News

Construction follow-up drives School Board race

By Bill Moss, Published: December 21, 2015

Incumbents running for re-election to the Henderson County School Board cite a big unfinished job as a reason for staying on for another term.

They want to see through the decisions, planning and execution of an ambitious capital construction plan that could top $100 million. Meanwhile, a challenger wants to fight to preserve the historic Hendersonville High School building for classrooms and not another use.
Incumbents Ervin Bazzle, Josh Houston and Rick Wood have filed for re-election, leaving Mary Louise Corn, the career educator and former West Henderson High School principal, as the only incumbent sidelined so far. The filing period for the 2016 election ends at noon Monday.
With the earlier North Carolina primary moving candidate qualifying to December, School Board members have months to think about a campaign. The topic that has drawn the most attention, the fate of Hendersonville High School, may be settled by the time voters make their choice in November 2016. The incumbents all said that decision, plus other construction plans and changes in how schools teach and test, will likely be high on the School Board’s agenda for the next several years.

Here is a look at the candidates who have filed as of Tuesday:

Ervin Bazzle

In his 19th year on the School Board, Ervin Bazzle thought this year might be his last. Then came school construction.
“With some things that are going to occur in next 4 to 6 years that are pretty important in construction as well as changes in some of the curriculum that we have coming I think it’s important that we have some stability and experience,” the longtime chairman said.
“I think the progress we’ve made on school construction and the cooperation with the county I don’t know has been matched anywhere else,” he said. “Plus the stability within our central office but also in the schools. I think we’ve been able to maintain and retain teachers over time and recruit new ones.”
He pointed to the Early College at BRCC and the dual language program at Bruce Drysdale as two achievements, “as well as ability that was shown out of Dana and some of the other schools that have performed extremely well even with the financial limitations that they have.”
He’d like to see teachers get a raise.
“I think the salaries that are paid in this state are woefully short,” he said. “We’ve dropped significantly in the last number of years as far as where we rank as a nation. Our local commissioners have augmented some of that.”
And while the Legislature has moved to raise pay, it has tilted the highest increase to starting teachers. “Our bigger problem has to do with our teachers that have been there longer than five years,” Bazzle said.

Blair Craven

Blair Craven, a Hendersonville native, said the HHS discussion is one topic that inspired him to run for the School Board though not the only one.
“I basically used education to me out of Green Meadows to get me where I am today,” he said. “It’s vitally important. I have a son in first grade at Bruce Drysdale” and two others who will be in school soon. “I think we definitely could use a diverse candidate on the School Board and also someone with kids that are young and going through the school system, as well as people that are from Hendersonville and know the tradition of Hendersonville High School.”
Craven attended Bruce Drysdale Elementary School, Hendersonville Middle School and Hendersonville High School. A graduate of East Carolina University, he is a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch.
On the subject of new school vs. renovation, Craven comes down with many HHS alumni: the 1926 core building and auditorium should be renovated and not abandoned, he said.
“I’m 100 percent for renovation of Hendersonville High School, option 2,” he said. “I believe that tradition is something that’s tangible. It’s not just a word in Webster’s dictionary. I think everybody that went there understands that tradition and appreciates it and respects it and I want my kids to walk those same halls.”
Like Bazzle, Craven points to the Spanish immersion program at Bruce Drysdale and says it ought to be expanded.
A three-sport athlete at HHS, Craven, 36, downplays that part of his background.
“I want to come off as a concerned parent that wants to see real true change and not see things rubberstamped through,” he said. “I really think it’s important to have diversity.”

Burton H. Harris

A retired pediatric surgeon, Burton H. Harris says his experience coaching has proved to him that kids here are smart. He just wants them to aim higher.
“An important part of this is I’ve been coaching the golf teams at West Henderson High School for the last four years, so I’m at least somewhat familiar with the system and with the students and with their parents,” he said. “What I see is that without spending any more money, by shifting emphasis, we ought to be able to produce a better product for the kids in the school system than we have now.”
“The first thing that I noticed is the relatively low horizon that they have for continuing their education. It surprises me, because these kids are just as smart as any other kids I’ve seen anywhere else in the country. It’s just their horizon needs resetting.”
Harris was discharged from the Army Reserves as a brigadier general in 1996 after 30 years.
“Part of my service was in infantry, part in aviation and part medicine,” he said.
Running for School Board “is my way to give back,” he said. “I’ve been very fortunate to give back. My parents taught me to give back and this is my way.”
As for school construction, he said he would need to consume stacks of reports on engineering and cost before deciding.
“I know that there are two sides — the Hendersonville alumni and the people that have to spend the money now,” he said. “Both sides seem to have a reasonable argument. I’m not close enough to the situation to know the facts. But I would say what needs to be worked out is a compromise. There’s a lot on both sides.”
He’s read that North Carolina tossed out the Common Core curriculum in favor of a state version.
“Always,” he said when asked if he’d like to see more decisions made locally. “To me the best government is the smallest government closest to home.”
“The real question about my candidacy I think is going to be, ‘You weren’t born here and you didn’t grow up here.’ That’s true. Blame my parents,” he said. “But when I look at a seven-member School Board it seems to be that a new perspective from someone coming in from a different area might be worthwhile. … I’m not running against any of the other candidates. I’m running for what I could add to the School Board.”

Josh Houston

Josh Houston won a seat on the board four years ago with the strong support of the Republican Party, which for two straight elections has encouraged single-shot voting for one candidate. Hardly a partisan bomb thrower, Houston has nonetheless pushed for more openness. When the board voted to give schools Superintendent David Jones a $26,000 raise, Houston forced the vote into the open and cast the only no vote.
“I enjoyed the first term,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot. I had a lot of thoughts coming in about what it was like. Some of those have been true. I took part in all the building discussion. I would like to see that completed. Some have been easier than others, obviously. I’d like to see that all the way through. We’ve been discussing it the whole time I’ve been on the board.”
“I feel like I have helped bring more transparency to the board … with a lot more open budgeting process.”
The controversy over Jones’s 18 percent pay hike in September 2013 led to the revelation that School Board members’ contact information was not on the school system’s website. The board voted immediately to add them, on Houston’s motion. “That brought up a lot of conversation with parents that wasn’t happening before,” he said.
“It wasn’t a matter of how they spent the money,” he said. “I just felt like they needed to be more open in the process for us to be able to vote on the budget. The school system has been very good at accommodating that too.”
Houston is the father of two young children — one in kindergarten and one in fourth grade. Like Craven, he counts that as an asset.
“As a parent I think it’s a good idea to be on the board and hear what my children come home with,” he said, “as far as testing, kind of what they’re going through. The school visits we make (as a School Board) I think is one of the greatest things we do, especially at the elementary level. I ask them what time they get on the bus, what they’re eating for lunch and why.”

Rick Wood

Rick Wood led the charge for renovation of HHS. The board’s recommendation for that option came in a rare 4-3 vote, with Bazzle breaking the tie. A decision on construction is pending before the Board of Commissioners. Wood said he wants to participate in the planning that the School Board would do for new schools or renovations.
“I feel like I’ve made a positive contribution,” he said. “I’m still enthusiastic about it. So far my health has been good. I feel like with my background and my experience on the board I feel like I’ve learned a lot. I feel like have been dependable. To date I haven’t missed a single board meeting in seven years.”
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve on the school board for two terms,” he added in a statement. “I am seeking re-election because I want to see the successes of our school system continue and I believe my experience on the board will allow continuity in facing the challenges of the future. My goal is to work with the other board members to make decisions that would have a positive impact on student performance. Thanks to the wonderful staff of teachers, support personnel and administrators, we have been able to maintain our outstanding academic performance."