Nash County school board election field set

The Nash County Board of Education will be joined by two fresh faces following the Nov. 5 general election.

As a result of the recent demerger, the school board is decreasing from an 11-member panel down to a seven-member panel.

That has yielded a few contests in which current school board members will vie for the same seat in the newly reconfigured districts that now align with the county commissioner districts.

Districts 3 and 7 have joined the list of school board districts that will be contested by current school board members. All seven seats are up for election in November. Filing for the seven, single-member district seats ended at noon Friday.

Three candidates are running unopposed, and two of them would be new to the school board if elected in November.

Jamon Whitfield of Rocky Mount was the only candidate to file for the District 2 seat ahead of Friday’s filing deadline. Linwood Weeks of Rocky Mount is the lone candidate to file in District 5. In addition to Whitfield and Weeks, current board member Doneva Chavis is running unopposed in District 1.

On Wednesday, current school board member Franklin Lamm of Spring Hope and Dean Edwards of Bailey filed their candidacies for the District 3 seat.

In District 4, a third candidate, Karen White-Jones of Nashville, joined the race on Thursday. Current board members Chris Bissette and Bill Sharpe had filed for the seat earlier in the filing period.

In District 6, current school board members Evelyn Bulluck and LaShawnda Washington will be vying for that seat in the election.

In District 7, that race is being contested by current board members Sharonda Thomas Bulluck and Richard Jenkins.

Washington, who is currently serving as the chair of the school board, said the tone of her campaign will be “respectful and professional” as she is competing for the seat against a colleague.

“While my opponent and I may share some common goals, I believe my approach and perspectives can bring fresh and effective solutions to the challenges we face,” Washington said. “It’s important to keep our discourse respectful and focused on the issues, ensuring that our shared commitment to the community remains at the forefront. By highlighting our differences in a positive manner, we can offer voters a clear choice without compromising the professionalism and collegiality that our roles demand.”

Current school board members Zack Gray and Lank Dunton did not file to run for one of the open seven seats that will be decided this election. Both will continue to serve out the remainder of their four-year term as at-large members. Gray and Dunton were elected in 2022.

The four-year terms of Chavis, Lamm, Sharpe, Jenkins, Evelyn Bulluck and Sharonda Thomas Bulluck also end in December.

Washington, Bissette and Edwards can serve out the remainder of their four-year terms as at-large members if they lose in the November election. All three were elected in 2022.

The candidates running for school board seats in Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 will be elected to four-year terms in November, as per state law.

In order to have school board members serving staggered terms, and as dictated by the state, three of the districts — 2, 4 and 6 — will be elected to two-year terms in November. Those seats will be on the ballot again in the 2026 midterm election for four-year terms moving forward.

The multi-year demerger process between the two school districts in Nash and Edgecombe counties resulted in a separation of the two school districts along county lines. Prior to the demerger, all Rocky Mount residents — including those who lived on the Edgecombe County side of the city — were served by the Nash County Public Schools system.