The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board has some big decisions to make over the next year. Who should be the next superintendent? How should new boundaries for schools be drawn? We put those questions and others to the nine candidates running for three at-large seats on the board.
You can listen to them all below.
The Candidates
Angela Ambroise
Angela Ambroise is a realtor and president of the Villa Heights Neighborhood Association.
Party affiliation: Democrat
Campaign site: Angela Ambroise for School Board
Janeen Bryant
Janeen Bryant is the current regional director for Leadership for Educational Equity. She taught at CMS’s Briarwood Academy for three years.
Political affiliation: Democrat
Campaign site: janeenbryant.com
Larry Bumgarner
Larry Bumgarner is a retired business owner and West Charlotte graduate. This is his fourth run for school board.
Political affiliation: Unaffiliated
Campaign site: makelivesmatter.com
Elyse Dashew
Elyse Dashew is a co-founder of MeckFUTURE and a co-leader of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public School Friends. This is her second run for school board.
Political affiliation: Democrat
Campaign site: elysedashew.com
Ericka Ellis-Stewart
Ericka Ellis-Stewart is a current CMS at-large board member. She’s the former director of Right Moves for Youth and of the Johnston YMCA. She now works for Mental Health America of the Central Carolinas.
Political affiliation: Democrat
Campaign site: ericka4cmsboard.com
Levester Flowers
Levester Flowers is a Bank of America retiree. He founded the Save Our Schools Community Initiative and ran for city council in 2014.
Political affiliation: Democrat
Campaign site: voteflowers2015.com
Mary McCray
Mary McCray is the current chairwoman of the CMS school board. She was a CMS teacher for many years and served as president of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators.
Political affiliation: Democrat
Campaign site: on Facebook
Jeremy Stephenson
Jeremy Stephenson is a labor and employment lawyer and does pro-bono work for the Council for Children’s Rights.
Political affiliation: Republican
Campaign site: stephensonforschoolboard.com
Amelia Stinson-Wesley
Amelia Stinson-Wesley is a pastor at Purcell United Methodist Church. She served two years on the school board representing southern Mecklenburg County.
Political affiliation: Democrat
Campaign site: ameliastinsonwesley.com
