Candidates for the Fort Mill School District Board of Trustees will appear at a public forum Thursday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. at Nation Ford High School, less than three weeks before voters fill four seats on the board.
The Fort Mill Schools Teacher Forum is sponsoring the event, according to a district announcement, and the district will livestream it on its YouTube channel at youtube.com/@FortMillSchoolDistrict for residents who cannot make it to the school on A.O. Jones Boulevard.
The seven member board hires and evaluates the superintendent and adopts the annual budget that sets the school portion of local property tax bills in one of the fastest growing districts in the state. Trustees also approve construction projects and attendance zone changes, decisions that reach families in Fort Mill, Tega Cay and the unincorporated areas around them.
Who is running
Seven candidates appear on the Nov. 3 ballot, according to the county elections office’s certified candidate list: Larry Barnett, Michele Branning, Keith Griffin, Joe Helms, Brandon Langford, Melissa M. Maynard and Lipi Pratt.
Branning, Helms and Pratt are incumbents seeking new terms.
Wayne Bouldin, who has served on the board since 2009, holds the fourth seat up this year.
The district’s announcement did not say which candidates have confirmed they will attend Thursday or how the forum will be run.
How the race works
Fort Mill trustees are elected districtwide. There are no wards or single member seats, so every voter in the district can vote on every candidate, and the four highest vote getters win.
All four seats carry four year terms. The races are nonpartisan, so no party label appears beside a candidate’s name and there is no primary.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters can confirm their registration and polling place at scvotes.gov.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
