Brunswick County Board of Education, District 5
Steve Gainey, Republican incumbent
Career: Retired
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest
Q: What qualifies you to serve on the Brunswick County Board of Education?
A: I was elected and seated on the board in 2022. My four years of service on the local board, my two years as a member of the board of directors of the North Carolina School Boards Association and my membership on the Legislative Committee of that board are unique and significant qualifications that underscore the legitimacy of my campaign for reelection to Brunswick County School Board.
Q: Name one top policy change you want to see and how you will get that passed.
A: During my term, I have initiated many policy changes, including significant ones related to our curriculum development process, middle-school bell-to bell cellphone ban and religious freedom of expression. I also called for engaging an EC consultant to review our delivery of EC services, resulting in recommendations that were addressed through policy and practice changes. I have board business I am currently focused on that does not necessarily involve policy change. But, if policy changes become needed, my track record of effectiveness in this area is well established.
Q: Per the most recent state report cards, Brunswick County Schools reduced its "low-performing schools" from five to two in the 2025-2026 school year. What do you think is working to reduce the schools with this designation and what do you think the district should be doing to address the schools that are still low-performing?
A: Implementing standardized curricula across all state-tested subjects and developing a district-wide, common instructional framework have been central to BCS lifting all schools, including low-performing. We will continue to use this same approach, as well as address personnel factors related to instructional quality in order to have zero schools in low-performing status at the end of this school year.
Q: Earlier this year, the school district and county commissioners signed off on setting aside 12 acres of a 98-acre Supply parcel to become a teacher housing complex. Do you support this initiative; why or why not? Do you think the district should explore other opportunities like this?
A: The decision to set aside the acreage was a unanimous decision by the current board that I introduced for consideration. The actual teacher housing project is a separate initiative that will be wholly planned, funded and managed by the Brunswick County Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. The board will support this initiative because it is directly linked to Strategic Plan Goal 4.1: Recruiting and Retaining Highly Effective Staff.
I am not certain what “other opportunities like this” might look like, but I will consider all opportunities as they arise and evaluate them according to their capacity to advance the BCS Strategic Plan.
Q: Is there a capital need that you would have liked to see make it onto the school bond? How would you work to fund that project in the future?
A: Initially, additional capital expenditures were presented to the commissioners for inclusion in the bond, but, based on commissioner input, it was agreed that these expenditures could be responsibly addressed in the future. The board will continue to evaluate those needs and identify others using the projections of the annual demographic studies we review each year and make appropriate funding recommendations to the county commissioners.
Q: If the bond passes with a new elementary school and high school, the district would have to look at redistricting for these schools in the future. If you had to redistrict as a board member, how would you go about that process?
A: The board will receive several redistricting options as suggested by district staff, which will address impacts around transportation, average daily membership, underserved populations, future population/growth projections, etc. We will solicit parent input on the possible district lines and then make a determination based on all the available facts and input received.
Q: Since Brunswick County is the fastest growing in the state and one of the fastest in the nation, how do you view your role in coordinating the management of that growth with the county commissioners?
A: The school board continually evaluates population growth using projections from the demographic study we commission and review yearly. BCS will continue to share projected growth information with the Brunswick County Planning Board, as well as offer suggestions on how to mitigate the impacts on Brunswick County Schools of anticipated growth.
Q: Do you think the schools are adequately funded, and if not, where do you think there should be improvements? How will you advocate for these improvements?
A: BCS receives the same state and federal funding that all Tier III school districts in the state receive. BCS receives funding from local property taxes pursuant to a unique three-year funding agreement with the county commissioners. This agreement gives BCS a huge funding advantage over almost every other district in the state because it allows us to project local revenue up to three years out. With that information, BCS staff are able to budget for the current year and responsibly and accurately plan for expected budget impacts in the future. This has given rise to a healthy BCS fund balance, which allows the board a lot of operational and instructional funding flexibility. In fact, this is why BCS is now the ninth-highest ranked district in the state in teacher pay!
Overall, I believe this district is currently funded reasonably well. But there is one area where all schools across the state are underfunded: Exceptional Children’s programs. The funding formulas used by Washington and Raleigh both fall woefully short of the cost of EC services. Since 1977, federal law requires the delivery of specialized services to every EC student, regardless of the level of funds received. The difference in the amounts allotted and the actual cost must be covered by local revenue. This must change. I am a member of the NCSBA legislative committee and I plan to push for this to be our top legislative funding priority for the upcoming legislative session.
Q: Brunswick County teacher attrition has been creeping up over the last school years, from 9% in 2022-2023 to 10.7% in fiscal year 2024-2025. What do you attribute this increase to and how would you address it?
A: Teacher attrition is the result of a variety of circumstances: retirement, change in career plans, new family dynamics, withdrawal of employment offers, etc. Consequently, this number is not, in and of itself, a clear measure of dissatisfaction among instructional staff or a poor reflection on teacher working conditions.
In fact, the 2025 and 2026 Teacher Working Conditions Survey administered by the North Carolina Department of Instruction clearly indicates that BCS is a desirable place to work. In further support of this statement, I would point to the declining number of first-year instructor hires. To start the ‘26 school year we hired 38 first year teachers. In ‘23 we had to hire 60 first-year teachers to start school. So BCS is not experiencing a reduction in instructional quality due to attrition. The opposite is occurring.
Due to the high-quality BCS work environment, the district is strongly positioned to capitalize on available hiring opportunities created by attrition, in the purposeful recruitment and employment of increasing numbers of experienced teachers.
Q: What is your view of the current board's leadership? What are they succeeding at and what needs to be improved?
A: I serve on the current board and I believe we are leading the district in a positive direction. Academic outcomes have improved significantly over the last four years. Data clearly shows that student behavioral outcomes are improving. Truancy rates have been cut in half. Career and Tech Education participation has exploded.
I could go on but these and other positive outcomes clearly point to the effectiveness of current board leadership. And while these things are all encouraging, there is still much room for the board to continue to push for improvement within all these areas. And the board and district staff are focused on doing it every day.