Updated as of 12:44 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2022 to include voting data.
Dan Ingle, Charles Parker and Chuck Marsh were elected to the Alamance-Burlington School System Board of Education by 25.02%, 20.09% and 19.09% of the vote respectively.
Five candidates competed for three open seats on the board, which is made up of 7 elected members. The positions are nonpartisan, and terms are 4 years. The winners of this race replaced former board members Allison Gant, Tony Rose and Wayne Beam.
Dan Ingle is a retired town of Elon chief of police and Alamance County commissioner. He previously served in the North Carolina General Assembly House.
Ingle said he is humbled that he won the most votes, and he will do his best for the students of ABSS.
“That means making sure that they come to a safe space, that we provide the best teachers that we can, that we provide them with the education that when they finish up high school they can face the world — learn a trade or go on to higher education,” he said.
Ingle plans to make schools safer by installing cameras in hallways and on the schools’ perimeters to spot intruders and further protect students. He also said he wants to increase the board's ability to be available to parents. In turn, he wants to see increased parent participation.
“In order to enhance the education of these kids, board members [should] reach out to these communities and say, ‘Hey, we're here, go to PTO meetings, be present,’” Ingle said.
Charles Parker is a scientist and laboratory director at Duke University. He said his goals are to enhance school safety, improve communication and transparency from schools to the community, recruit and retain teachers and address learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Upon his win, Parker said he is excited to be a voice for families in Mebane, as he is the only school board member from that city.
“I’m honored that the voters have given me the opportunity to serve as a member of the school board,” Parker said.
He said he is looking forward to working with the superintendent, other members of the board, county commissioners, and the larger ABSS community. He also said with the new Southeast Alamance High School nearing completion and subsequent redistricting, his job is going to be a lot of work.
“We have a real chance to make things better for the students and the county as a whole,” Parker said.
To tackle school safety, Parker wants to set up a district wide task force, which will go from school to school to assess vulnerabilities. He also said he has a plan to train and recruit teachers.
“I want to help make the best education system for every student at every school in our county,” Parker said. “Making sure that the superintendent has the tools to work with principals so that our schools are safe and classrooms are orderly — and it's a good learning environment — I think will go a long way towards keeping teachers.”
To combat learning loss, Parker wants to improve programs, such as summer school, so that students can be caught back up to speed. He said he wants to better leverage data to see which students need what specific help.
“I'm really trained to look at data and make decisions based on it as a scientist,” Parker said. “I could add something there because if you're not trained in that area, it's hard to get a report from an expert and really know how to translate that into policy.”
Chuck Marsh owns a local radio station. Marsh said it is important to him to work with other elected officials, and his background as a small business owner helps him with forming these relationships.
He wants the board to take parents seriously during the public comment section of meetings. Something he said is not happening right now.
“I want to be the voice for parents, give you your voice back and also be an advocate for the children and focus on the children, as opposed to all of the politics that have creeped into our classrooms,” Marsh said.