Questionnaire Responses – Charlotte Mizelle Lloyd

1 – What are your unique life/occupational experiences you believe will bring a different and important perspective to the Watauga County School Board?

Some of my life experiences have included raising two children in the public school system here in North Carolina. My Catherine and Matthew have gone on to lead successful careers and have raised their own families in the public school system. They have all attended North Carolina colleges as well. I am a Guardian ad Litem with the North Carolina Court system where I work as an advocate for children. This has given me insight into problems that children face when they are in troubled homes filled with violence, neglect, poverty, drugs and alcohol. My work career was in healthcare and I did some college level teaching in Laboratory Medicine programs. I graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

2 – What do you consider to be the most pressing issue facing Watauga County Schools and how will you address this issue if elected?

After many years of teachers lining up to teach in the Watauga School System, we are having trouble recruiting and keeping teachers due to the high cost of housing in our area. Teachers still want to teach up here because it is one of the best systems in the state. But they are struggling to find appropriate housing at an affordable price. This will take efforts by our County Commissioners and hopefully some relief from the state. Another problem is that North Carolina has dropped from 26^th to 45^th in teacher pay in the United States in recent years. That is inexcusable. The state has to improve teacher pay to attract and maintain the qualified workforce the state will need to remain a business, financial and manufacturing leader. It is short sighted to skimp on teacher and staff salaries! This is especially true after the isolation of the Covid Pandemic and on-line learning.

3 – Do you believe the Watauga County Board of Commissioners provides adequate funding for Watauga County’s public schools? Please explain.

Several of our school buildings are in need of renovation and more. The new Valle Crusis (sic) Elementary School construction is under way. This is something I will want to look into more thoroughly to see what else can be done to help from all our resource possibilities. This goes for researching how to locate appropriate housing to attract and keep excellent teachers and other school staff.

4 – If you could only increase Watauga County’s public school spending in one area, what would it be and why?

This question is a hard one. I would champion teacher pay or housing subsidy in whatever way we can to enable them to come to our very fine school system. Our children deserve the best education we can give them and it begins with motivated teachers who love inspiring kids to learn and follow their career dreams. I have a special heart for vocational technical education programs for kids who are not college bound. We need to educate electricians, auto mechanics, plumbers, etc. who can go to work after graduation with real skills and knowledge of their chosen trade.

5 – Do you support or oppose all/none/some of the ‘Parent’s Bill of Rights’ enacted for public schools by the state legislature in August 2023 (SB 49)? Please explain.

The latest edition of the Parents Bill of Rights is set to make sure that parents have access to a huge amount of information regarding their children and the running of our schools. Administering all of it will be a challenge at times. But I believe our Superintendent is up to the task of administering it. She brings a lot of good experience to Watauga County.

6 – Do you support or oppose the “Moms for Liberty” organization and activities related to public schools? Please explain.

The “Moms for Liberty” organization appears to be a very conservative group. We aren’t running a religious or church school, but rather a public school where we have to treat all students with dignity and fairness. Our students come from many religions or no religion at all. They come from multiple ethnic backgrounds and from all over the United States. So, I wouldn’t want to lend a lot of support to any one group who want to restrict teaching factual history of our country or of the world, factual science, etc. However, I would listen to any parent group in an effort to gather all the facts and information that goes into making decisions for our children.

7 – What are your ideas/proposals for increasing public participation with Watauga’s schools?

Our School Board meetings are posted in the paper and on local radio stations. I would poll parents for ways they would prefer to get notices of our meetings. Parents are busy. I understand that. I would talk to other school systems to see what they have done to entice more parental participation. Given that we do have a really good school system in Watauga County, I believe many parents are mostly satisfied with how their children are being educated and cared for. They also know that a lot is being done for their safety when they go to the office and see how carefully locked down it is for the student and staff safety.