School Board Accomplishments

In 2016, I was asked by members of the community to run for School Board after attending years of Board and committee meetings as well as following the facilities bond request, along with being the President of two PTOs.

I ran in 2016 and again in 2018 to:

• Create transparency with online detailed financials and live-streamed meetings
• Complete the $54 million bond projects
• Offer school choice for our families
• Realign students to their neighborhood schools
• Create a policy so that siblings can stay together during realignment
• Rebuild trust with the community and the County Commissioners

Our Board accomplished all of those goals and much more.

Our Board has also:

• Led UCPS to #1 in academics in NC
• Returned invocation to Board meetings
• Supported in-person learning
• Provided a nurse in every school as 10 schools did not have full time nurses
• Increased teacher supplements
• Raised hourly wages
• Defended mask optional
• Addressed literacy in the elementary schools
• Made decisions that keep students in school
• Increased academic offerings for all students

The last almost two years have been difficult for our students, staff, and families due to the pandemic. But our Board has risen to that challenge. UCPS has had in-person classes during the pandemic when most NC public schools were all remote. Our Board also fought for our 2020 seniors to receive grades instead of pass/fail.

We are proud to say that Union County Public Schools ranked first in the State of North Carolina for grade level proficiency (17.6 percentage points higher than the state average) for the 2020-21 school year. Thank you to our Superintendent, teachers, and staff for putting the needs of our students first.

Personal and Professional Background

I met my husband, Bob, in law school. We will celebrate 25 years of marriage this coming December. We have two beautiful daughters – our oldest daughter graduated from Sun Valley High School last year and is a freshman at Virginia Tech, and our youngest daughter is a freshman at Weddington High School.

Prior to moving to Union County in 2011, I worked full time as a corporate and securities lawyer, representing publicly-traded corporations and their boards of directors. For six years, I was the general counsel of a NASDAQ-listed $800 million health and life insurance holding company. I became the general counsel only four years out of law school and rose to third in command at the company within three years. I was responsible for compliance, human resources (over 1000 employees), legal, Securities and Exchange Commission reporting, and relationships with NASDAQ, stockholders, rating agencies, state insurance commissioners, outside auditors, as well as advising the board of directors.

My experience as a corporate and securities lawyer gave me the skills to serve on the Board of Education, including the oversight of a $454 million budget from local, state and federal funds. I also volunteered at my daughter’s schools.

Volunteering and Community Service

When we moved to Union County, we made the decision that it would be best for our family to put my career on hold and focus on raising our daughters. I was fortunate to move near the then-president of the Wesley Chapel Elementary School PTO. She immediately got me involved in the PTO and I was elected to the PTO Board a few months later. I was President of the WCES PTO for three years. When my oldest daughter started middle school, I joined the Sun Valley Middle School PTSO and in 2015, I was elected President of that PTSO as well. When my oldest daughter started high school, I joined some great moms who re-started the PTSO at Sun Valley High School.

With the support of the community, the schools and staff, these parent organizations accomplished great things – playground equipment, computers, classroom needs, science tables, staff appreciation, and service projects for East Elementary School and the Union County Christmas Bureau. I continue to volunteer at East Elementary School as a reading buddy. I have enjoyed volunteering as a parent in the schools over the last 10 years.