New chapter for SCS Board

After placing their hands on Bibles and taking oaths, three community members joined the Board of Education for Sampson County Schools to start a new chapter in local education.

Following an March election with six candidates, Eleanor N. Bradshaw, Sandra Faye Carroll, and Glenn O’Neal Faison are looking forward to their four-year terms on the board. Tim Register, Tracy Dunn and Patrick Usher decided not to file for reelection, which left vacancies on the board.

“I am proud to be a member of the Sampson School Board,” said Bradshaw, a Clinton native who decided to join the board after spending more than 10 years as the Register of Deeds. “I hope that all of us can make a positive impact on the lives of children and put them first.”

Carroll, a retired educator from Roseboro, expressed how she’s going to make decisions in the best interest of students. She educated students for four decades and is ready to continue to make contributions to local education by being a member of the board.

“I will vote my head and my heart,” Carroll said. “I will vote what is best for all the students in Sampson County Schools.”

Faison is the founder of Project Outreach, a nonprofit that provides academic and life skill enrichment to youths. He is a native of Turkey and is a product of Sampson County Schools.

“I’m ready and I know it’s going to be a lot of work because of the coronavirus (COVID-19),” Faison said. “You have three new members with different ideas, but if everyone is on the same page to serve every district and every household, I think we’ll be OK. That’s pretty much been my sermon. I’ve been telling everybody that we have to give these children the best education they can safely, to give the staff the best resources to teach these children safely and to keep these parents engaged.”

During the recent Oath of Office ceremony administered by Clerk of Court Chris Fann, the new board members were also joined by Dr. Leslie Stewart Hobbs Jr., who was also sworn in as the interim superintendent. Board Chair Kim Schmidlin provided a welcome to Hobbs and her new colleagues who will making important decisions during the virus pandemic.

“We do have a lot ahead of us and of course, education has never looked this way before,” Schmidlin said. “We’re all facing tremendous challenges in terms of how we bring our students and our teachers safely back to school, how we reopen schools and how we educate our students for this coming year. But I have a tremendous amount of confidence with the leadership of Dr. Hobbs and the leadership of this board, we’re going to be able to take that path on.”

She continued and said the members of the Central Office are committed to the task. Hobbs filled a void left by Dr. Eric Bracy, who was selected to become the superintendent of Johnston County Public Schools.

“We know that you’re a native of Sampson county and this feels like home to you,” Schmidlin said. “We’re glad for your willingness to help us. This is a very important time for our school system and we’re grateful for your willingness to step in as our superintendent.”

The moment marked his second time being sworn in as the superintendent. He served from 2003 to 2007. The tenure was one of many leadership roles of his career. He previously served as the interim superintendent of Clinton City Schools in 2018 between the resignation of Dr. Stuart Blount and the hiring of current superintendent Dr. Wesley Johnson.

“I thank you and I appreciate the board for providing me with this opportunity,” Hobbs said to the board and district officials. “I’m going to do the best I can to make this transition as smooth. This is home. It was seventeen years ago that I was sworn in. It was my first superintendent’s job with Sampson County Schools. So, it’s definitely a homecoming. Thank you.”

Hobbs and the new board members will participate in their first few meetings dealing with personnel matters, Thursday, July 16, followed by a board work session, Tuesday, July 21.