Elections

CMS board candidate forum turns the table: You talk, they listen


Voters will elect three at-large Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members on Nov. 3.
Voters will elect three at-large Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members on Nov. 3. AP

If you’ve got ideas about how Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools should be run, you’ll have a chance to let school board candidates know on Thursday.

The nonprofit advocacy group MeckEd invites people to address the candidates for three at-large seats at a forum from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, at the Novant Health/BB&T building at 108 Providence Road.

Eight of the nine candidates – Janeen Bryant, Larry Bumgarner, Elyse Dashew, Ericka Ellis-Stewart, Levester Flowers, Mary McCray, Jeremy Stephenson and Amelia Stinson-Wesley – say they’ll attend, said MeckEd’s Erin Edwards. Angela Ambroise had not responded Tuesday.

Edwards said her group has recruited a wide range of people involved in education to speak, and others are invited to participate. “We’re looking for a lot of diverse voices to participate in this conversation,” she said.

The candidates won’t respond during Thursday’s session, but MeckEd plans a follow-up in October for them to talk about their views. The school board election, which is nonpartisan, is Nov. 3.

Register for Thursday’s community conversation by emailing sphillips@mecked.org.

Ann Doss Helms: 704-358-5033, @anndosshelms

More on candidates

▪ Read what they say about priorities for student assignment.

▪ Get contact information.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 2:03 PM with the headline "CMS board candidate forum turns the table: You talk, they listen."

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