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Barrett, incumbents win school board race

Posted on November 10, 2011November 10, 2011 by Staff

By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer

Challenger James Barrett joined four incumbents in being elected to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education on Tuesday.

Barrett, a product of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools system who is active with Orange County Justice United, earned 7,205 votes, or 17.18 percent. As the fifth-place winner, Barrett will serve the two-year unexpired-term seat left by former board member Joe Green.

James Barrett campaigning on Tuesday. Photo by Alicia Stemper

“It is incredibly humbling to think that there were around 7,000 people that were willing to put their faith in me to be a school board member and to set the direction for all of our children,” Barrett said.

All four incumbents running were reelected for four-year terms.

Mia Burroughs earned 7,709 votes, or 18.85 percent of the votes; Jamezetta Bedford, 7,199 (17.60); Annetta Streater, 7,092 (17.34); and Mike Kelley, 7,053 (17.25).

“I appreciate the voters’ confidence and I hope that I continue to serve the community well,” Kelley said.

Streater said that campaigning in this race differed from previous school board races because of social media, like Facebook and Twitter.

“The social media piece made for a significant change in the campaign,” Streater said. “I took the approach of ‘I am running for the very first time,’ and I didn’t want to take anything for granted.”

While election night went smoothly, the race had some bumps along the way due to an error by the Orange County Board of Elections office.

Originally, the school board race was split into two races, with Bedford running unopposed for a two-year-term seat and the remaining candidates competing for four four-year seats.

When the error was identified, the two races merged, and Bedford was up against six other candidates.

“I had a little shocker a few weeks back,” Bedford said of the switch. “It feels wonderful [to be reelected], but we have a lot of work to do, and I think that parents and voters know that this board is cohesive and dedicated to improving education.”

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