We are honored and excited to announce that we have four amazing Candidates (Josie Barnhart, Pat Bradford, Pete Wildeboer and Mellissa Mason) who will restore conservative values to the New Hanover County, Board of Education. In today’s spotlight we are focusing on Josie Barnhart. Josie is extremely professionally qualified, and excited to accept the challenge. She has already developed dozens of plans and ideas to positively respond to those issues parents have identified during the past eighteen months.

Josie was raised in a loving lower-middle-class family with 5 kids in Florida. She was home schooled for part of her elementary years and attended public school in middle school and high school. She attended the University of Central Florida on a full academic scholarship to fulfill her life-long dream of becoming an educator.

Every Child Deserves a Great Education: A return to Academics

Josie accurately points out on her website that thousands of students have left. Teacher turnover is high. Schools have gotten into the business of parenting instead of focusing on academics. As your board of education member, she will fight to make sure schools get back to business of academics.

Enthusiastically Active for the past two years to make a difference for your Child

Josie has done more to promote an environment for your children to receive a quality education within New Hanover County than the vast majority of the current Board of Education Members. While working hard as a parent, she actively engaged our Public Schools administrators to challenge the status quo. In the role of a concerned mom, the following are just a few of the highlights she achieved in the past 18 months:

• Supported keeping School Resource officers in schools
• Organized push back to lobby AGAINST the state history standards that allow for political activism based on race, gender, and sexual orientation to be embedded in our curriculum
• Advocated for mask choice by families since in school COVID spread was not being tracked
• Supports Career and technical education (CTE) or vocational training programs to teach high school students, especially those at risk of dropping out, job skills needed for specific occupations as they complete their academic coursework
• Challenged lack of transparency with the SEL survey given to selected elementary schools
• Challenged the pre-k to 5 sex abuse prevention curriculum as well as LGBTQ support in elementary school as a result of the title ix survey for 6-12
• Selected from several parents to participate in a John Locke Foundation conversation to help talk about a “parent’s bill of rights”
• Opposed the Trans-Middle School Sports Policy
• Supports the concept of eliminating the funding for the Chief Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EID) Officer position since that department has made changes to lower standards for education based solely on race

By ELECTING all Four of the New Hanover County REPUBLICAN Candidates for positions on the Board of Education you will help:

• Restore Parents Rights
• Enhance School Safety
• A return to focusing on core Curriculum
• Restore honesty and Transparency

There are a couple of things you can do to help restore conservative values in New Hanover County.

1. You must register and take the time to be sure you cast your ballot and let your voice be heard. We need you to vote in October during the early voting period or on election day, November 8.
2. We are always looking for volunteers.
3. If you are too busy to volunteer, and most people are, you might consider visiting our website to consider joining our 10 for 10 campaign. Just ten dollars for ten months will be used to support candidates like Josie.