Name: Nelson Beaulieu
Party affiliation: Democrat
Career: Instructor of History and Political Science
Degree: Master of History, Master of Political Science, American Military University
Q: What qualifies you to serve on the New Hanover County Schools Board of Education?
A: I have a number of qualifications for this position. I have two daughters who are in high school. I’ve worked alongside them through this system and I’ve seen the incredible strength and ability of our professional educators in New Hanover County. I’ve also seen areas where we can do a better job in assisting them as a system. My wife works as an EC teacher’s assistant. I teach some of our students at the community college who have taken advantage of our state’s dual enrollment program. I previously served as a board member from 2018 – 2022. My career, my family, and I have been dedicated to New Hanover County schools for more than a decade and I believe that my many perspectives and experiences can help make the school system even better.
Q: Name one top priority policy change you want to see and how you will work to achieve it.
A: The same way national politics often comes down to one issue, I think education politics needs to have a primary focus. For me that’s simple: test scores. Maybe people will roll their eyes when they hear about standardized tests. Yes, they are a single measurement, but what are we really measuring? If kids can’t read on grade level by third grade, it becomes extremely difficult to catch up. That means they struggle with reading and comprehending math tests, science tests, and history tests. That puts them at a massive disadvantage, even if they understand the basic concepts in those courses. There is a direct correlation between third-grade reading level and lifetime earning potential.
Targeted and aggressive intervention is necessary for children who are not on grade level beginning in fourth grade. We need to look at districts across the country to figure out who is having the most success, how they are doing it, and implementing those strategies here. To achieve this, I will work with our county funding partners as well as our state officials to ensure funds are available for new, innovative programs aimed at fixing this critical problem.
Q: What is your view of the current board’s leadership? What are they succeeding at and what needs to be improved?
A: I’m disappointed with the leadership provided by this board. They seem too driven by personal issues and have often failed to respond to problems in our district. They came in promising a focus on educational achievement. We have performed worse as a district. We seem too interested in cataloguing books, challenging ones that a single board member happens to disagree with, and dictating what can and can’t be on the desks of adult professionals.
Another important job for our board is to work to secure funding. Here, too, I feel like this board has done a poor job. Knowing that a cut to staff was a likelihood as early as 2023, every ounce of energy should have been working to secure the funding necessary to prevent it. This problem will not go away, as long as the state maintains its current funding model and our enrollment remains relatively flat, we need to constantly work to make sure that our system is adequately funded. I don’t see that urgency from this board.
Q: What is the biggest challenge facing the school district?
A: The biggest challenges can’t be separated. They are funding and test scores. We need adequate staff in our buildings. That includes an AP in every school, more TA’s and more support staff. We also need to hold ourselves accountable. This isn’t a New Hanover County problem; it is a national problem. Grades and graduation rates have soared. Test scores have plummeted. That doesn’t make any logical sense. Our kids can meet high standards — we can’t be afraid to set them! Education is the silver bullet. It’s the great ladder, the great equalizer. We need to make every effort to ensure that 100 percent of the kids in our district can read and write on grade level!
Q: Even though the people will vote on the $320-million school bond, would you advocate for its support? Why or why not?
A: Yes. The facility needs are immense. I support the bond and the plans to implement it across the county. I will vote for it and campaign for its passage. Furthermore, I will advocate for a shorter bond cycle so that needs don’t accumulate over the course of 7-10 years. I think this will ultimately save the taxpayer money and make our system more efficient.
Q: What would you like to see the state legislature do regarding school funding?
A: Their funding formula doesn’t make sense. It simply puts far too much burden on the county to close, what has been for nearly 20 years, a widening gap. The state of North Carolina simply isn’t doing enough with regards to funding, and our kids will pay for their decisions. Changing the funding model is a critical first step that could result in millions of dollars in funding for New Hanover County. That means face to face teaching positions, support staff, and administrative staff. It allows us financial security, which the system needs to plan for our future.
Q: What is your view of the board’s role in overseeing curriculum and library book selections?
A: I’m fine with an oversight role for the board. However, this shouldn’t be a matter of personal disagreement. This should be a matter left to our professional educators who have attained credentials that give them the necessary expertise to make these decisions. Choosing books that have perspectives that individual board members or parents find objectionable and then trying to get them banned from the curriculum is not the role of the board in my opinion. Same with the curriculum. In life we have controversy. It’s OK. It should be in our classrooms. Education thrives on controversy. It requires it. If ideas aren’t racist, misogynistic, or bigoted, then they have a place in any curriculum and their ideas, in written form should, with very few exceptions, be allowed in our libraries if professional educators say that they are good. All curriculum information is public and is available through your child’s teacher and through the state Department of Public Instruction website.
Q: What are specific actions you would support the board voting on to address its low-performing schools?
A: There are no bad ideas in a brainstorm. I’d consider and vote on almost any measure aimed at improving our low performing schools if those ideas were evidenced based and supported by data. I don’t like administrators who have found success at low performing schools, who are then moved out of those schools after a few years. I would love to see state and local incentives focused on moving experienced teachers and administrators and support staff to lower performing schools who have demonstrated need.
Q: What do you think The Endowment should fund for schools versus what should be funded by the government in the school budget?
A: Recurring funding needs to come from state and local governments. I think innovative programs that require new funding for two or three years and partnerships with community organizations, UNCW, or the Community College, are the types of things the endowment should be funding.
Q: How do you view your role in providing information to the public and the press?
A: I think every public official has a responsibility to speak to the media and the press on a regular basis. In the age of social media, I think it is also important to maintain a respectful, open dialogue with constituents through these platforms. I pledge to do both as a member of the board of education.
It is also possible to email board members. Responses, even just as acknowledgement of receipt is important and I see this as an obligation as well.