County residents filled the Mathews High School media center Tuesday night to take the opportunity to speak in favor of their choice to replace Jeanice Sadler on the Mathews County School Board.
In all, 22 people addressed the Mathews County School Board during the hour-long meeting, including five of the nine candidates who applied to fill the vacancy created when Sadler announced in October that she was stepping down from the board because she is moving out of the county.
The school board is expected to make a decision on the interim appointment at its Dec. 14 meeting. The position will be filled for one year, with a special election to be held in November 2022 for the remainder of Sadler’s term.
More than half of the 22 speakers addressing the board during Tuesday’s public hearing spoke out in favor of Lorraine Forrest. Forrest ran for one of two open seats on the school board last month, receiving the third highest vote total behind current school board chair Linda Hodges who was reelected to a third term, and newcomer Bobby Dobson, who was the top vote getter on the ballot.
In addition to receiving 1,813 votes in the November general election, those speaking on Forrest’s behalf pointed to the work she has done in founding and leading the Young Scholastic Achievers’ after-school tutoring program at Antioch Baptist Church, being an active member and officer of the Continental Society as well as her other volunteer efforts. In addition, speakers pointed out that Forrest is a lifelong Mathews resident, graduate of Mathews County Public Schools, that her son is also a product of the school division and her grandson currently attends Mathews Elementary. Her platform included working to implement an ROTC program at MHS and creating new vocational opportunities and internships for county students.
Those speaking out on Forrest’s behalf included two former school board members—Wilnet Willis and Melissa Mason—as well as Peggy Newsome, Julia Forrest, Mary Sampson, Chris Bridge, Molly Broderson, Carroll Jackson, Lori Dusenberry, Alberta Jones and Janice Phillips. Lorraine Forrest also addressed the board herself, indicating that she intends to run for the seat in the 2022 special election, as well as in 2023 for a full four-year term.
“Although I lost [in the November general election], my passion for service has not diminished,” she said.
Samantha Morgan, who was also on the November ballot, was also represented at Tuesday night’s public hearing, with Mike McDonough, Amy Bohannon-Stewart and Mike Walls speaking out in favor of her appointment. Bohannon-Stewart said that Morgan would provide a voice that needs to be heard on the board, that of a parent of a current student in the school division. “You are missing the parent perspective on this current board,” she said.
She also urged the board to avoid supporting a Democrat for the position. “The Democrat Party doesn’t seem like a friend to education,” she said. “They’re the party of endless shutdowns,” school mask mandates, “the party of dangerous and broad vaccine mandates … [and a] refusal to acknowledge natural immunity.”
After Bohannon-Stewart spoke, Hodges clarified that candidates for school board cannot associate themselves with any party.
While McDonough spoke out in favor of Morgan and her commitment to serve on the board, he added that “I don’t think you can pick a bad one …. they all seem to have the best interest of the Mathews County School System” at heart.
Also receiving support at the public hearing was Dr. Marianne Gibbs. A registered occupational therapist and educational speaker, she holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership with a specialization in Curriculum and Instruction. She is also the creator of Write Out of the Box, a website designed to support the development of fine motor skills in children.
Speaking in favor of Gibbs were Suzanne Melin and Jacqueline Wilton. Gibbs also took the opportunity to speak, saying she was “so impressed that there are this many people here” looking at the standing-room-only crowd. She said she will fully support whoever is chosen, as well as the rest of the board.
Other candidates speaking on their own behalf were Mark Truscott, Brandy Larson and Sharon Frye. Three others who applied for the vacancy—Bonnie Betz, James Anthony Pavik Sr. and Daniel Ethan Schroeder—were not represented during the public comment period.
One other person addressed the board. David Jones, who was elected to the Mathews County Board of Supervisors along with Walls, did not speak in favor of an individual candidate, but asked school board members to make sure they find someone they can work with. “Our schools are in deep need of repair,” he said. “Working together as a team … is key.
“I’m going to expect you to work together,” Jones said. “We’ve got to get back to a standard that’s top of the line.”