Retired educator elected to school board by just 3 votes

Cynthia Gregory-Smalls already went through the nervous phase two nights earlier. By Thursday, she was ready to start moving forward.

The retired educator was confirmed as the newest member of the Beaufort County school board, waiting out a mandatory recount Thursday morning after unofficial results showed her just three votes ahead of businessman William Smith.

The numbers didn’t change the second time around. Gregory-Smalls received 339 votes from Tuesday’s balloting, with Smith accumulating 336. A recount is mandatory when the margin comes within 1 percent of the total ballots cast.

Gregory-Smalls will take the seat vacated by Michael Rivers, who stepped aside in December after he was elected to the S.C. House of Representatives. She’ll officially join the board when she’s sworn in at next week’s regular meeting.

“I got elected to do a job, and I want to get on the board and start doing it,” Gregory-Smalls said. “I’ve been attending school board meetings and staying abreast on the concerns.”

Former board chairman Fred Washington Jr. placed third with 198 votes and St. Helena Island mortician Buryl Garnett Sumpter received 59. Tuesday’s total of 939 ballots cast represented 10.1 percent of the district’s eligible voters.

District 3 comprises Lady’s Island, St. Helena Island and parts of Beaufort.

Gregory-Smalls spent 32  1/2 years as a Beaufort County teacher and administrator, including 10 years as assistant principal at St. Helena Elementary School. It was during that stretch in the 1990s, she has said, that the school went from being one of the district’s lowest performers to one of its best.

Closing the achievement gap between white and minority students is atop her list of priorities, with a focus on properly equipping elementary pupils as a way to reduce the gap from the outset.

She also would like to see better skills training and greater use of technology to prepare high schoolers who may not have an interest in college.

“Some of our students don’t want to go into a two-year institution,” she said. “But they do need training in things like electrical engineering and (other) apprenticeships, how to build. They need ways that we can get them a skill so they can be on board when those jobs come to this area.”

Gregory-Smalls said she hosted a small home gathering Tuesday night to await election results but became more nervous than she expected when results showed her and Smith separated by single digits.

Smith, who owns Smith Security LLC and works for the Dore Law Firm, fell short in his second attempt at public office in less than six months. He also ran for the District 3 County Council seat last November, when York Glover was elected.

“It shows my community has faith in me, and I have faith in them as well,” he said. “I thank everyone who came out to support me. I’m going to continue to go out and support my community in any way that I can.”

Smith also urged his supporters to back Gregory-Smalls’ efforts on the board. “I hope the community can gel towards her,” he said, “and let’s start making our community better.”

Likewise, Gregory-Smalls reached out to the other three candidates for their support going forward.

“We all are passionate about the same thing: To help District 3 youth,” Gregory-Smalls said. “Since we’re all passionate about this particular district, we all should be able to work together to get some things done.”

The District 3 seat is the fourth to turn over in a little more than a year, after David Striebinger won a special District 2 election and Patricia Felton-Montgomery — now the board’s chair — and Christina Gwozdz were elected in November.

This story was originally published March 30, 2017 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Retired educator elected to school board by just 3 votes."