I was amazed at the way the Rowan-Salisbury Schools Board of Education interview process was handled for the recently vacant seat of Mrs. Cox. It was obvious that they had already picked who the seat would go to as they asked candidate Dr. Marsh twice as many questions and spoke with her twice as long as Candidate Billings.

There were six other candidates that were not even considered. I’m sure that both of these folks are great people, however Dr. Lynn Marsh’s answers were troubling. Dr. Marsh has spent most of her adult life ingrained in public education. When asked about her knowledge of home schooling and why parents have pulled their children out of public education, Dr. Marsh said it was “probably because of the pandemic,” or maybe the “students were always in trouble,” “parents might have a personal beef” and that they were “missing socialization.”

She kept trying to compare home education to charter and private schools. She had no clue about home education. There are currently 114,910 families in NC with registered home schools; 2,086 here in Rowan County. She did not know any real reasons why parents feel that public education has failed their children.

Dr. Marsh did say numerous times that she would be a great cheerleader for the school system. Well, that is not her job! Her responsibilities as well as all of the board members should be to listen to and represent the parents of the students and the taxpayers within their district.

I don’t need anyone to indoctrinate me to the school board’s agenda. She would make a great administrator, but I do not need to be told how great the system is, because right now it needs some out of the box solutions to many issues.

Just my three cents worth.

— Michael Chapman

Salisbur