Bouldin, Johnson win Fort Mill school board elections

By Shawn Cetrone - The Herald

FORT MILL -- Wayne Bouldin will be the new face on Fort Mill's school board, while incumbent Michael Johnson will get another four years.

Both won nearly all 17 voting precincts over competitors Marion Davenport and Chris Krieger in Tuesday's election, according to unofficial results.

�Man, I am very pleased right now,� Bouldin said. �I really didn't know what to expect going in. We had some really good candidates. The last week in particular, it was very up and down.�

Johnson celebrated at home with friends and family.

�I'm thrilled to be re-elected,� he said. �It's time to hit the ground running.�

The four candidates ran for two open seats on the at-large board, which sets policy for the school district encompassing Fort Mill and Tega Cay.

Johnson's seat was up for election, as was Chairwoman Jan Smiley's. She decided not to run again after taking a job with the U.S. Census Bureau.

Bouldin and Johnson will take their seats on Monday when the seven-member board next meets.

The board likely will face tough and unpopular choices in the coming months as Fort Mill schools, like most across South Carolina, try to navigate a turbulent economy in which money for public education continues to shrink.

At the top of the agenda is how to manage a recently announced 4 percent cut in state money. Fort Mill school officials expect that to be between $800,000 and $1 million.

If the district moves ahead as planned, the board also will vote on reassigning hundreds of elementary and middle school students. The district has plans to open two more elementary schools and a fifth middle school by 2013.

One issue Bouldin and Johnson pledged to make a priority is the achievement gap between white students and minority students. Both said they plan to be vocal about closing it.

That was one of several issues the candidates discussed at a recent forum in Paradise, the historically black community between Joe Louis and Steele streets near downtown, in which they took questions from the neighborhood's families about how minorities are faring in the school system.

�I learned a ton from that forum,� Johnson said. �I realized for the first time that there's a large segment of people who feel disenfranchised from the school district.�

One of the first things Johnson pledged to do is ask the school board to hold a meeting in Paradise to get feedback from residents and discuss schools' efforts to address achievement gaps.

In an off election year, Fort Mill's school board race was one to watch.

The competition was heated but never ugly. The candidates, who campaigned by posting signs around town, sending mailings and knocking on doors, remained polite.

During the forum in Paradise, all four agreed that no matter who won, the district would be in good hands.