Randolph County residents get a chance to ‘Meet the Candidates’

ELKINS, W.Va. (WBOY) — Ahead of the West Virginia primary election, residents in Randolph County got a chance to see who’s up on the ballot for Board of Education at a “Meet the Candidates” forum Wednesday night.

The event was open to the community and gave residents a chance to directly ask the candidates some of the burning questions they may have surrounding education in the county.

“There’s been a lot of concern here about the draining of public funds through the Hope Scholarship, and…some cutting of teacher positions,” Event Organizer and Women’s Club of Elkins member Cindy Stemple said. “And people were concerned and came to several of us.”

Stemple said that with all of the changes revolving around public education, the community simply wants “good board members who wanna provide the best education to our students.”

“Randolph County is a very large county,” Stemple said. “We have a lot of rural schools, and we wanna make sure funds are being used correctly and that all of our students are getting the best education possible.”

Four of the six candidates in the running showed up to this forum including two incumbents who are running for re-election. Each candidate was given a chance to introduce themselves and share their background, as well as why they’re running for a seat on the Board of Education.

Following these introductions, the candidates were each asked a question by the moderator, which was provided to them in advance. The candidates were then asked to answer two other questions on the fly before the floor was opened up to community questions.

“We’re really hoping that they can narrow down the choices and vote for the people who are gonna…do the best job for our students,” Stemple added. “We want the people of Randolph County to be informed voters.”

Stemple said that this event is very important to her on a personal level because she’s a retired teacher and because both of her daughters went through the Randolph County school system.

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