decision that we um eventually have to take will reach the classroom and it will affect the child sitting in it.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_05: This is the responsibility I will carry with me every time that I take a seat at the board table if you vote for me.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_05: So thank you so much for this opportunity.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_05: Um this is like pretty amazing for me to see like a girl from Colombia standing here.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_05: So thank you.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_05: And thank you to all for your time as well.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_06: Ellen Lamont.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, thank you again for the opportunity to take part in this forum.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_04: And I also appreciated the chance to provide my perspectives and learn from the perspectives of my fellow candidates.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_04: So our schools are strong and our teachers are dedicated.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I can easily name 10 teachers at the high school who have supported my son above and beyond and helped him thrive.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_04: And that includes Ms.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_04: Wilson, who had students use letters to analyze competing perspectives on the buildup to the Civil War in AP US history, or Mr.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_04: Vining, who had them develop and debate policies and civics.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_04: So the most important thing we can do is hire these well-trained and passionate teachers and then empower them with the resources and professional development opportunities rather than hobble them with things like culture wars.
• 55:11
  SPEAKER_04: We want students who are able to develop critical thinking skills through activities such as these, students who are actively engaged with the world around them and inspired to invest in their education.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_04: And this will prepare our kids to contribute to our community as leaders, innovators, workers, but most importantly as thoughtful citizens.
• 55:30
  SPEAKER_04: So our role on the school board is to continue to support that work while also working on behalf of students who may not feel that the school system is working for them at this time.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_04: That means identifying areas for improvement for those who are struggling.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_04: It means working with the county commissioners and advocating to the state to make sure that our teachers have the means have the means to both stay in the county and in the field of education.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_04: It means following through on the necessary facility upgrades and also means pushing back as much as possible on laws that undermine our ability to do this important work.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_04: But the school board also has to be nimble because we can't predict everything coming down the line.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_04: Certainly, the school board didn't predict COVID-19.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_04: Certainly they didn't predict Helene.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_04: So the key for a school board member and what I'll do if I'm elected is I promise to listen deeply to the community perspectives when making decisions and making them with local families and teachers in mind, first and foremost.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_06: Chad Cole.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_00: All right, as we close out, I just want to leave you with something simple.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, this election is ultimately about the students and the future here of Wataga County.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want every child in our school system, regardless of where they live, what their background is, or what path they choose after graduation, I want them to have the opportunity to succeed no matter what.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_00: If they want to go into underwater knitting, I want them to be ready for that as they go into it.
• 56:53
  SPEAKER_00: That starts with strong academics and high expectations, though.
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it also means supporting our teachers, our bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, counselors, admin, maintenance staff, and other employees who make our schools work every single day.
• 57:06
  SPEAKER_00: It means strengthening our CTE and creating partnerships with local businesses, tradespeople, agricultural community, healthcare providers, uh, public safety agencies so students can see the opportunities that exist beyond the classroom.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_00: It means remembering that every dollar in our school budget came from someone who worked hard to earn it.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_00: And we should spend those dollars carefully, transparently, and where they can make the greatest difference for our students.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it means listening.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_00: Board members shouldn't arrive believing they already have every single answer.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_00: I believe they should ask questions, study the facts, listen to the parents, the educators, and then have the courage to make decisions based on what is best for our students and our community.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: Watauga County has given a great deal to me and my family.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you know my family, you know what I mean.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_00: So running for this office is one way I can give something back to our community.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_00: If given the opportunity to serve, I will bring a willingness to listen.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_00: I bring my experience, my work ethic, and a local perspective to the Board of Education.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank y'all again, the the chambers, for putting this thing on, for Appalachian Theater for hosting this.
• 58:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I just uh just want to say, you know, God bless this great school system in this county that we live in right now.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_06: Ladies and gentlemen, these are the candidates for school board in Watauka County: Yolanda Adams, Ellen Lamont, Chad Cole, and Megan Caim Kornhauser.
• 58:30
  SPEAKER_01: That concludes this special edition of Mind Your Business.
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_01: Subscribers of our podcast will see these full archives for each of our individual candidate interviews, as well as the full archives of our in-person forum broken down by race, all available on your podcast platform of choice, a benefit of being a subscriber.
• 58:47
  SPEAKER_01: You can also visit Boonechamber.com for a link to our Mind Your Business archives, and we'll have a post on our main page with full access to these archives as well.
• 58:56
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks to the staff and volunteers of the Boone Area and Blueing Rock Chambers of Commerce for making this forum possible.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_01: We thank you for your interest in our local elections.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_01: We encourage you to cast your ballot and have your voice heard in this 2026 general election.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm David Jackson.