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Tag: Wake County school board

  • Wake school board picks educator and Democratic Party official to fill vacancy

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    Jennifer Job interviews for a vacancy on the Wake County school board Tuesday. The board picked her to fill the seat.

    Jennifer Job interviews for a vacancy on the Wake County school board Tuesday. The board picked her to fill the seat.

    Wake County Public Schools

    A former high school teacher who is now a local official in the Democratic Party has been chosen to fill an opening on the Wake County school board.

    On Tuesday, the school board selected Jennifer Job for the District 8 seat representing fast-growing southwestern Wake. Job, an educator turned political activist, replaces Lindsay Mahaffey, who resigned the seat in August after nearly nine years in office.

    Job said she would resign her position as a regional vice chair in the Wake County Democratic Party if chosen for the school board seat. Job is currently a principal for BreakGlass Strategies, a progressive political communications firm.

    “It’s more important than ever to have an educator and an education advocate on the board,” Job said during her interview with the board on Tuesday.

    Before Job changed careers, she taught in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and was a professor at Oklahoma State University.

    Job will be sworn into office on Tuesday, Dec. 2. She will complete Mahaffey’s term, which runs through November 2028. She will represent a district that includes parts of Apex, Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina.

    The school board is officially nonpartisan. But Job’s selection will maintain the 7-2 Democratic majority that existed before Mahaffey resigned.

    Job wants to help students of color

    An unexpectedly large field of 17 applicants applied to fill the vacant seat. Three people withdrew their names from consideration.

    The remaining 14 applicants were given up to 30 minutes to make their case on Tuesday. They answered questions such as what three initiatives they would pursue if chosen to the board.

    Job said she wants to form a Rapid Growth Parent Advisory Group to educate the community about student assignment issues. Job also wants to do more to support students of color to get them into advanced courses and to help teachers develop a framework for using AI in the classroom.

    Job is the parent of a third-grade student in Wake.

    Picked after only one round of voting

    Past ballots to fill school board vacancies have gone multiple rounds. But Job was chosen on the first ballot with five of the eight board votes.

    “We will have many qualified and excellent candidates who won’t actually get selected tonight,” school board chair Chris Heagarty said shortly before balloting began.

    Job got votes from Heagarty, vice chair Tyler Swanson and board members Lynn Edmonds, Christina Gordon and Toshiba Rice.

    Jennifer Dearman, a senior vice president at a technology company that partners with schools to improve literacy skills, got votes from the two GOP board members: Cheryl Caulfield and Wing Ng.

    Candace Smith, the lead scientist at a company that does genomic cancer research, got a vote from board member Sam Hershey.

    This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 6:11 PM.

    Related Stories from Raleigh News & Observer

    T. Keung Hui

    The News & Observer

    T. Keung Hui has covered K-12 education for the News & Observer since 1999, helping parents, students, school employees and the community understand the vital role education plays in North Carolina. His primary focus is Wake County, but he also covers statewide education issues.

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    T. Keung Hui

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  • Wake County school board approves Naloxone policy

    Wake County school board approves Naloxone policy

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    CARY, N.C. (WTVD) — On Tuesday, Wake County school officials took another step toward putting potentially life-saving medicine into public schools — countywide.

    Wake County School Board members approved a new policy Tuesday that would require all schools in the county to keep a supply of Naloxone — also known by its brand name Narcan — and train faculty members on how to use it. Families who have been touched by the fentanyl epidemic say that’s a big win.

    “The more we say fentanyl out loud without shame, the more people understand that anybody could die,” said Barb Walsh, a Cary mom and founder of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina.

    Someone’s going to die because Naloxone wasn’t in school. And is that a risk they want to take?

    – Barb Walsh, founder of Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina

    Barb’s daughter, Sophia, died in August 2021 after drinking from a water bottle that had the dangerous opioid mixed into it. Since then, Barb’s made it her mission to not only support families like hers but also promote life-saving medicine however she can. She founded the Fentanyl Victims Network in August 2022, one year after Sophia died.

    “I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen just in case I have a fire, that’s because I want one,” she said. “Naloxone is the same thing.”

    In December, Barb attended a Wake County school board meeting, urging officials to consider requiring Naloxone be put into schools. Now, that’s one step closer to becoming reality, after a new policy was approved — and just needs to be voted on to become official.

    “We don’t know where the threat is going to come from. But if we have a tool that can save a life, particularly one of our students’ lives, we want to do everything we can to take those steps,” said board chair Chris Heagarty.

    According to state health statistics, Naloxone was used for suspected overdoses 21 times on school grounds statewide last year. Walsh said it’s not worth waiting for more.

    “It may not have happened in North Carolina yet. But someone’s going to die because Naloxone wasn’t in school. And is that a risk they want to take?” she said.

    Though there’s work to be done — only about 20% of North Carolina’s public school districts have Naloxone policies — the significance of Tuesday’s decision isn’t lost on Walsh.

    “It doesn’t take an army. It doesn’t take a lobbyist. It takes a mom who’s lost a child to stand in front of the school board to make this happen. And that’s significant,” she said.

    Funding for the new policy is not yet clear. Heagarty said they’ll be targeting possible state and federal funds in addition to county funding out of the superintendent’s budget. The policy will be discussed at a full board meeting in May, and if passed could be in place by next school year.

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    Sean Coffey

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