A version of this story first appeared in WFAE Education Reporter James Farrell's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get newsletters from WFAE straight to your inbox.
If you wonder whether the ongoing turmoil in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools will lead to a shakeup on the school board, you’ll have to wait: CMS board elections aren’t on the ballot this year.
But school board races are in other area counties, where regional growth and partisan friction are contributing to some contentious school board races and a pair of significant bond referenda. Highlights below. (And if you can’t get enough of The Ongoing Turmoil, check out this page that my colleague Palmer Magri and I put together. It lays out the whole controversy, starting in March 2025.)
Cabarrus County school board
Three seats are contested on the seven-member board, which currently has a 5-2 Republican majority. But two incumbents, Democrat Sam Treadaway and Republican Shannon Lancaster, are not seeking re-election.
Incumbent Pam Escobar, a Democrat, wants to keep her seat. She's competing against five challengers for the top three vote totals: Republicans William Barbee, Robert Kirk and Bubba Hartsell and Democrats Courtney Steinberg and Mishell Williams.
It’s only the second partisan school board election in Cabarrus County, and it comes amid potential political change: As my colleague Steve Harrison reported last week, this historically red county is showing a hint of blue as Mecklenburg County’s growth spills into neighboring counties.
A Republican sweep would mean an all-GOP board. If the Democrats win, their party would gain one new seat.
Cabarrus’ school board has dealt with its own friction in the past year. Its budget process was particularly tense, as school officials cited the need to keep up with Cabarrus County’s growth and rising operational costs. At one point, county commissioners refused to hear its budget proposal. The budget that commissioners did approve was for far less than what the district wanted.
Cabarrus County Schools also faces a Title IX investigation and lawsuits from parents over transgender students’ use of bathrooms. Some school board candidates have campaigned on the issue.
Cabarrus County school bonds
Cabarrus County’s growth means something else its Mecklenburg neighbors know well: Votes on bonds to pay for new school construction. Cabarrus has two referenda on the ballot: $340 million for projects at Cabarrus County and Kannapolis City Schools and a $60 million referendum for Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. (Kannapolis straddles the Cabarrus-Rowan line.)
The K-12 bonds would fund a $140 million replacement for Central Cabarrus High School and $45 million for renovations and maintenance projects across several other schools. In Kannapolis City Schools, they would pay for additions to AL Brown High School and Jackson Park Elementary as well as $35 million in other school projects. The community college bonds would fund a new $52.5 million Workforce Innovation Center and additional building renovations.
Of course, passage of one or both would result in property tax increases. This calculator can help you figure out how big those would be. An example: The owner of a $400,000 home would pay about $200 more per year if voters approve both. If only the K-12 bonds pass, the same owner would pay about $170 more.
The tax increases would take effect over time beginning as early as July 1, 2027, although the budget process and construction timelines would probably push them back to July 2028.
Gaston County school board
Gaston County Schools made headlines throughout the spring and summer as the district grappled with its own funding challenges and a tense budget process with the county Board of Commissioners.
School board and county commission meetings were filled with residents frustrated over general funding issues, a mid-year budget shortfall that required a bailout from the county, layoffs and a controversial proposal to close W.B. Beam Intermediate School (which didn't happen).
Commissioners initially approved a flat budget for the district, then provided an additional $5 million — far less than the district’s requested $11.3 million.
That’s the backdrop to this year’s election, in which five of nine school board seats are in play. It’s also Gaston County Schools’ first-ever partisan race, and both parties are fielding candidates for all five seats.
In the at-large race, Democrat Brenda Eskridge is challenging incumbent Dot Cherry, a Republican and the board’s vice chair. For the Dallas Township seat, Democrat Debra Gunnings-Johnson faces the board’s Republican chair, Josh Crisp. In the Riverbend Township, Democrat Barbara Walls is running against incumbent Republican A.M. Stephens.
In one sign that voters want change, someone new will take the Gastonia Township seat after newcomer and Democrat Chéz Adams ousted incumbent Lee Dedmon in the primary. Adams faces Republican challenger Tim Taylor.
And in South Point Township, Republican Tod Kinlaw is trying to keep his seat against Democratic challenger David Gain-Tang Chee. Kinlaw drew protests and faced calls to resign this year after he made social media comments that referred to Islam as a “death cult.”
Union County school board
More change is on the way for the county to Charlotte’s east: Union, where vacancies and the March primaries have already shuffled the deck.
Board Chair Jimmy Bention Sr., a Republican, declined to seek re-election, leaving his at-large seat vacant. District 4 school board member and Republican Sandra Greene filed to leave her seat and run at large — but lost in the primary. Linda Robinson, who beat Greene, will now face off against Democrat Alexis Stadler for Bention’s vacant seat.
Greene’s decision to run for the at-large seat leaves a vacancy in District 4. There, Democrat Brittany Cabuno is running against Republican Stephen Smith. In District 6, Republican board member Kathy Heintel declined to seek re-election. Republican Brandi Smith and Democrat Evan Metaxatos seek her seat.
District 3 offers stability: Incumbent Republican Barry Tucker is running unopposed. Still, no matter what, three incumbents will be gone this year from a board with an 8-1 Republican majority, which means an opportunity for Democrats to cut into GOP control.
Union County Schools has also endured its fair share of upheaval. The school board has been at odds with the county commission since 2025, starting with a public dispute over teacher salary supplements.
This past budget cycle, the county offered the school district nearly $4 million for teacher raises. But commissioners wanted the school board to sign an agreement that would direct the money only to classroom teachers and teacher aides — a point of contention in 2025. School board members accused the county of a lack of trust and rejected the funding, even as residents questioned the cuts of media coordinator and crossing guard positions.
Still, UCPS has a lot to celebrate even with the squabbling over funding: For the second year in a row, the district finished atop the state in test scores.
