CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After eight years on the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board of Education, including a four-year tenure as its chairperson, Elyse Dashew has made the decision not to seek reelection.
In a one-on-one interview with WCNC Charlotte's Shamarria Morrison, Dashew reflected on her time on the CMS School Board and discussed the impact of her departure.
Shamarria
Remind us, how long have you been the chair, and give us a little backstory history of your journey from the first time you ran to when you did get elected, and a little bit onward.
Elyse Dashew
“So, I've been on the board since 2015. And I was vice chair three years in my first term. And then I ran for reelection in 2019. And my colleagues elected me to be the chair at that time, just in time for the pandemic. And I've been the chair ever since. So, it's four I'm in my fourth year.”
Shamarria
I remember when we spoke individually; you told me about your why of coming on the school board. And it's been so many years later. So, I want to kind of get back to the beginning of that, why? Why did you run in the first place?
Elyse Dashew
“I want to serve kids, because I love I loved school, when I was a child I loved reading, it was my escape. When my kids, when my own son and daughter learned to read, I was just about as excited as when they took their first steps. And so, to be able to, you know, offer the governance and sort of set the priorities for 141,000 young people is just an incredible privilege.”
Shamarria
How would you say from when you first got on the board, to where you are now when it comes to the kids? How have things changed the most?
Elyse Dashew
“Well, of course, the pandemic was a huge shock to society, and our students really, you know, really felt it. It goes to show you schools are important. And when you take kids out of schools for a certain, you know, however many months it was, it's, it's going to have an impact. Even when you are learning from home. And so, our kids are very resilient, and they've went through a lot of upheaval, some more than others.
So, you know, we have a lot of students in CMS who lost family members to COVID. And that, like I can't ever forget to think about that. But yeah, the kids are resilient. I think these are going to be like the greatest generation. The folks who survived went through the Depression, and then World War II, and did great things in our country. I see that in the current generation of students.”
Shamarria
You know, I know, you know, that you all weren't always the most popular in the community during the COVID-19 times. And a lot of decisions, some of it hindsight, but again, we always say it's 2020 right? And so I wonder what kind of impact you all went through as a board, the public face to so many people at a certain time? What did it do for you and your mental health?
Elyse Dashew
“Um, it definitely -- it was, you know, like being in a fire. When, what is it that the, like a new metal, emerges from the fire? We definitely had to toughen up. And it was challenging, because the stakes were so high, and anxiety for our constituents, whether it's parents or teachers and staff, anxiety was through the roof.
The guidance from the public health professionals kept shifting and even sometimes contradicting what was what we were told, you know, just a few days before. And so it was, it was tough to kind of take all that in and keep a steady, just stay steady and keep serving students as best we could. Kind of tune out the noise while also listening with empathy. But not taking anything personally. It was tough.
And then we had you know, of course, it was clear in the public meetings, and I think on the news, we heard from a lot of the families who were having so much anxiety and concern about their kids, learning from home and wanting to get them back into the schoolhouse. And pushing for saying it’s safe now, we should go now.
We had just as many families if not more, who had a very different experience of the pandemic because of living in multigenerational households, because of having no or very limited access to health care.
So for those families, exposure to COVID would be catastrophic. And those families said, please, please, please don't open too soon. Even when we did open, it was hard to get a lot of students back, it was hard to get families to trust that it really is safe. So that was a lot to navigate through.
And I think when you notice the districts that opened up faster versus the districts that took more time to open, it was a lot about who their constituents were. And so the more affluent suburban districts were more likely to open fast and affluent suburban parts of our district, we're ready for that before the others.”
Shamarria
Would you categorize that time during COVID-19 as some of the most challenging that you've ever had on the board through your whole career?
Elyse Dashew
"Uh huh. And I hope we never top it, I hope it stays the most challenging. I would not wish it on anybody. But there was a very valuable lesson that I learned from it. Which is when so much was out of our control, I realized we need to focus on what is in our control. Like kind of discern what that is, and whatever that is do it to the very best of our ability. And so that's how we got to work with the governance coaches, from the Council for the Great City Schools. And the whole board unified around adopting this governance framework, regardless of different politics on the board, you know, everybody got behind it. And that's really been a game changer.”
Shamarria
In the eight years that you have been on the CMS school board, is there something a decision or something that you did that you regret? Or you may have done or made a different decision based on what you know now that you didn't know back then?
Elyse Dashew
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, I have spoken with many of the constituents who pushed us to open early as well as School Board, you know, chairs and vice chairs from surrounding districts. And I'm like, turns out you guys were right when the science was contradictory, and, you know, we weren't sure. You guys were right. And had I known that I would have been in favor of opening up schools much sooner. But there was a lot that we didn't know, and we didn't have the vaccine yet. So that I am very willing to admit that if I could go back in time and do that over, I would. But I don't think we made the wrong decision, knowing what we knew at the time.”
Shamarria
Now, I wonder, what was your proudest accomplishment while you were there? And how is it going to impact the future of those 1000s of CMS students and employees? Well, after you've left the dais?
Elyse Dashew
“I think there are two things I'm most proud of. So, the first would be the board's commitment to student outcomes-focused governance. We have a long way to go to get really good with our governance skills. But it has been a game changer in terms of getting us focused on what is what are areas have the highest leverage and highest need. And kind of setting distractions to the side, getting us really clear on our roles and responsibilities and the superintendents’ roles and responsibilities.
So we can each do our job as well as possible without stepping on the toes of the other, and ultimately that is already having a big, big impact on the students that we serve. So that's number one. And that is so wonky, and like not exciting for people to watch on the news and get excited about but really. I think it will go down in history as a quiet shift. That made a big difference.
The other thing is this latest superintendent search, I am so proud of how we ran the search. And a lot of that goes to will really the input of the full board, most specifically the search committee chaired by Summer Nunn. It was a clear job description, aligned with our goals and our guardrails as a district.
And the interest that we had nationwide was astounding. We had 17 sitting superintendents apply for the job, they watched our board meetings and said, that’s a board I would like to work for. And you know, and it was a very strong pool.
And I've compared notes with friends who chair other boards who are doing searches, and we're really lucky right now. And so Crystal Hill out of the final pool was the best match for CMS. And I'm very proud that we hired her. And I think she is set up to perform very strongly. I think you're gonna see our student test scores climb, and our achievement gaps narrow. As long as the board continues to support her and hold her accountable to clear expectations. I think they will do; I think we're in really good hands.”
Shamarria
I'm happy you mentioned student achievement, student goals, and even the kind of governance you all do. A lot of times, you know, with that model, it's put you all in a bad light, if we're being honest, you know, with what the scores are. But I wonder, being put in that situation where you have to say on the dais, we are not reaching this goal, these students are not being met, or not being reached, they're failing, this was not a good thing.
Elyse Dashew
“It's very painful to go through. Especially if you are a perfectionist, and you want everything that you show the public to be polished and perfect. But that sort of humility and vulnerability is absolutely essential to changing student outcomes.
And so, you know, not only were we very open, have we been very open about where we're not meeting our targets. We chose targets that were not, you know, did not necessarily spin us. Or we chose goals that didn't necessarily spin us in a good light.
I mean, we could cherry-pick some data and show some incredible strength in CMS. But we went to staff and we said, where is the greatest need? Where are we struggling the most? Where do we have the most work to do? And that's what we decided to focus on.
So, it's been kind of a downer to spend so much time on the areas where we have the most work to do. But I think that's where you've got to put the most attention.”
Shamarria
Has there been a narrative or a critique or an outlook that has been put on you that you'd like to address that you may think, have not been fair or fair game? And I wonder why. Because, again, when I look at social media, when I look at different things, as the board chair, you are the face of the school board, so for its greatness or its failures, people think of you first. So I wonder, do you have anything to say about that, that you'd like to talk about?
Elyse Dashew
“I think that we've been working really hard to kind of educate the community, what our role is versus what the superintendent’s role is. “But there's still a lot of people who think, you know, when they read us, a student got suspended, who, who is arguing they shouldn't have gotten suspended. They think I'm the one that suspended the student.
So that's probably the hardest is when people are holding the school board responsible for the nitty gritty part of the work that is not ours to do. And in fact, would be very problematic if we were the ones doing that work. And so much of our work is we've got these really strict confidentiality laws that we have to abide by whether it's student privacy or employee privacy.
And often, those are the stories that we get asked about. And so, it is like nails on a chalkboard to me to have to say, I can't comment on that.
And I just so badly, you know, I'm a very open and transparent person. And yet, I also swore an oath to uphold the law. And I can't, I can't be, you know, putting our district in jeopardy by revealing confidential are commenting on confidential information. So that's, that has probably been even more so than the pandemic, that that aspect of the work has been the hardest for me.”
Shamarria
“I know you didn't spell it out. Right. But I think I can assume that you're speaking about some of the questions that were asked of CMS and its leadership, dealing with sexual assault allegations, about some students for some schools.
How has that been? And I wonder, do you feel like you all responded as a board within your authority and being able to respond to these things? Because I think the argument is, the buck stops with you, right, because you're the elected official, you might tell me differently. But I do think, you know, obviously, it is the responsibility of the school board to at least know and be able to give guidance down to the folks who can make the change. Those things need to change because the superintendent who runs a district is in part accountable to you, you hire you fire, right? So, what was your response to that?
Elyse Dashew
“Yeah, a lot of that really is in the domain of the superintendent. And we're very careful not to cross over into that territory. And I will say, I am a woman, and I have had my own sexual harassment, and experiences and more, I am a mother of a daughter, I have a sister, you know, unfortunately, we all have these stories.
And so it can be very triggering and upsetting to hear about things that are in the news. And some of which, you know, which I can't even today, comment on or verify or not verify. I have definitely, I became a bit of a figurehead on the news for all of that.
And that has gotten me more of the death threats and the really awful dialogue, not dialogue, but voicemails, and emails and social media messages from people. Not even [local people] like people in Europe and people in Canada, and like, not even local people, wishing awful things upon me and my kids. And that's been really, really hard. And yet, I'm careful to talk about that, because I don't want to center myself, in front of the students. It's really all about the students.”
Shamarria
If you could tell me why you're not running for reelection to the CMS school board next year?
Elyse Dashew
“I have poured myself into this work. And I have a couple of friends who are pastors who pour themselves into their service, too. And they have told me how replenishing it is to go on a sabbatical. Like a lot of faith leaders have that tradition. And so that sort of inspired me to think about, you know, I think I can serve better in the long term if I step away and take a sabbatical and just take care of myself.
So that's what I'm doing. I don't think I would be stepping away if I wasn't confident in the current governance team of the board, and the superintendent with the student outcomes-focused framework. They've got student outcomes-focused governance framework and the tools that they have at their disposal. With the things that they have already learned in a very intense six months and so, I am very much at peace with the timing of this decision.
And I will continue to advocate for our public schools because they are the bedrock of our democracy, and they're under a lot of strain right now. And I will continue to advocate for students. It'll probably be in a different way. And I just need to let the dust settle a little bit in order to discern the best next steps.”
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.