In Calvert County, there was one local race on the primary election ballot and in the race for the District 3 board of education seat it’s a case of someone has got to go. Of the three candidates, two will advance to the November general.
Voters answered, eliminating a former school board member and county commissioner who was making another run for it this year.
The three candidates were Jeannette Flaim, Melissa Goshorn and Kelly McConkey. The current holder of the district’s seat, Inez Claggett, opted not to seek reelection to a second four-year term.
With 18 of 18 precincts reporting, plus tallies from early voting and the first mail-in ballots counted, Goshorn was the top vote-getter with 48% Tuesday night. Flaim was second with 32.5% and McConkey third with less than 20% of the vote. That means Goshorn and Flaim move on to the general election in November.
McConkey has previously served on the school board, resigning in 2018 after being elected county commissioner. He did not return a call Wednesday seeking comment about his loss.
The school board election is nonpartisan, which means members of all parties — major, minor and unaffiliated — who are registered are allowed to vote.
Two other school board seats will be up for grabs in the general election.
Joseph Marchio will face Mike Shisler for the District 1 seat and Paul Harrison will face incumbent Antoine White for the District 2 seat in November.
“We’ve got a lot more work to do,” Goshorn told Southern Maryland News Wednesday. “We’ve got to educate more people on the importance that they turn out and vote.”
During her pre-primary interaction with the public, Goshorn recalled many people asking her what she hoped to change first if elected. She said addressing the issues with student behavior and the reports of drug use at schools would be a priority.
“There are policies that need to be modified,” she said.
Goshorn said the practice of administrators directing staff to implement certain initiatives without first consulting with those staff members needs to be changed.
“They need to ask the people in the buildings” if something will work, Goshorn said.
The candidate said while she may not have support from the leadership of the Calvert Education Association, “I have a ton of teacher support,” along with support staff and school bus drivers.
“I’m excited,” Flaim said of her advancement to the general election. “I’ve met a lot of people. It’s been a great experience.”
Flaim told Southern Maryland News that prior to the primary she spoke with a variety of people, including parents, teachers, support staff and former school board members.
“The more I listen the more I learn,” Flaim said.
According to Flaim, an area of concern is the morale of Calvert’s public school teachers and support staff.
“They don’t feel respected,” she said. “They feel undervalued. I will advocate where I can with the other board members.”
As of Wednesday, Goshorn had 6,584 votes to Flaims’s 4,470 and McConkey’s 2,721.
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