SALISBURY — At the end of the first week of filing for election to the Rowan-Salisbury School System Board of Education, three candidates, including two incumbents, had filed for the three open seats.

Kathy McDuffie Sanborn filed on Thursday for reelection to the eastern seat on the school board. Sanborn has been on the school board since August of 2023, when she was appointed after the eastern seat was left vacant by Brian Hightower’s resignation. Sanborn challenged Hightower for the same seat during the 2020 election and lost by a narrow margin of 1,172 votes. Sanborn received 48.66 percent to Hightower’s 50.62 percent.

Lynn Marsh filed on Friday, July 5 for reelection to the southeastern seat on the school board. Marsh has been on the board since September of 2021, when she was appointed after the southeastern seat was left vacant by Susan Cox’s resignation. She was subsequently reelected to the position in 2022, when she defeated challengers Brad Jenkins and Michael Chapman. Marsh won with 40.61 percent of the vote to Jenkins’ 33.18 percent and Chapman’s 25.82 percent.

Jonathan Barbee filed for election to the Salisbury seat on the school board. The 2024 election will represent Barbee’s second foray into the board of education elections, as he challenged Alisha Byrd-Clark for the position in 2020. Barbee lost with 47.98 percent of the vote to Byrd-Clark’s 51.3 percent. Barbee recently ran in the Republican primary for the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, which has two open seats in the upcoming election. Barbee placed in fourth, behind incumbents Mike Caskey and Craig Pierce, who placed in first and second respectively, and challenger Angie Spillman.

Byrd-Clark still occupies the Salisbury seat on the board and currently serves as the chair of the board. She is the Democratic nominee for District 76 of the North Carolina House of Representatives.

The filing period for the school board election was changed with the passing of House Bill 31 in May. Filing will close on Friday, June 19, at noon.

Also included in HB 31 was a referendum that will be placed on the ballot in the upcoming election, asking voters if the election for the Rowan-Salisbury School System Board of Education should be a partisan race.