By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Six candidates have filed for election to the Orange County Schools Board of Education.
Incumbent Al Hartkopf is running for re-election, challenged by newcomers Eddie Eubanks, Steve Halkiotis, Tony McKnight, Jeff Michalski and Stan Morris.
Three seats on the board are available. School board member Dennis Whitling resigned last month, following his arrest on charges of embezzlement.
Hartkopf, 50, has served on the school board for four years. He said he is running for re-election because he wants to continue the work the school board has started.
“So many times in politics, you get something started and the elected officials change,†Hartkopf said. “We’re really entering a new phase.
“It’s a good school system, but we haven’t done all we could do with regards to parental involvement, closing the gap, operational transparency.â€
He has two daughters, ages 13 and 9, who attend A.L. Stanback Middle School and Hillsborough Elementary School. Hartkopf works as a project manager and has lived in Hillsborough for nine years.
Halkiotis, 64, served on the Board of County Commissioners for 20 years. He worked in Orange County Schools for 30 years, as a principal, teacher and district administrator, retiring in 2004.
“I’ve been a little bit dismayed with the way things have been going,†he said, noting a parent protest at a recent school board meeting. “I think I can help these folks understand where the school system has been.
“If parents feel negatively about the school board and the school system as a whole, I think it’s important to figure out why they feel that way.â€
Halkiotis lives in Hillsborough, and has lived in Orange County for 39 years, except for a brief stint in South Carolina. His daughter, who works as an assistant district attorney in Guilford County, attended Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Durham Academy, while his two stepchildren attended Orange County Schools.
Michalski, 38, said he would like to make all schools in the district open to all students in the district, and would like to improve the district’s programs and the promotion of those programs.
“Instead of being a complainer, I wanted to be somebody who was actually doing something about what I was complaining about,†Michalski said.
“I call myself the ‘choice for school’ choice,†he said. “I think our parents and our kids need to have some choice as to where they … go to school and to have programs that will appeal to specific children and their parents.â€
Michalski has two children, a son who attends Hillsborough Elementary and a daughter who might attend Hillsborough Elementary as a kindergartener in the fall, depending on redistricting. He works for the Caring Family Network and has lived in Mebane for 10 years.
Morris, 47, said he would like to use his professional background in business processes to improve the board’s stewardship of funding.
“I’m hoping to be able to make a difference and see if we can provide [the schools] some resources,†Morris said. “I’d like to be a part of the solution that evolves into the successes of the students.â€
He added that he would like to create policies to take advantage of the many foundations and groups he believes would like to contribute to the schools.
Morris lives in the Rougemont community in northeastern Orange County, and has lived in the school district since 1999. He works as a business operations officer with the American Red Cross and his two children attend Cameron Park Elementary School.
Eubanks, 62, lives in Hillsborough.
McKnight, 41, of Hillsborough, ran unsuccessfully for school board two years ago.
Orange County Schools district voters will elect school board members May 6.
