SALISBURY — In a short question-and-answer forum Monday night at the Norvell Theater, 11 of the 13 candidates vying for the five available seats on the Rowan-Salisbury Schools Board of Education did their best to share their thoughts with the nearly 200 in attendance.

Questions were submitted in advance to the Salisbury Post, which joined with the Rowan Chamber of Commerce and Catawba College in sponsoring the event.

Voters are able to vote for a candidate for all five of the seats, something candidate Kevin Jones, currently a board member, pointed out.

The full list of candidates and the seat they are running for are: Jones, Seat 1, North; Rashid H. Muhammad, Seat 1, North; Eddie Spillman, Seat 1, North; Ruth Marohn, Seat 2, South; Dean Hunter, Seat 2, South; Ebony Rivers Boyd, Seat 4, West; Jimmy Greene Jr., Seat 4, West; Myra Tannehill, Seat 4, West; Sabrina Harris, Seat 6, Special; W. Jean Kennedy, Seat 6, Special; Michael C. Chapman, Seat 7, Southeast; Lynn G. Marsh, Seat 7, Southeast; and Brad Jenkins, Seat 7, Southeast.

Spillman and Tannehill were not in attendance at the forum.

Each candidate had a brief moment to introduce themselves, and then because the forum had a time limit and the candidates are numerous, only three questions were asked.

The first question was whether or not the candidates had spent an entire day in one of the district’s schools recently, and if so, what they thought. If not, would they commit to doing so if elected.

Jones said he had in fact recently spent a day at Erwin Middle School, and he “told the teacher I don’t know how she does it every day,” but said he spent the day working with students on practical issues and believes in the schools. He said support remains essential.

Mohammad said he had only spent part of a day in a school but was impressed by what he saw both from students and staff.

“I’m not sure how we would spend an entire day with real jobs,” said current Board of Education Chairman Hunter. “And I’m not very impressed by some things I’ve seen in the schools, but I can say I saw a lot of engagement, and that’s a good thing.”

“I’m still teaching so yes, I’ve spent a full day there,” said Marohn. “I love the schools and the students and I’m not sure you could get me out of the schools even if I end up on the board.”

Chapman noted he worked in the high school last year “and the discipline was out of control. The phones, the disruptions and distractions, the cursing and threatening teachers was out of hand.” He said he saw no evidence of a recently passed new disciplinary approach having been instituted.

Marsh, a retired RSS teacher and current board member after having been appointed to fill a vacant spot last year, said “at least once a week I spend time in the classrooms with the student teachers” she is educating, and that she sees her role on the board as being one of supporting the staff to help the students.

“I have not,” said Jenkins, “but I believe each one of our children has incredible value, and not every kid is meant for college, which means we need to improve and strengthen our vocational opportunities, because as I said, we need to see every child’s potential.”

Rivers-Boyd said as a former teacher she also sees “the potential in the students, the teachers and the staff every day. They live up to our motto of service every day.”

“I have spent time at schools,” said Greene, who is, in his “down time,” a coach at one of the schools. “And if you want to know the heartbeat of a school, go to the students. I think it is essential that we know each student’s needs and work to fulfill them.”

“Students will be what you make of them,” said Kennedy, who spent more than 30 years as a teacher. “If you see nothing, they will be nothing, but if you see a jewel, they will shine.”

“I have spent time in the schools and I saw engaged students,” said Harris. “I am very excited about the new leadership (referring to new school Superintendent Dr. Kelly Withers) and I have talked to the students about my being hearing impaired, and about the value of listening — and then I listened to them.”

Asked about how the schools could address the increasing competition in the world of education, with private schools and home schooling providing more and more choices, every candidate mentioned getting parents more involved. One after another, each candidate in their own way came back to saying parents need to be included, involved, listened to and encouraged to participate with and on behalf of their children, even if they are homeschooling their child.

The final question was how each candidate felt about the renewal program in the schools given the fact that test scores have fallen, somewhat precipitously, in the last year or two.

According to a description on the school system’s website, “As the state’s only Renewal School System, Rowan-Salisbury is committed to redesigning education to create authentic and personalized learning experiences for all students through teacher-led flexibility in curriculum, budgeting, hiring, staffing and scheduling. Research shows that ranking students through only letters, numbers and test scores limits their ability to shine, and we’ve seen children suffer under one-size-fits-all laws. That’s why at Rowan-Salisbury, we’re breaking the mold and redesigning education to focus on every student’s success.”

“COVID can only be to blame for so long,” said Chapman. “The renewal program needs to be seriously reviewed at the least.”

“No school deserves F, D, E, et cetera,” said Marsh. “We are re-examining how schools are scored. I believe renewal can work, if we really commit.”

“It seems to be a failed endeavor,” said Jenkins. “What is that old saying, about repeating things over and over and expecting different results? Maybe some parts of it can be useful, but if there are failing marks, well, I’m old school, I think we should be teaching kids, not indoctrinating them.”

“Look at the metrics of growth,” said Rivers-Boyd. “There are aspects of renewal that work. The holistic approach and the flexibility. We need to hold on to those.”

“I think COVID killed it,” said Greene. “I think we are playing catch up. I don’t know if we can completely dispose of all parts, like the flexibility, but we need to get back to teaching some basic life skills.”

“Renewal has been restructured and changes made, but there is a directive for every student; they are all on different roads,” said Kennedy.

“I’ve studied the renewal plan and can see where it is attempting to go,” said Harris. “With all the changes in leadership, some of the balls were dropped. This is one of those. The goal I know is the success of each child, but…”

“It has been very difficult the last several years in education in Rowan,” said Jones. “We have not had the chance to reap the benefits of the program. I think we can make this work. I think the local control is essential, but we need to do a better job implementing it.”

“I agree, stability in the leadership could make renewal successful,” said Mohammad.

“School grades need to change,” said Hunter, pointing out that comparisons between schools are not always equal. “I am not a fan of COVID and blaming it, as evidenced by the fact that this district put our students back in schools before anyone else. There have been tremendous changes in our top leadership the last few years and that, in part, answers why renewal has not worked.”

“I think we need county-wide consistency,” said Marohn. “Our students are growing, and we need to make sure at least the basics are the same across the board.”

In closing, all candidates thanked the sponsors and the number of residents in attendance, and Harris made a point of thanking the planners for making it possible for her to hear all that was going on and to actively participate in the forum.