Republican board of education candidates met at The Kids’ Clubhouse in Kernersville on Wednesday to answer questions from the community. Conservative Women of Forsyth County and the WS/FCS Parent Support Group hosted this forum. 

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Love at the Kernersville Honeybee Festival

A new romantic comedy by playwright Scott Icenhower, running now through Feb. 22 at Stained Glass Playhouse in Winston-Salem. 

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Major themes of the night included fostering more parental involvement in decision-making, revising lessons and materials to eliminate “DEI” and “woke” teaching, overhauling the Code of Conduct for stricter behavioral punishment, and bringing prayer back to school board meetings. 

While the district’s financial crisis was certainly mentioned, the Republican forum focused on it less than the Democrats, who currently hold a 5-4 majority on the board.

Some newcomers took shots at incumbents for their roles in the current financial crisis and elicited responses from current board member Steve Wood. 

There were also more amicable moments, like when Wood brought out a guitar and sang: “They used to pray on the school board/They don’t pray now like they’ve done so many years before/’Cause they voted 6 to 3/That we just don’t need God anymore.” Candidate Jill Berlin asked if he could play at one of her dinner parties. 

Find a breakdown of the school board voting process below, or skip to the next section to find information on each Republican candidate. 

THE ELECTION PROCESS

Thirty-seven candidates filed to compete for the nine board seats — 24 Democrats and 13 Republicans. Six of the incumbent board members decided to run for reelection: Alex Bohannon (D), Trevonia Brown-Gaither (D), Richard Watts (D), Steve Wood (R), Susan Miller (R), and Robert Barr (R). 

Current chair Deanna Kaplan (D) and board members Sabrina Coone (D), and Leah Crowley (R) are not running for another term. 

The candidates are divided into three groups. District 1 covers most of Winston-Salem and elects two members. Since Kernersville residents do not vote on these candidates, they are not included in the overview below. District 2 covers the rest of Forsyth County and elects four members. The remaining three members are considered “at-large” and are elected by the entire county.

State lawmakers voted to stagger school board terms, meaning the District 1 candidate who receives the most votes and the top two District 2 and at-large candidates will serve four-year terms. All others elected will serve two-year terms.

All 12 of the at-large and District 2 Republican candidates participated in the forum. The hosts live-streamed the event on Facebook: click here for parts one, two, three, and four.  

The primary election will be held March 3, with early voting running from February 12-28. The general election is November 3. Find your voting location and a sample ballot by completing this online form.

CANDIDATE INTRODUCTIONS

District 2 Candidates

Susan Miller

• Incumbent — served since 2023
• 23-year veteran of WS/FCS
• Master of Education degree 
• Children graduated from WS/FCS 
• “My top priority will continue to be literacy. Our scores are on the rise, they’ve been on the rise the last few years as I have chaired the curriculum committee. My second priority will be getting rid of the code of conduct.”

Steve Wood 

• Incumbent — served since 2023
• Both he and his children attended WS/FCS schools
• Army veteran 
• “If you could, and you think you should, vote for Wood.”

Robert Barr

• Incumbent — served since 2023
• Attended WS/FCS schools
• Master of Education degree 
• Taught for 14 years 
• Minister
• “You can see different clips of me saying the hard things and representing conservative values. You don’t have to guess what will I do.”

Zachary Hubbard

• Graduated from WS/FCS and has a child currently attending
• Army veteran
• President of Garrett Torney Foundation pairing veterans with service dogs
• Brings a “parent perspective” to the board 
• “We’ve all heard the saying see it and believe it. I’m for transparency. If y’all can see what we’re doing and know why we’re doing it, y’all are going to trust us. There’s no trust right now… If you have questions, find me, ask me, I’ll answer them. Even if you don’t like the answer, I’m going to be honest with you.”

Derrick Hinson

• Graduated from WS/FCS
• Spent 24 years working in Guilford County school system teaching history, recently retired
• Softball, football, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse coach
• Authored the book “Puzzles & Promises: Three Covenants Between God and Man”
• “I will do my diligence as a board member to go item by item, to work through the budget as it comes and practice fiscal accountability. I have 24 years in the public school system, I know those types of relationships and I can do that.”

Jill Nelson Berlin

• Children attended both public and private schools
• Previously a journalist and political contributor on Fox News and MSNBC 
• Owns insurance business and hosts a local radio station show
• Asked to run by senator Dana Caudill Jones and former senator Joyce Krawiec
• “The top four vote-getters are the ones who progress to the [general election]. It’s really easy, write down your top three priorities. I could sit here and brag about myself — you can go online and look it all up — but figure out what your top three priorities are and then vote for the people who align with yours.”

Robert Weiss

• Retired army officer and 25 years of corporate leadership experience 
• Master’s in Business Administration from West Point
• Swimming, rowing, soccer coach 
• “This is my last chapter — I don’t plan on running for anything else. I’ve had a life of service… I’m running for my grandchildren and for my legacy.”

Allen Daniel

• Two children, one who just graduated one who will graduate this year from WS/FCS
• Owns a computer software business specializing in accounting software for 36 years 
• Attends nearly every single board of education meeting and often speaks during public comments
• “I’ve been to most every school board meeting and spoken at a fair number of them so I know this district probably better than anybody who isn’t on the board. So I request your vote to be on the other side of the desk and see if some of my ideas can make a difference.”

James Williams

• The only Kernersville resident running
• Child attended WS/FCS 
• Background in audit and compliance 
• “Our students deserve better. There are 10 candidates up here, some of them have been part of the problem, the rest of us could be part of the solution. Get out and vote, if you don’t vote you can’t complain.”

Tracy Lesser

• Children attended WS/FCS
• Semi-retired, worked 35+ years as a CPA
• “I’m running on the platform of fiscal responsibility, fiscal integrity, and accountability. … I’m a numbers gal, I’m not an educator and I strongly believe this board does need some people with financial backgrounds on it.”

At-Large Candidates

Michael Quiñones

• Current teacher 
• 22nd year as teacher, four years spent at WS/FCS, currently in Davidson county 
• “I’m running because we’re at a crisis point right now. We’ve had kids killed inside of our buildings…and tens of millions of dollars of overspending. The folks on the board still don’t get it, we need improvement.”

Jason Lucero

• Child in WS/FCS
• Has business experience budgeting and controlling finances on a daily basis 
• Frequently attends school board meetings 
• “None of anything we said tonight matters unless you put four of them and either both Michael Quinones and myself or at the very least one of us on [the board], nothing changes, remember that.”

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