Up until last week, the nonpartisan races for four school board seats — plus the chairman’s position — looked to be rather sleepy, with only one candidate filling. But as the noon deadline approached on Friday, July 17, a flurry of candidates threw their hats in the ring to ensure some lively contests in the fall. 

A decision has finally been made on where to put Haywood County Schools’ central administration office before their lease at the Historic Haywood Hospital runs out at the end of this year, and as it turns out, they won’t have to go far. 

Five seats on the Haywood County Schools Board of Education are up for election this year, but only one challenger has stepped forward to contest any of the incumbents, all of whom are seeking to return.

Haywood County Schools’ administration recently admitted it may have violated North Carolina’s Open Meeting laws by not properly noticing a board meeting that had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather. 

The strange saga of a shuttered school still casts a shadow over Haywood County, but it may turn out that opponents of the school’s closing were exactly right. 

After expressing his outrage early last month over a bill that would make school board elections partisan in Haywood County, Chairman Chuck Francis and the Haywood County School Board have formally spoken out against it.

A bill set to make school board elections partisan in Haywood County took current school board members — including the chairman — completely by surprise and has so far earned poor marks from a majority of the board.

Mark Swanger tucked into his leather armchair beside a roaring gas fire, an expansive view of his Fines Creek family farm unfurling beyond the bay windows of his log home.

Calm, cool and collected as always, he was ready for another round of a marathon interview aimed at capturing the sweeping tenure of his 20-year political career in Haywood County.

Chuck Francis will again return to chair a Haywood County School Board that has set high marks for achievement, climbing into the top 10 percent of all districts in the state.

Haywood County Schools is at a crossroads, making this year’s crowded election for school board a pivotal one.