news
Haywood school board race draws 12 candidates
Danya Vanhook
Andy Hall
Jim Francis
BY HANNAH MCLEOD STAFF WRITER dozen candidates are running to fill five open seats on the Haywood County School Board. Among them, four are current members of the board, including Chairman Chuck Francis. His opponent for chairman, Daran McAdams, recently decided to drop out of the race, though his name will still appear on the ballot. Running for the Waynesville seat are Andy Hall, Danya Vanhook, Logan Nesbitt and current board member Jim Harley Francis, who is vice chairman of the board. Ann Barrett, who currently holds one of two Waynesville seats, is not running for re-election. Running for the Beaverdam District are Magnolia Brown, Danny Miller, Tausha Forney, Randy McDowell and current board members David Burnette and Ronnie Clark. These candidates will be featured in next week’s issue of The Smoky Mountain News. Two seats are available in both the Waynesville and Beaverdam districts.
board to assure that the needs of all of our students and faculty are met and to ensure that HCS are a diverse and inclusive place to learn and grow. Jim Francis: I am a product of the HCS System, graduating from Tuscola High School in 1989. My father, mother and sister also attended HCS. Many of my family members have taught in our school system. My grandfather was a teacher and principal. My mother and sister were teachers in Haywood County as well. Being from a long line of educators I have a passion for education. I truly believe education is an equalizer and can give all students the opportunity to succeed in life. I am running for re-election because I want to continue to be a part of the board and to keep working on the challenges the board faces from the current pandemic, cyber-attacks and relocation of the Central Office. I also have two daughters in our school system, Katelyn a sophomore at Tuscola High School and Kallie a sixth grader at Waynesville Middle School, which means I truly have a vested interest in seeing the success of our schools. My desire is to provide the highest quality of education for all students of Haywood County. Danya Vanhook: I’m the mom of two boys who attend HCS, and I’ve lived and served the community in Haywood County for 15 years. I’m a local attorney, former District Court Judge (2009-2011), and Maggie Valley Alderman (2011). I’ve also worked on the Haywood County Special Olympics Executive Board (2018), been an AYSO Soccer Coach (2016-17) and Mountaineer Little League Baseball Team Mom and Bookkeeper (2015-16), and I’ve been on the Haywood County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) since 2018. I’m a proud product of NC Public Schools. As the Scripture says: “To whom
much has been given, much shall be required,” Luke 12:48, so I’m driven to serve our community, and I’ve demonstrated that over my history and record of service. I’m running for the Haywood County School Board to continue serving our community and to advocate for all children in Haywood County. As President John F. Kennedy said, “Children are our most precious resource.” If elected, I have a two-point priority plan that I’ll focus on in my first 100 days in office. First, I’ll help “End the Digital Divide in Rural America” by improving access to Broadband High-speed Internet in Haywood County, because our children deserve every opportunity we can give them to succeed! Second, I’ll help “Foster Unity and End Divisive Bias” in our community by stopping the polarization of issues and helping us come together as one Haywood. After all, we are stronger together and our children deserve for us to come together for them. Chuck Francis: I want to continue with the hard work and dedication of our school system. They have become a top school system throughout the state, and I would like to continue that progress toward becoming number one. I have a long history with HCS, I’ve been on the board now for 20 years, the chairman now for 16. I started out because I had three kids in the school system, and now they’re grown and I’m starting all over again with the grandkids as they enter the school system. Logan Nesbitt: I am running for the school board because I have two young kids in HCS, a wife that works for HCS, and my childhood consisted of parents and grandparents that were employed by HCS. So I am just trying to be a good citizen, do my part and volunteer for the position.
Smoky Mountain News
October 7-13, 2020
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What is your connection to Haywood County Schools and why are you running for Haywood School Board? Andy Hall: First of all, I have a son who just graduated in 2020 from Tuscola High School, and I have a son who just began seventh grade at Waynesville Middle School. Obviously, as a parent, what is happening in our school system is of great concern to me. My interest goes beyond just being a parent, though. As a member of this community, I want to see it thrive for years to come, and having a strong school system that operates under the premise that the needs of our students and faculty come first is a fundamental building block for the community as a whole 6 to be successful. I’m running for school
How well do you think Haywood County Schools has responded to the Coronavirus Pandemic? If applicable, what would you have liked to have seen done differently? Andy Hall: COVID-19 has been a bad situation all the way around. There are so many unknowns, that it’s impossible to know exactly what to do at any given point in time. The school system is largely at the mercy of the mandates that come out of Raleigh, especially when it comes to scheduling. I do, however, believe that planning could have been better for distance education that began in August, especially given the fact that it was quite obvious for several months that distance learning would be a large part of getting the kids back in school. Better safeguards could have been in place to avoid the loss of a full week due to the system being hacked as well. Jim Francis: The Coronavirus Pandemic has been a tremendous challenge for the School Board. The board has had a multitude of meetings discussing the issue and trying to make sure we are doing what is best for our students, teachers, and staff. The difficulty is that this is an unprecedented event and it seems like things change every time we turn around. Unfortunately, there is not a road map as to how to navigate our way through a pandemic. I feel like the current board has been very deliberate in looking at all the information that has been available at the time to make the best decisions we could. It has been very difficult because there have been so many mandates and limitations that the board has had to adhere to. I understand no matter what decision we make it will have an impact on everyone, for some it may be a good thing and for others it might not be the ideal situation. We must all work together to make the best of this situation. I feel like safety is a top priority and we need to make sure we are bringing our students, teachers, and staff back to school in the safest possible way. There is still a great deal of concern in our community for the safety of the students and staff. We must do our best to make sure that everyone is comfortable with the transition back to school. Danya Vanhook: HCS has really stepped up to the plate in its Coronavirus Pandemic Response. I’m glad that they took my advice and did what I recommended at the school board meeting on July 22, 2020, when I suggested that we begin with remote learning and transition into a Plan B, “Return to Learning” scenario. Now our administrators and staff have had 2 months from the date of that decision to put all the appropriate safety protocols in place to ensure our student and teacher safety. I’m paraphrasing Dr. Bobby Rogers when I say that I am extremely proud to be working on this issue with the great people and leaders in Haywood County. We are such a tight-knit community, and we have and are going to continue to stand up for one another, reach out to help one another, and have one another’s backs with all the issues stemming from COVID-19: such as the school system and staff providing meals and nutrition, the churches providing free internet, and private businesses such as Smoky Mountain Sk8way, providing a pri-
